Why are lefties attracted to New Age religions?

[yurbud]

While most religious people on the right tend to be fundamentalists or traditionalists of some stripe, more on the left seem to take an interest in New Age stuff.

This seems ironic since the left is usually more rigorous about requiring evidence before they believe things in other areas of life, and will rightly criticize the Catholic Church and Evangelicals for irrational beliefs, but then they turn off their BS detector as soon as someone mentions crystals,shamans, or reincarnation.

Any explanation?

[johnnie]

1. I think it's because

Lefties are open minded enough to check different things out. The funny thing is that most "New Age" beliefs are older than most "traditional" beliefs.

[KitchenWitch]

2. For me it is more about ritual and mindset

than "evidence"

Paganism appealed to me because of its connection to the Earth and the lifecycle.

[khashka]

15. Ritual and mindset

Very true. To a large extent ritual creates the mindset.

And I don't have to leave my doubts at the door, they are acceptable, understandable and not blasphemous.

And it works.

Khash.

[KitchenWitch]

17. And if I fart or giggle in Circle

No one will chastise me.

[Robb]

3. Because lefties are damn dirty hippies, that's why!

Oughtta be wiped out, I tells ya! Them and their damn dirty lefty scissors!! :D

[jane_pippin]

16. lol. I was going to say

"Because lefties hate their parents and their parents hate hippies."

:rofl:




(just kidding, of course.)

[Call Me Wesley]

4. If I might ask,

what do you consider being 'New Age Religions'?

[tjdee]

5. Basically, every religion but the big three (and Mormon/Scientology).

Not the OP, but I know enough fundies to know what the OP means...and as johnnie points out, most of these "new age" religions are in fact "Old Age" religions and newer certainly than Christianity and Islam.

[Call Me Wesley]

7. Yes, I do know what all counts as 'New Age',

even if it's older than Christianity. :hi:

[yurbud]

8. crystals, pyramids, reincarnation, astral travel, appropriating Native

American religion and bastardizing it, grabbing bits and piece of the supernatural parts of various religions while mostly ignoring the contemplative and moral aspects.

In some ways, a mirror of the "left behind" crowd only much nicer.

[LeftyMom]

13. There are certainly equivalent movements in more dominant religions

"Guardian angels" and similar tripe, for example.

[tjwmason]

18. In what sense is a guardian angel "tripe"?

If one accepts a belief in the supernatural (which most folk appear to), then the notion of a benign spirit who watches over one makes perfect sense.

If one takes a further step into the Catholic Theology of angels and their interaction with people - then it makes even more sense, but that step is certainly not necessary.

[LeftyMom]

21. Well American pop-culture beliefs about angels

seem to have more in common with wishful thinking than Christianity. In the bible angels are basicly a servant class separate from human beings, but it's common to hear even professed biblical literalist Christians claim that a departed relative or pet is an angel now, or that an angel watches over them (while biblical angels are more likely to be warriors or heralds and I can't recall a story of them watching over anyone in the bible.)

It just seems odd to me, but I'm an athiest and recovering Catholic, so my perspective is probably an odd one.

[tjwmason]

23. Oh yes - if you mean pop-culture version

Even more than tripe - it's concocted out of thin air without Theological basis tripe.

[LeftyMom]

24. That's what I'm talking about

I wasn't aware that there was a cannonical basis for belief in guardian angels, but to be honest I only went to catechism class for one year and paid the least amount of attention needed to get through first confession and first communion. by chioce I never did confirmation.

[tjwmason]

25. I don't think that there's a specific dogmatic belief

But there is a feast of the Holy Guardian Angels, and the prayer to one's guardian angel certainly used to carry an indulgence - lex orandi est lex credendi.

But yes - this is a totally different thing from "aunty vera is my guardian angel".

[yurbud]

30. yep--I'm not saying this is worse, just the form more common on left

[Floogeldy]

6. Could you repeat that?

Sorry, I missed your post. I was in the dark room lighting candles and sacrificing a chicken.

[yurbud]

10. I don't have a problem with that--just finish plucking the chicken

and give it to me when you're done.

[Call Me Wesley]

11. Avian flu

might strike you, infidel!

[sendero]

20. When you eat it..

... that isn't considered a sacrifice :)

[lakemonster11]

48. Tell that to the ancient Greeks and Romans.

That's what animal sacrifice is.

The gods only want the bones wrapped in the gristle---the humans performing the sacrifice get to barbecue and eat the rest.

[SOteric]

9. I suspect you've got the aspects of interest reversed.

Doesn't it make a bit more of a certain kind of sense to reason out why it is that most of those from the more arcane end of spiritualism would be politically left?

When you assume the 'New Age' philosophy comes before the choice of a political belief, it seems unlikely that persons from the more diverse end of Faith would intentionally chose to become Conservatives or even moderate Republicans.

