Published by - New OxfordReview, July-August 2000, pp. 19-31
SECTION 3 of 6CHANGES REQUIRED TO ENTER THE NEW AGE
[A] Religious
For mankind to enter the New Age, we must abandon the traditionalreligions,especially the monotheistic faiths. Judaism was one of Bailey's targets- before, during, and after the Holocaust. Bailey wrote that the Jews'sufferings were "the working out of the retributive aspect of the LawofCause and Effect.... Much that has happened to the Jews originated intheirpast history and in their pronounced attitude of separativeness andnonassimilability,and in their emphasis upon material good...." Bailey's accusations areserious, since she says "the true nature of cosmic evil" is "thesupremeevil of materialistic selfishness and the sense of isolatedseparativeness."
New Age writers disdain orthodox Christians, whom they denounce as"fundamentalists."Robert Muller said at the 1996 URI summit
conference that the United Religions must tame "fundamentalism" andprofess faithfulness "only to the global spirituality and to the health
of this planet." Recently he added an anti-Catholic twist: "Two ofthe worst principles and words still used on planet Earth are:
fundamentalism and infallibility." Muller also said, "the FrenchRevolutionabolished religions as troublemakers. Even today, many regard
religions as troublemakers." Muller seems to pose two alternativesfor us: Worship Gaia or face the Jacobins' response to religious
"troublemakers." (Unfortunately, the crimes of many Christians,hierarchsand laity alike, provided a basis for revolutionary hostility - in
1789, 1917, 1936, and on many other tragic occasions.)
Matthew Fox concluded The Coming of the Cosmic Christ with a visionof "Vatican III," to be called by Pope John XXIV to define the
doctrine of the Cosmic Christ as intrinsic to faith. The future Popehas replaced the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith with a board
of grandmothers. "Still another action taken by this pope has beento gather all the Opus Dei bishops of the world on one island where, it
is said, they are undergoing a two-year spiritual retreat that includesa critique of the history of fascism and Christianity on the one hand
and an inculcation of creation spirituality on the other. It is saidthese bishops do body prayer three times daily and art as meditationfour
hours per day. The native people of the island are the instructorsfor the art as meditation classes. Women have assumed the office of
bishop in their respective diocesan sees." In other words, the rightistextremists are to be brainwashed.
There is literary precedent for sending undesirables to islands. InBrave New World those who do not fit into society are sent to islandsof
their choice; World Controller Mustapha Mond leaves the misfits totheir own devices and does not force them to change. Thus, Fox's
utopia would treat its dissenters more harshly than Huxley's dystopia.
Nature abhors a vacuum, and no throne long remains vacant. If theNewAge movement were to dethrone Christ the King, who would take Hisplace?If Gorbachev has his way, the god of the New Religion will be nature.Hehas said, "Nature is my god. To me, nature is sacred. Trees are mytemplesand forests are my cathedrals." Muller has also hailed the Earth asGod:"Hindus call our earth Brahma, or God, for they rightly see nodifferencebetween our earth and the divine."
New Age writers say that we will accept the New Religion when weunderstandthat all religions have the same source and the same end.
Bailey said, "The day is dawning when all religions will be regardedas emanating from one great spiritual source; all will be seen as
unitedly providing the one root out of which the universal worldreligionwill inevitably emerge." Likewise, Episcopal Bishop William Swing
believes that all religions "come together at the apex, in the Divine."Their affirmation of religious unity echoes Blavatsky, who said thatall
religions have "been derived from one primitive source," and thatseparatereligions are "but shades of human error and the signs of
imperfection." Blavatsky's turgid writings of 1877 have become thereceived truth for some religious liberals in 2000.
Bailey expected the New Religion, which she called the "ChurchUniversal,"to emerge by the close of the 20th century - in other words, now.Baileysaid, "Only those will remain as guides and leaders of the human spiritwho speak from living experience, and who know no creedal barriers;theywill recognise the onward march of revelation and the new emergingtruths."Thus, liberal Protestants and heretical Catholics will have a happyplacein the New Religion. Bailey believed that the New Religion would workcloselywith the UN: "Thus the expressed aims and efforts of the United Nationswill be eventually brought to fruition and a new church of God,gatheredout of all religions and spiritual groups, will unitedly bring to anendthe great heresy of separateness." Muller has gone further, proposingtodeify the United Nations: "At the beginning the UN was only a hope.Todayit is a political reality. Tomorrow it will be the world's religion."
The New Religion will bring spiritual totalitarianism. New Ageleadersagree that the last 2,000 years - the Age of Pisces - were a time fordevelopmentof individual identity and personality. In the coming Age of Aquarius,people will happily let go of individuality and merge their personalgoalsand identity into that of the whole race. As Bailey said, "the will ofthe individual will voluntarily be blended into the group will." Theexistenceof separate persons is an illusion; we are all really part of "TheOne."
