The New Age
Soul of Britain, with Michael Buerk, 16th July 2000
Soul of Britain, written and presented by Michael Buerk was broadcast in nine episodes in June & July 2000. This BBC TV series explored what people in Britain today really believe. What is their attitude to moral issues? What do they think about Christianity? The BBC commissioned the largest ever survey of beliefs and attitudes for this series.
This episode explores the rise of 'alternative spiritualities' and what Michael Buerk describes as the
Whereas a few generations ago, the only choice was what kind of Christian church you attended, today there is a huge and confusing range of choices on offer. Christianity is only one stall in this spiritual market place. Buerk asks whether what we are seeing is the 'democratization' of belief or just the unhealthy growth of superstition and gullibility.
According to the Soul of Britain survey:
- 70% of us believe in a God (of some kind), but only
- 26% of us believe in a personal God, while
- 44% of us believe in a vague spirit or life force.
- 33% of us believe in a way to God outside of organized religion
- 32% of us have tried aromatherapy
- 16% have tried astrology
- 17% have tried fortune telling or Tarot
Complementary Medicine
There has been a huge rise in alternative / complementary medicine. Today there are 36,200 general practitioners in the UK, but 39,800 practitioners of complementary medicine. 40% of GPs offer access to alternative practitioners, and sales of herbal medicines topped £50 million in 1998.
New Age beliefs
New Age thinking is easy to recognize, but difficult to pin down (like trying to nail jelly to a wall), because it is so diverse, and there is (by definition) no central body of 'received truth', and no central authority you can appeal to. However, the following strands do appear to be widespread:
- In the New Age, we are all gods; there is a divine spark in each one of us.
- In the New Age, we are intrinsically good. Any evil is caused by our environment, or by what our parents did to us.
- New Age thinking is pragmatic rather than theoretical: you do not often question the underlying philosophical assumptions. Rather, you find a technique that 'works for you' and helps you to feel better about life. By using the right technique (right for you, that is), you can discover and develop the divine spark within.
- New Age thinking is 'me-centered' - it does not encourage self-sacrifice.
- New Age thinking is subjective - experience-centered rather than belief-centered: 'I want my own experience'.
- New Age thinking is often anti-reason: 'Let go of your doubts and questions and enjoy the experience.' Christians have often been (wrongly) accused of asking people to park their minds at the church door. Yet this is exactly what the New Age movement does. Yet 'monsters come from the sleep of reason'
- New Age thinking has no objective moral standards about what is right and wrong
- New Age thinking has a strong 'Green' agenda. Everything depends on everything else. Everything, from geniuses to grass, has a right to grow and fulfill itself. (It is important to say here that having a 'Green' agenda is in itself a good thing - but it cannot be separated from the underlying philosophical assumptions).
Key themes
Our times are marked by a vast hunger for spirituality (see session five of Facing the Challenge) which the Church is not meeting (see session five and appendix A)
Our times are marked by a distrust of institutions - priests, the media, scientists.
A key element in our times is consumerism and personal choice (see session two), and this is extended to what I believe - what I buy into, as well as what I buy.
Truth has been replaced by pragmatism (what works), and therapeutic technique (what 'works for me')
The Green agenda has become incredibly important
Key Questions for the New Age
- does it take the problem of evil seriously enough?
- Can it provide a meaningful framework for moral decisions? On what basis?
- Can we really choose to believe whatever we like? In most areas of life we recognize that this is not so: I cannot choose to breathe hydrogen cyanide for any length of time, because the structures of reality in the outside world impose some limitations on my freedom of choice. We all acknowledge that large areas of our lives are not matters of choice. How do we know that ultimate questions (about God, life after death, and the meaning of our existence) are somehow different?
And one key question for the Church:
Is there something important for the Church to learn in all this? Why is it that the Church is apparently not meeting people's spiritual needs and longings?