The latest it is viable for a new religion born in the US

I don't think that anyone would claim that the current Prophet Russell M. Nelson doesn't believe what he preaches, there are certainly people who claim that Joseph Smith himself didn't believe what he preached.

Yes but he's dead, so whether he was a true prophet or a con man doesn't matter anymore, the existing Mormon Church and its leadership do believe what they preach. While I doubt the leadership of the Scientologist believe a single word of what they preach. When a leadership believe, they act in a specific way which benefit a religion long term, when they don't, they simply try to milk their followers as fast as possible.
 
They are already pretty much irrelevant.

Yeah, basically.

It's a bit amazing how much virtual ink has been used on writing about Scientology, considering that now it's a small cult on its way to complete irrelevance. Just look at Wikipedia's portal on it.

scientology.png


I remember all the memes and internet debates about Scientology on its time, how discussing it could lead to a lawsuit, and years later, I was surprised when I found out that less than 40.000 people practice it currently. No doubt all the campaigns against it (justified IMO) had their effect. But their infamy is dissproportionate to its size.
 
Yeah, basically.

It's a bit amazing how much virtual ink has been used on writing about Scientology, considering that now it's a small cult on its way to complete irrelevance. Just look at Wikipedia's portal on it.

View attachment 379375

I remember all the memes and internet debates about Scientology on its time, how discussing it could lead to a lawsuit, and years later, I was surprised when I found out that less than 40.000 people practice it currently. No doubt all the campaigns against it (justified IMO) had their effect. But their infamy is dissproportionate to its size.

Certainly 40,000 people isn't much. I won't say they are on their way out as I can't predict the future but religions rarely bounce back.
 
Been watching a documentary on Netflix about it and the Rajneeshees were doing pretty good for a while. I bet if they weren't busted for immigration or the leadership was stopped before doing the terrorism stuff, they'd be much bigger than Scientology by now. Especially since eventually the Oregon courts ruled in their favor regarding the incorporation of their own municipality.
 
. . . While I doubt the leadership of the Scientologist believe a single word of what they preach. . .
From the series on A&E entitled “Leah Remini: Aftermath of Scientology” and from the HBO documentary “Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief,” I’d say a ton of mid-hierarchy leaders believe in the stuff. And since current leader David Miscavige grew up in the whole damn thing as a boy, I’d say there’s a fairly good to excellent chance he believes in it, too.

And even though Ron Hubbard made the comment that instead of writing for pennies a page, the best way to make some real money is to start a religion . . . when people play with ideas, often in weird and unpredictable ways they can end up half believing them.

PS Would love to see ‘Scientology’ busted for child labor!
 
And if you have a friend or family member in Scientology, be kind, be matter-of-fact, be brief, try to keep the door open, focus on other interests.

One article I think in Washington Post Esquire said that once a person has had the experience of “going exterior” in guided meditation with one of their counselors (“auditors”), he or she is hooked, at least for a while.

And what this is of course, is alpha state meditation, which admittedly is pretty neat. But in no way does scientology have a monopoly on this, and ideally people should know that very well.

Why You Could Have Fallen for Scientology, Too
Esquire, Jan. 23, 2013.
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a18293/going-clear-scientology-book-review-15010316/
“going exterior,” shit, merely alpha state meditation, it’s like a really primo session of masturbation, no more, no less
 
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I think the majority wing of U.S. evangelical Protestantism (right-wing politics influenced to varying degrees by Dominion theology and white racism) could be regarded as a new religion. Certainly it has set itself apart from everyone else, including mainstream Protestantism, in a radical way. However, for those who don't agree that it's a separate religion, there is also the New Age movement to consider. It is rather hopelessly divided into different sects, cults, teaching systems and fads and has not displayed much ability to deepen its thinking beyond the level of self-improvement how-to-ism mixed on occasion with a frightening guru-ism. When someone with original ideas comes along, that person doesn't seem to have an interest in founding a large movement (being a cult leader is too self-limiting...the personal needs of the leader are more important than growing the movement). The late Jane Roberts, who spoke for transcription under the voice of "Seth," was original and very influential on the level of ideas, but seems not to have thought in terms of building a movement OR a cult. One could say good for her! But perhaps someone else with original ideas such as hers (but without the embarrassment of channeling) will come along to unify the broad base of the New Age and to integrate it with environmentalism, the peace movement, social and racial justice issues, etc.
 