Moreover I'd point out that in years past, the Democratic Party was the party of Everyman. Blue Collar workers, Catholics and every kind of Faith were more attracted to the Democrats as they were accepting with open arms, defended unions, workers rights, the rights of the individual and the separation of church and state, - freeing one to be Muslim, Hindi, Zoroastrian or even a Druid if one likes.

Currently, it is (and sometimes, in some cases, I feel correctly so) accused of being the party of ivory tower elitists.

[yurbud]

12. good point

[hyphenate]

14. Very easy to understand

Lefties are more open-minded about esoteric things. They don't have the clamped down, narrow-mindedness that righties do, with eternal tunnel vision about anything different that they've learned. They're able to grasp new concepts, reject or retain them, and allow everyone else to have that same freedom.

[Guy Fawkes]

19. Maybe it's the other way around...

people who follow New Age religions are lefties...?

[Lannes]

22. Andreas Vollenweider

N/T

[XemaSab]

26. Most lefties are by no means "new agers"

I know many lefties who are Jews, Catholics, protestants... all over the board of "mainstream" religion.

If you asked around, I bet most people on DU would identify as Christians with a few Jews here and there.

Hey, Jesus was a Liberal.

But you're right, people on the left are more open to pagan and new age sprituality than most Republicans are.

I think it's because a lot of pagan belief is more welcoming of other perspectives, such as Native American, Asian, feminist, and gay perspectives than the Bible is, and once you accept the idea that even people who have never heard of Jesus or the Bible have something to offer and teach then you're more likely to explore other ideas and find something more comfortable than church-every-Sunday.

As a scientist, I have wavered throughout agnosticism, paganism, and liberal Christianity for a long time, because I can't accept any religion where I have to check my brain at the door.

I think crystal healing and the idea that there are aliens living in Mt Shasta and a lot of other "new age" stuff is BS, but I am open to the fact that there are "energies" and "forces" in the world that we can't see and that science hasn't explained, and a lot of stuff like acupuncture that "scientifically" doesn't make sense nevertheless taps into some of that.

:hi:

[yurbud]

31. I agree

[Thtwudbeme]

27. I sent you a PM

I am writing a research paper on this subject right now, but am not interested in discussing it in the Lounge.

Stephanie

[flvegan]

28. That's an easy one. For the same reason most vegans/vegetarians

are. I don't know a single right-winger environmental activist nor animal activist. Folks that question the shit thrown at them daily, refuse the norm, and tell the status quo to go fuck off tend to the left (far left, usually). So, I think the same goes for religion. Many question parts of the Bible (or any other teaching). They want reality, proof, etc. On top of that, they likely see the idiot talking heads pushing same so hard, and rage against it for that very reason.

Conservatives, fundies, et al can stay traditional. I want to know what the real deal is, and I'll make up my own mind rather than having it made for me.

[LaurenG]

29. The new age isn' really about crytals and shamans

those are just tools that can (as in may or might possibly)side track people. (Short answer)IMHO the new age is about searching for answers that don't end in hell. I think that open minded people are more creative thus more imaginative thus more intuitive and thats my final answer... well maybe not my final answer but it's an answer. Oh and one more thing, I don't think open minded people are as afraid to question "authority" or worry as much over what others think.

[pitohui]

32. there are plenty of rightwing new agers

remember all that stuff abt "i am god," that's rightwing on the face of it, if you are god and you control it all, no reason to have any compassion for those lesser gods who somehow don't get a handle on their lives

it's the whole concept of if someone is in an earthquake, well, that's their karma, i'll leave them to it

ergh

sadly nutty religious ideas go beyond right or left, and i say this as someone once quite active in the new age

[UncleSepp]

38. National Socialism had roots that would be called NewAge today

It comes and goes with the time. Very good point you made.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

33. What? The reality based community?

[DanCa]

34. I think its because those of us who want to believe in something

dont like being told how and what to believe in. We are more at home with feeling, spiritualness, and concepts where as the righties need everything written in stone and in a check box.

[I Have A Dream]

35. For me personally, it's about spirituality vs. religion. I follow what...

feeds my soul. I started out as an Evangelical Christian and went further and further "new age" until I finally found something that makes me feel as though I'm connected to the Universe.

I think that people on the left are more likely to not want to be controlled by fear. In my opinion, religion uses fear to control people; spirituality doesn't. My definition of religion vs. spirituality is the glass half empty vs. the glass half full. (Please note that I fully realize that there are mainstream religions that allow people to be spiritual. It just didn't work for me.)

[NMMNG]

36. IMHO

New age religions, from what I know of them, are about openness, love and inclusion. They promote caring for everyone and everything--people, animals and the planet. These seem to be natural magnets for liberal people who are often repulsed by prejudice and discrimination.