In language that foreshadows Bishop Swing's blather about theemergenceof a "global soul," Teilhard de Chardin, whom New Age writers hail as aprophet, said, "The organization of human energy... is directed andpushesus towards the ultimate formation, over and above each personalelement,of a common soul of humanity." (Are you aware that you are only a"personalelement"?) The goal of human evolution, for Teilhard, is for people to"acquire the consciousness, without losing themselves, of becoming oneand the same person." If we understand things rightly, we will "lovethepreordained forces that unite" us. As Orwell said of his protagonist,Winston,at the end of 1984, "He had won the victory over himself. He loved BigBrother."
Bibliography for SECTION 3
NOTE: Internetdocument citations are based on researchdone between September 1997 and January 2000. Web citations wereaccurateas of the time that each Web page was accessed. However, somedocumentsmay since have been moved to a different Web site, or they may havebeenremoved entirely from the Web.
[88] Alice A. Bailey, The Rays andthe Initiations: Volume V,A Treatise on the Seven Rays, 1960, Lucis Publishing Company, New York,ISBN 0-85330-122-0, p. 754
[89] Alice A. Bailey, The Externalisation of the Hierarchy,1957, Lucis Publishing Company, New York, ISBN 0-85330-106-9, p. 558,footnote
[90] Alice A. Bailey, The Externalisation of the Hierarchy,1957, Lucis Publishing Company, New York, ISBN 0-85330-106-9, p. 548
[91] Alice A. Bailey, Esoteric Healing - Volume IV: A Treatiseon the Seven Rays, Lucis Publishing Company, New York, 1953; pp.265-266
[92] Alice A. Bailey, The Rays and the Initiations: Volume V,A Treatise on the Seven Rays, 1960, Lucis Publishing Company, New York,ISBN 0-85330-122-0, p. 753
[93] Alice A. Bailey, The Externalisation of the Hierarchy,1957, Lucis Publishing Company, New York, ISBN 0-85330-106-9, p. 78
[94] Alice A. Bailey, The Rays and the Initiations: Volume V,A Treatise on the Seven Rays, 1960, Lucis Publishing Company, New York,ISBN 0-85330-122-0, p. 635
[95] The Rev. Betsy Stang (Wittenberg Center for AlternativeResources), telephone interview by Lee Penn, 12/10/97
[96] Jorge Aquino (Religion News Service), "A Bold Attempt toClose Breach Between Religions," San Jose Mercury News, p. 11-E, June29,1996; Internet document, p. 2
[97] Robert Muller, 2000 Ideas And Dreams For A Better World,Idea 1942, Internet document, http://www.lsw.org/ideas/RMideas.html
[98] Robert Muller and Douglas Roche, Safe Passage into theTwenty-First Century: The United Nations' Quest for Peace, Equality,Justice,and Development, Continuum (A Global Education Associates Book), NewYork,1995, ISBN 0-8264-0866-4, p. 28
[99] State of the World Forum, "A New Spirituality," articleabout Dr. Jim Garrison's presentation to the 1998 State of the WorldForum;Internet document,http://www.worldforum98.org/spirit/article_spirit_.html,pp. 2-3
[100] State of the World Forum, "A New Spirituality," articleabout Dr. Jim Garrison's presentation to the 1998 State of the WorldForum;Internet document,http://www.worldforum98.org/spirit/article_spirit_.html,p. 3
[101] H. P. Blavatsky, Isis Unveiled: Vol. II, Theology, TheTheosophical Publishing House, Wheaton, Illinois, original edition1877,"new edition, revised and corrected, and with additional material,1972,"ISBN 0-8356-0193-5, preface to part II, page iv
[102] H. P. Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine: The Synthesis ofScience, Religion, and Philosophy, Vol. II - Anthropogenesis,TheosophicalUniversity Press, 1970, "Verbatim with the Original Edition, 1888," pp.377-378
[103] Fred Matser, "Nature Is My God," an interview with MikhailGorbachev, Resurgence 184, Internet document,http://www.gn.apc.org/resurgence/184/gorbachev.htm,p. 3
[104] Robert Muller, New Genesis: Shaping a Global Spirituality,World Happiness and Cooperation, P.O. Box 1153, Anacortes, Washington98221,1993, ISBN 1-880455-04-8, p. 49
[105] H. P. Blavatsky, Isis Unveiled: Vol. I, Science, TheTheosophicalPublishing House, Wheaton, Illinois, original edition 1877, "newedition,revised and corrected, and with additional material, 1972," ISBN0-8356-0193-5,p. 613
[106] H. P. Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine: The Synthesis ofScience, Religion, and Philosophy, Vol. II - Anthropogenesis,TheosophicalUniversity Press, 1970, "Verbatim with the Original Edition, 1888," pp.378-379