SsgtC

Banned
I think the majority wing of U.S. evangelical Protestantism (right-wing politics influenced to varying degrees by Dominion theology and white racism) could be regarded as a new religion. Certainly it has set itself apart from everyone else, including mainstream Protestantism, in a radical way. However, for those who don't agree that it's a separate religion, there is also the New Age movement to consider. It is rather hopelessly divided into different sects, cults, teaching systems and fads and has not displayed much ability to deepen its thinking beyond the level of self-improvement how-to-ism mixed on occasion with a frightening guru-ism. When someone with original ideas comes along, that person doesn't seem to have an interest in founding a large movement (being a cult leader is too self-limiting...the personal needs of the leader are more important than growing the movement). The late Jane Roberts, who spoke for transcription under the voice of "Seth," was original and very influential on the level of ideas, but seems not to have thought in terms of building a movement OR a cult. One could say good for her! But perhaps someone else with original ideas such as hers (but without the embarrassment of channeling) will come along to unify the broad base of the New Age and to integrate it with environmentalism, the peace movement, social and racial justice issues, etc.
That sounds more like a political movement than a religious one. But for some people those are one and the same, so it might work
 
That sounds more like a political movement than a religious one. But for some people those are one and the same, so it might work
Good point. The Christian Right weds theology and politics. The New Age seems to attach its quasi-theological conceptions mostly to progressive politics. A broad-based New Age religion would have to offer potentially transformational spiritual experience based on consistent theological beliefs (not necessarily including a god or gods) and to speak to individual AS WELL AS social needs on a level that at least MIMICS profundity. The politics would make sense in terms of the religion's core beliefs but would not replace such beliefs; and the resulting activism would not be seen as a substitute for the spiritually transformative experience. Whether the New Age movement is capable of providing real spiritual transformation is a different issue.
 
Been watching a documentary on Netflix about it and the Rajneeshees were doing pretty good for a while. I bet if they weren't busted for immigration or the leadership was stopped before doing the terrorism stuff, they'd be much bigger than Scientology by now. Especially since eventually the Oregon courts ruled in their favor regarding the incorporation of their own municipality.
The Bloom County newspaper strip had a storyline with Bill the Cat joining a parody of that group.
 
Good point. The Christian Right weds theology and politics. The New Age seems to attach its quasi-theological conceptions mostly to progressive politics. A broad-based New Age religion would have to offer potentially transformational spiritual experience based on consistent theological beliefs (not necessarily including a god or gods) and to speak to individual AS WELL AS social needs on a level that at least MIMICS profundity. The politics would make sense in terms of the religion's core beliefs but would not replace such beliefs; and the resulting activism would not be seen as a substitute for the spiritually transformative experience. Whether the New Age movement is capable of providing real spiritual transformation is a different issue.


This is why I recommended the Rajneeshee movement. It's a New Age group and they built and incorporated a damn city in Oregon. Then they did the largest bioterrorism attack in history...
 
Actually, for all its references to "classical" paganism I would say that the modern Wiccan movement probably qualifies as a new religion. Many religions are syncretic, putting together bits and pieces of previous faiths to build a new faith. Some old elements are rejected, some accepted, and some new elements added. Think of the pathway Judaism - Christianity - Islam - (Bahai) as an example.
 
The Rajneesh movement and Wicca are only two among hundreds of New Age movements and trends, the Rajneesh entity being cultic and centralized and Wicca being decentralized and including strands that are very much opposed to cultic manipulation and exploitation. But both have or had a too narrow appeal. Although Wicca has included highly intelligent promoters such as Dion Fortune and Margot Adler, it has had a hundred years to gain public traction and has not yet done so. Likewise the New Age has made many attempts to merge mainstream elements of Hinduism and Buddhism (including Tibetan Buddhism) with Western esotericism--to create something new and lasting--but none of these efforts has taken hold for very long.
 
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