Problems with the "all religions are One!" New Age spirituality approach (2 of 6)

A discussion of the New Age spirituality philosophy that "all religions are One"--that they may differ from one another on the surface, but underneath, the worlds variety of faiths are like different colors of one big Holy Rainbow: they all come from the same ray of sacred sunlight before being broken into their respective colors.

OUTLINE:

- quotes & excerpts from New Age literature

- my reasons for being a bit hesitant to criticize this philosophy

- why I'm going to criticize it anyway,

- the five different approaches that New Age theologians and philosophers use to defend the "all religions are One" approach, and why I believe that none of these approaches can hold up to scrutiny.

This is a video adaptation from material in "Dialogue with a Christian Proselytizer."

Category:

Education

Tags:

• New
• Age
• spirituality
• religion
• faith
• Ramakrishna
• Hick
• Bahaism
• Buddhism
• Christian
• Islam
• Jainism
• ToddAllenGates
• ToddGates

[TheWayshowerTube]

New Age is tolerant nice hahaha.

[ToddAllenGates]

@TheWayshowerTube

> New Age is tolerant nice

True--it may be philosophically incoherent, but at least it's tolerant and nice!

[TheWayshowerTube]

@ToddAllenGates New Age Occult is Satanic. Because incoherence is chaos and satanic symbology is chaotic. But some things are actually beneficial, we just need to filter out with scientific methods what is actually beneficial and wotnot. Sometimes people must exchange older beliefs with new beliefs to grow in understanding.

[ToddAllenGates]

@winstono75

Sorry to always take so long to get back to you (been crazy busy at work). I'll check out Ken Wilber ... thanks.

[winstono75]

@winstono75 By spirit (God) I mean the unmanifest timeless energy that is the source of everything. It contains the physical universe, but it also exists independently of it. Spirit was complete before the creation of the physical universe, but in this specific universe spirit unfolds, evolves, from matter to various complexities of life.

[winstono75]

@winstono75 The physical universe has a beginning, God as spirit does not.

When you say things exist without a why, you are talking metaphysics. Scientists believe in no values because they can't discover values. But we should recognize when scientists make claims that go outside their area of knowledge.

[winstono75]

@winstono75 By authentic spiritual experience I mean an encounter with an energy not found in ordinary life, an opening up to a larger dimension. Or really, I am still talking about the mystical experience.

Scientists make claims about the existence of God based on the Big Bang theory. I believe Stephen Hawking just made some such claims. If God is everything there is, of course he was the cause of the Big Bang. God is spirit, and the physical universe is just one manifestation of this spirit

[winstono75]

@ToddAllenGates A mystical experience may well happen to an atheist. I'm not sure if your friend has had what I consider a mystical experience, as that is an experience of the oneness of all things NOW. I am not referring to specific mystics, but to the description of their common understandings given by Ken Wilber. I recommend Ken Wilber, as he brings together intellect and spirit in dealing with these issues.

[ToddAllenGates]

7 of 7:

> spirit unfolds through evolution

I don't know what you mean by "spirit" or "unfolds." When a theist mentions "spirit," I have an idea of what kind of Supernatural Being they're talking about. When my "spiritual" atheist friend talks about spirituality, I know he's just using religious language in an attempt to capture the awe & wonder he has when taking in our unspeakably beautiful but utterly indifferent universe. But I confess ignorance to what you mean by "spirit."

[ToddAllenGates]

6 of 7:

> There is no way to scientifically learn the why's of the universe.

Maybe there's NO "why"! Maybe the energy/hydrogen just existed without a "why": maybe there is no great Supernatural Spirit out there, and life is just something that can evolve in very rare circumstances, and "intelligent life" is something that evolves under even rarer circumstances.