[107] H. P. Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine: The Synthesis ofScience, Religion, and Philosophy, Vol. II - Anthropogenesis,TheosophicalUniversity Press, 1970, "Verbatim with the Original Edition, 1888," p.378
[108] Hilaire Belloc, "The New Paganism," in Essays of aCatholic,TAN Books and Publishers, Inc., 1931, ISBN 0-89555-463-1, p. 12
[109] Alice A. Bailey, Problems of Humanity, Lucis PublishingCompany, New York, 1st ed. 1947; rev. ed. 1964, p. 140
[110] Bishop William Swing, The Coming United Religions, UnitedReligions Initiative and CoNexus Press, 1998, ISBN 0-9637897-5-9; p. 59
[111] H. P. Blavatsky, Isis Unveiled: Vol. I, Science, TheTheosophicalPublishing House, Wheaton, Illinois, original edition 1877, "newedition,revised and corrected, and with additional material, 1972," ISBN0-8356-0193-5,p. 639
[112] Alice A. Bailey, The Externalisation of the Hierarchy,1957, Lucis Publishing Company, New York, ISBN 0-85330-106-9, pp.545-546
[113] Colleen O'Connor, "Uniting Religions: Bishop Swing talksabout religious terrorism, atomic bombs, and why we need a UnitedReligionsnow," Internet document,http://www.gracecathedral.org/enrichment/interviews/index.shtml,p. 2
[114] Alice A. Bailey, The Externalisation of the Hierarchy,1957, Lucis Publishing Company, New York, ISBN 0-85330-106-9, p 510;the"wise prophecy" of Blavatsky appears to be the statement that "InCenturythe Twentieth some disciple more informed, and far better fitted, maybesent by the Masters of Wisdom to give final and irrefutable proofs that... like the once-mysterious sources of the Nile, the source of allreligionsand philosophies now known to the world has been for many agesforgottenand lost to men, but is at last found." (Blavatsky, The SecretDoctrine,Vol. 1, p. xxxviii; Internet document,http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/sd/sd1-0-in.htm)
[115] Alice A. Bailey, The Externalisation of the Hierarchy,1957, Lucis Publishing Company, New York, ISBN 0-85330-106-9, p. 202
[116] Alice A. Bailey, The Destiny of the Nations, LucisPublishingCompany, New York, 1949; p. 152
[117] Robert Muller, My Testament to the UN: A Contributionto the 50th Anniversary of the United Nations, World Happiness andCooperation,P.O. Box 1153, Anacortes, Washington 98221; ISBN 1-880455-07-2, p. 4
[118] Alice A. Bailey, Problems of Humanity, Lucis PublishingCompany, New York, 1st ed. 1947; rev. ed. 1964, p. 159
[119] David Spangler, Reimagination of the World: A Critiqueof the New Age, Science, and Popular Culture: The Chinook SummerConferencesof David Spangler and William Irwin Thompson, July 1988 and 1989; Bear& Company Publishing, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 1991; ISBN0-939680-92-0,p. 127
[120] Barbara Marx Hubbard, Conscious Evolution: Awakening thePower of Our Social Potential, New World Library, Novato, California,1998,ISBN 1-57731-016-0, pp. 89-90
[121] Alice A. Bailey, The Rays and the Initiations: VolumeV, A Treatise on the Seven Rays, 1960, Lucis Publishing Company, NewYork,ISBN 0-85330-122-0, p. 109
[122] David Spangler, Towards a Planetary Vision, FindhornPublications,2nd ed. 1980; ISBN 0-905249-49-6, p. 88
[123] Neale Donald Walsch, Conversations with God: An UncommonDialogue, Book 3, Hampton Roads Publishing Company, Inc., 1998; ISBN1-57174-103-8;p. 260
[124] Bishop William Swing, "What is missing is a global soul,"Pacific Church News, August/September 1995, p. 5
[125] Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Human Energy, translated byJ. M. Cohen, Collins, St. Jame's Place, London, 1969, first pub. 1962;p. 137
[126] Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, "Life and the Planets: Whatis Happening at this Moment on Earth?," The Future of Man, translatedbyNorman Denny, Harper & Row, New York and Evanston, 1964, p. 120
[127] Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, "A Great Event Foreshadowed:the Planetisation of Mankind," The Future of Man, translated by NormanDenny, Harper & Row, New York and Evanston, 1964, pp. 124-125
[128] George Orwell, 1984, New American Library edition, 1961,p. 245
By agreement between the author and theNew Oxford Review, this storymay be published and distributed freely on the Internet, on twoconditions:
1. That you give credit to the authorandto the New Oxford Review,the Catholic magazine which published the story.
2. That you do not alter this text when you re-distribute or re-publishit.
To obtain a copy of the magazine issue(July/August 2000) containingthis story, or to subscribe to the New Oxford Review, contact the NewOxfordReview at 1069 Kains Ave., Berkeley, CA 94706-2260.