From: billn@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com (bill nelson)
Subject: Re: New Age/Christian Survey -Help! 
Organization: Hewlett-Parkard Company, Corvallis, Oregon USA
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1992 19:52:33 GMT

jmb5b@newton.acc.Virginia.EDU (John M. Bozeman) writes:
: I am about to give a guest lecture to a sociology class at the
: University of Virginia.  The Topic:  "Christianity and the New Age
: Look at Each Other."  When Writing about such subjects, I like to
: talk to the people who actually practice the faith.  So I would
: like to ask anyone who would care to answer...
: 
: 1.  What makes a person a Christian?

A professed belief that they are Christian by the individual should be
sufficient. They should not have to justify this to anyone else, nor
should anyone else be able to tell them that they are not Christian.

: 2.  What makes a person a follower of the New Age?

Once again, the belief by the person that they are New Age. In my experience,
many New Age people are Christians that would like a little personal mysticism
in their lives. They also seem to deny the dark or evil side of humanity - in
other words, they attempt to look at the world "through rose tinted glasses".

: 3.  What do you think of evangelical-fundamentalist-charismatic--
: pentecostal Christians?

Since I am not one of these, I do not hold any opinions which I wish to share.
In general, I disapprove of any dogmatic group, whether it is religious,  
scientific or social.

: 4.  What do you think of mainline Protestant Christianity (i.e.,
: Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, etc.)

See #3.  

: 5.  What do you think of Catholics?

See #3.

: 6.  What do you think of channeling?  meditation?  pyramids?  Tarot
: cards?  astrology?  crystals?  UFO's?

Channeling - probably self/delusion or fakery. I do not know, nor am I
really interested in finding out.

Meditation - a good tool for introspection. Prayer could be considered one
type of meditation. The technique is practiced by many groups of people, 
many in a non-religious context. If it was not useful, it would not be so
common.

Pyramids - they are undoubtedly real. There are many people who have seen
them in Egypt and other countries. Some have even climbed them. Scientists
have studied and measured them.

Tarot cards and astrology - useful as a focus for making personal judgements
about another person - or to help focus on a situation which you feel you
need to examine. There is nothing inherently magical about either.

Crystals - some of them make pretty jewelry, others don't. Once again, they
could be used as a useful focus. Once again, there is nothing inherently
magical about them.

UFOs - who knows? That is why they are called UNIDENTIFIED flying objects.

: 7.  Who or what is God?  Who is/was Jesus?  Who or what is the Holy
: Spirit?  Do you think the literal Resurrection of Jesus literally
: took place?  What do you think is the meaning of the resurrection?

Who knows - does it really matter? I see the resurrection as yet another
version of the birth/death/rebirth cycle of mythology.

: 8.  Do you think Jesus will come again?  What do you think of the
: Bible?

No - I believe Jesus was a man. Possibly a very talented and powerful
person, but a man.

I see the Bible as a useful book of parable mixed with some history.
As with any book of mythology, the truth/fact becomes mixed with the
invention. This is not necessarily bad, nor is it necessarily good.

: 9.  Why do you consider yourself a follower of the New Age?  What
: do you think is (are) the central tenets of your beliefs?  How did
: you come to hold these beliefs?  Are you a member of any formal
: religious group(s)?  Which ones?

I doubt if you will find many New Age people here. I am not "New Age"
and would not attempt to speak for them.

My personal religious beliefs are none of your business. It is even
less your business of how I came to hold these beliefs. I am a member
of a number of religious groups/organizations - once again, which
ones are none of your business.

: 10. What is your age?  sex?  Occupation?  [Optional, for
: statistical use only:  are you single-married-divorced-widowed-
: living with someone-under a vow of celibacy?  hetero-homo-bisexual? 
: What race do you describe yourself as?]

What does any of this have to do with religious belief?

As far as race - I describe myself as human. Should I describe myself
otherwise?

: 11. [More optional questions:  What happens to us when we die? 

Who knows - I have not yet died. At least, I am not aware of having
done so.

: What makes an individual good or bad?  Do you think that there is

What the person does. 

: an absolute standard of right and wrong?  What do you think are the

Absolutely not.

: central problems of American and World society?  How does your

Intolerance of the beliefs of others.

: faith address these problems, if at all?  Do you think that your

Many religions preach tolerance - few practice it. I practice rather
than preach.

: faith is the only way to salvation or self-fulfillment?  Is it the
: best way?

No, it is not the only way - it may not even be a way. However, it
is the most self-fulfilling I have found to date. As far as salvation,
it depends on what you mean by the term. You will have to define the
word for me.

I have no way of knowing if it is the best way to anything. That is
impossible for anyone to know. To attempt to force my beliefs on others
would be practicing this intolerance that I stated above was the greatest
problem facing humanity. 

: Thank you for your time.  I may wish to quote from this material in
: class and/or (maybe) in a later scholarly work; quotation will be
: anonymous if requested.  As I mentioned above, sensitive material
: is for statistical use only.  

If you are going to be doing a "scholarly work", then you had better 
do a lot more research and learn the meaning of a few terms.

For example: Being "newage" is not the same as being "pagan".

Bill
Xref: sparky alt.alien.visitors:2517 alt.conspiracy:6399 talk.religion.newage:2608 alt.paranormal:1255