em disobey. If he lowers the command to a reasonable suggestion, his followers might think about it, and decide within their own mind that it is reasonable. In deciding, then, to obey, the appearance is that the subject made up his/her own mind, the decision was internalized. For all intents and purposes of the leader, however, the result is still the same — they did what was “required.”Persuasive Elements ObservedWill Baron was determined not to get involved in another denomination (Baron, 1990). Newman (1994) not only observed that “organized religion is dying,” but that “people are as spiritually inclined as ever.” Contradictory? No, not when it is recognized that people are rejecting the “confines of pre-digested doctrine” (p. 38). For such, the New Age is the “perfect alternative for someone searching for spiritual fulfillment, without dogmatism, dry formalism, or any of the other perceived drawbacks associated with ‘traditional religion’ ” (Aubin, 1995, p. 19).Whether organized religion is or is not any of these things is not the issue. What is of issue is that, if people perceive the church as such, they might react against it by looking for an alternative. Thus, in persuading people to join the ranks of the New Age, “gurus” will emphasize those facets that are opposing what people assume are descriptive of mainstream religion. As one member of the Heaven’s Gate said, during an interview, “Anyone who wanted to leave were free to go” (Newsweek, p. 22). Again, not that this implies that organized religions revoke one’s freedom, but the message being sent was that one was free to investigate the ideas of Heaven’s Gate, and could leave anytime they so chose, alleviating fears and giving Heaven’s Gate more time to “teach” the subjects.In more notorious situations like the People’s Temple of ...
