Reviews for The New Age: commodified religion?

Reviews For: The New Age: commodified religion?

Apoc Genesis 2006-10-25 ch 1,	abuseWhile I don't remember giving you a review previously, I did appreciate the one that you sent me about my essay. Unless you weere refering to the person that posted before you, in which case please dont pay attention to this paragraph. I have to admit, I do consider myself a New Ager, and as one I feel that you are absolutley right as far as cosumerism in the movement goes. However this happens eventually with all religons, and I feel that it is actually a good thing. For one, it seperates the true followers of whatever God or Godess one might choose to worship from the people who either are simply dissilusioned with "traditional" beliefs...or are simply trying to be cool. And yes, the New Age religous movement is a giant cash cow. But as with all religons, you dont need to buy a bunch of expensive relics or attend politicized brainwashing services in order to be a true believer. Sorry for the rant ^__^. You brought up alot of very good points and the essay itself was well planned and well thought out. Im also impressed on how you cited your sources. Great stuff! You should definitly write more
EeeNAce 2006-10-06 ch 1,	abuseGoodness, this is wonderful. It's so beautifully written and the its voice is so strong...
WhinyPoetryFromGenerationY 2006-10-06 ch 1,	abuseWell-written essay, but it's very one-sided. It's true most Pagans are middle-class, but I wouldn't say that it's a longing for a connection. The connection is already there, Paganism is an expression of that. And I'd say that country pagans and city pagans were about equal, it just seems like there's more in cities because they tend to group together. I've never heard any Pagans or New Agers use "past lives" as an excuse, even if they do believe in them. We're not so much of a "goddess cult" (I assume you realise it's not a cult at all) becuase the vast majority worship the masculine and femminine as equals (although Dianics only worship goddesses). It would have been better to mention this, as it's as equality is as important to our religion as the trinity is to Christianity. (In order to understand Paganism you have to understand the equality of the god/goddess like in Christianity you have to understand the father/son/holy spirit). You also talk about internet covens and moots, but not local ones. Most meetings are probobly in the real world, and the chat room covens tend to be thirteen year old Wicca wannabes. It would make the essay less biased to talk about "real" covens, moots, groves and circles. New Age isn't a religion. Neopaganism is a life style, but under that you have Wicca, Shamanism, Odinsim etc, which are. So it's not only dubious to call New Age a religion but completely wrong. The idea of New Age consumerism is strange. I'm not sure about the other faiths you mentioned, but certianly in most Pagan circles making your own tools and sharing books is encouraged over buying. Anyway, I liked this essay, but it would be better if you gave both sides of New Ageism.

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