it? They had internalized the ideas. The commands were not coming from the “power” that “immediately generates resentment and opposition,” the commands were coming from the “influence” that made him “love what [he] was asked to do.” The New Age gives the impression that you are just obeying yourself, and for most, it may never amount to more than that. But for a tragic few, demands for “obedience to requirements” increase to the ultimate — murder (i.e. Charles Manson and his family) and suicide (People’s Temple, Branch Davidians, Solar Temple, Heaven’s Gate). And, even if we ever remain no more than a slave to self, we are exactly that — still slaves, and no more.ConclusionThe New Age is not so new. It is a mixture of old ideas wrapped up in new clothes, as it were, “yesterday’s left-overs zapped in the microwave and served on clean plates.” It is not being peddled in ways that are so novel. The church has its preachers, the New Age has its “gurus.” For all those who reject mainstream religion in search of spirituality without rules, they unfortunately will meet some of what they left, and more, for better, or for worse.Evidently, the gurus of the New Age are either well-educated enough, or keenly perceptive enough, to have grasped human nature to the extent that they can persuade people to do most unspeakable things, even take lives, even their own. The laws of human nature are obviously powerful, and people are using those laws in such a way that their followers are hurting. In terms of social psychology, it is very important to appreciate the field that has organized thought on the issues and concepts and observations of human behaviour in a group context, as so much of our lives are in group contexts; the family, the workplace, the school, the neighbourhood, etc. Moreover, the power that the gurus have recogniz...