Most traditional religions, which are favored by the right, are more about control, dogma and exclusion. Only certain people will get into whatever promised land is spoken of in the scriptures. Specific groups are denounced as evil and unacceptable. Various acts are forbidden as "unholy" and "unclean". In countless ways these religions seek to control people.

[UncleSepp]

37. What's "new age" about reincarnation?

None of the people I know who are actively interested in and believe in reincarnation as part of their world view are part of any "New Age" religion. Quite a few are atheist, most are agnostic, some are nonspecifically deist, and of the ones who identify with a religion, the majority are Jewish. Of the ones who are Jewish, about half are Reform, and the others are Hasids and a few Orthodox. Of the other people I know who believe in reincarnation but who are not actively interested in it, most are Hindu, and the others are Buddhist.

Some of the people I know who are the most actively interested in reincarnation have got rather finely honed bullshit detectors, thanks. It sounds to me like you are beginning with the belief that reincarnation is solely New Age bullshit, and then proceeding from there to find why your fellow liberals don't all think like you do. Is that correct, or am I missing something?

(On edit, looking at your other posts, it doesn't seem like you do necessarily believe that the things you listed must be bullshit, so I think I probably have missed something.)

Not that there's anything wrong with that. If that's your opinion, more power to you. The ability for liberals to have a diversity of opinions and to respect that diversity of opinion while agreeing on basic political concepts is one of the great things about liberals. In fact, I'd say that's one of the core political concepts of liberalism itself.

[AlienGirl]

39. New Age?

http://www.pinenet.com/rooster/3book.html

Reincarnation is part of many decidedly old-age (or age-old) religions...

Tucker

[Hand]

40. Insh'Allah... nt

[Chicago Democrat]

41. Because the old ones are filled with hate and lies?

cept Buddhism. That's not 'new'. I chose that one after Catholicism.

[yurbud]

43. instead of replacing one set of irrational beliefs with more benign ones

why not deal with reality?

[GreenPartyVoter]

44. Not too hostile there. If it isn't hurting you any, why complain?

[yurbud]

45. patronizing silence about fundamentalist Christian beliefs helped?

While we were mostly being silent, they transferred that "blind faith" model to politics, and for a time, if not still now, it's not hard to imagine Rush Limbaugh or James Dobson telling Christians that non-believers are a physical threat to them and they must come after us before we come after them.

We need to find a new way of dealing with religion besides ignoring it, saying it's all good, or attacking it.

You have the right to believe whatever you want, but you don't have the right to be free of hearing other people ask rational questions about it, and even ask them of you.

Incidentally, someone's belief in alternative medicine could end up hurting their kids, just as Christian Science and other faith healing religions do.

[GreenPartyVoter]

46. That's all fine and are excellent points but when you expressed

this before as "exchanging one set of irrational beliefs for more benign ones" and "dealing with reality" I took it to mean that people who have a faith system are to be considered irrational and out of touch with reality.

[yurbud]

49. very often JUST about their religious beliefs. The dangerous part is

when you give someone box that they can put any of their beliefs in and make them immune to debate and reason, there's an awfully big temptation to put as much as possible in there, or for someone else to convince them that what they are selling belongs in the box.

[GrpCaptMandrake]

42. So called "New Age" religions

are, for the most part, constructs of modern origin, clothed in a sort of ancient pagan nostalgia. It's visible in the bookstores in the masses of spell-casting books, herbal witchcraft and other poppycock. :popcorn:

Their appeal is the same as the Catholicism (for instance) of those who are called "cafeteria catholics." It's a matter of fitting the belief system to the personality and the personal needs.

New age "religions" are also fairly non-dogmatic and therefore appeal to those who resist (rightly) absolutism. They provide a nice opportunity for otherwise rational people to engage in some level of "spirituality."

New Age religions often claim some roots in so called "ancient societies." Just as Masons harken back to the Knights Templars utterly wiped out by Philip "The Fair" of France, some new age religions claim heirship to extinct religions like druidism. That is physically impossible. The druids were slaughtered by the Romans. The Romans even cut their trees down. We have a few watered down symbols (wassail, yule logs, tannenbaumen, eostre eggs, valentines, etc.) but none of the ceremony.

Just some thoughts, and no offense intended.

[benny05]

47. Not all are, but they tend to be

I have a sister and brother in law who are more attracted to new age philosophy (not religion). Sister is apolitical; brother in law is a big Bushie.

Someone mentioned abstract thinking vs those who are more concrete or linear in their views. I sort of support that notion and add two other adjectives:

intuitive
ambiguious

Those who ascribe to evangelical beliefs may feel the need for more structure in their lives. It's not to say that new age philosophies don't address that need, but they seem more complex...which may appeal to many of us who perhaps are more interested in the journey.

BTW, I'm not a big subscriber to new age philosophy as I tend to question it like I do evangelical or traditional religions (where's the proof)...but then, I am a UU. I don't necessarily accept new age but I don't reject it either.

:)