The Rising World Religion
Neo-paganism, Neo-satanism or Neo-christianity - What's the Difference?
by Berit Kjos, July 2005
"Stop looking too far into things and ruining it for the youth. ... Stop casting judgment on symbols.... I am a Satanist, but don't judge me as a Satan worshipper. I have no guilt of what I do. It is Christians who should feel guilt." Jasyn, a visitor to our website
"I believe in GOD. I go to church, I pray. I love Harry Potter. It's a fun movie, and in NO way promotes 'evil' witchcraft. That is why the characters are 'good' characters." Laura, a visitor to our website.
"I play Dungeons & Dragons, read comic books, watch Star Wars, play video games, and believe in one of God's great mysteries: evolution. I am also a Christian. These things are not mutually exclusive. Stories are a gift He gave us to entertain, explain, and educate. By telling and glorifying something like magic, we don't teach that it is right. We teach that it is fun." Louis, a visitor to our website"...the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light...." John 3:19
Eighteen-year old Jason is a practicing witch. His Methodist parents don't appreciate his chosen religion, but neither do they interfere with it. They took him to church when he was younger, but Jason wasn't satisfied. Now, years later, he feels "connected" to the mystical forces of the Craft. He still claims to believe "in God and Jesus," but he knows that his beliefs differ from the Christian faith. And he admits that his mystical "energy" has a dark as well as a light side. By working with "dolls like those used in voodoo," he can use this power to hurt as well as heal people.
In the article "Teen witch caught up in spells," Jason shares his thoughts:
"When I was 11, I was just getting into it. I gathered my cousins and instructed them to stand in a circle. I didn't know anything really but I had seen it in a movie called The Craft and I repeated something I heard from it. There was this boy our age who lived next door and I didn't like him much, so I got a needle and made them prick their fingers, smeared the blood on a piece of paper and, in my mind, I visualised him being punished in some way. In the evening, he was out on his bike, he fell off... and cut himself up badly. I stopped because I didn't really want to harm or kill anyone.... Persons who practice witchcraft aren't necessarily evil or dark. It has to do with intent. A person can be either good or bad."[1]
Either good or bad? Just like the Force in Star Wars? It all sounds so familiar to postmodern youth raised on enchanting fantasies and pagan myths. Why not think outside the old box of the Bible and pursue dreams of power and greatness? Why not follow visions that stir passion for seductive mysteries and unconditional power?
Jason's story illustrates a phenomenon that is changing the spiritual climate around the world. After decades of immersion in psycho-social strategies such as "values clarification" and "critical thinking" through the public schools, the new generation has little tolerance for absolute truths and moral values. Young people have learned to rethink their parents' values and justify creating their own evolving values. Immersed in the global media with its hostility toward Christianity and its titillating spiritual alternatives, they have also learned to mix and match suggestions from any number of spiritual sources. Many, like Jason, have rejected Christianity but still claim some of the presumed benefits of believing that "God and Jesus" exist.
Caught up in these shifting currents and merging
values of popular culture, the old religious divisions are dissolving fast. As
the new ethic of tolerance and unconditional "respect" grinds away at Biblical
obstacles to "common ground," opposites unite and contrary beliefs melt
together into a more popular synthesis. As a result, we see new forms of
"Christianity" rising all around us -- flexible, evolving models shaped
to fit both the global quest for connectedness and the personal quest for
"feel-good" experiences. Naturally, the same process is also squeezing
witchcraft, Buddhism, moderate (not militant) Islam, and even Satanism into
its universal mold.
A modern version of Satanism? That was the
aim of two California students who started a "Satanism club" at San Mateo High
School. Calling it "The Satanic Thought Society," they planned to study the
teachings of Anton LaVey (who founded the Church of Satan) and "the
philosophical teachings of alternative religions." Shedding the old dark edges
that offend and frighten, they promised to present a new face: no "devil
worship," no rituals, no black magic.[2]
"These young men are really interested in the philosophical teachings of alternative religions," explained their principal, Jacqueline McEvoy. It's true. Like neo-pagans, neo-satanists are now mixing and matching diverse customs as they invent their own beliefs. The Church of Satan website illustrates the new synthesis well:
"We live by the Golden Rule, ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.’... Christians do not have a patent or trademark on the word, ‘God.’... Many Satanists do not envision an abyss which separates the creator from the created. God is not only in my life, God [not Satan] is my life. Simply put, God IS. ... Satanists generally believe God is diffused through nature and consciously expressed through you!"[2]
This blend of personal pantheism and collective monism has seeped into traditional religions: god is everywhere and in everything. Therefore, all is god, and everything is interconnected. Therefore, all is one. Shirley McLaine proclaimed it, neo-pagans affirm it, and Al Gore (promoted as a faithful Baptist by Christianity Today) described it in his 1992 book, Earth in the Balance:
"The richness and diversity of our religious tradition throughout history is a spiritual resource long ignored by people of faith, who are often afraid to open their minds to teachings first offered outside their own system of belief. But the emergence of a civilization in which knowledge moves freely and almost instantaneously throughout the world has... spurred a renewed investigation of the wisdom distilled by all faiths. This pan-religious perspective may prove especially important where our global civilization's responsibility for the earth is concerned."[3] (See Al Gore's Vision of Global Salvation)
While neo-pagans adapt and redefine Christian terminology, neo-christians seem just as willing to embrace ancient mysticism and popular occult notions. They imagine a permissive God who, like pagan gods through the centuries, is made in the image of man and can be manipulated into doing their will. For Jonathan, who sent us the comment below, the Star Wars series provides the perfect context for change:
"I am 16, and was raised a Christian. I am active in my church, and am close to my Pastor. I am also a fan of entertainment.... In my youth group at church, our guide had us watch... three Star Wars [movies] one afternoon. She wanted us to see the Biblical Truths in them. We discussed how the force represents God in all of us."
Ashamed of the cross and afraid to offend, other neo-christians have renounced the very heart of our faith: Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. Others may not stray quite as far from truth, but they still follow "pied pipers" such as Dr. Peter Senge, Ken Blanchard and other management gurus who train leaders around the world in the collective thinking of General Systems Theory -- an esoteric New Age philosophy that permeates today's global transformation of business, governments, churches and ministries.[4]
Nowhere is the growing hostility against Biblical truth more evident than in the classroom.[5] An assignment from the "Kids" page of the United Religions Initiative (URI) website illustrates the mind-changing tactics that drive the transformation. The "United Religions" works with UNESC0 and its global education system to establish a spiritual form of "unity in diversity." But UNESCO and its supportive partners around the world cannot mold the world into the new spiritual model until they "free" or "unfreeze" its people from their "divisive" and "extremist" old truths. The following assignment models a process that has proven its transforming power:
"For this assignment, students will be writing a paper or story in which they will create their own religion. It should include the major components they have studied, including sacred texts, basic beliefs, holy places and spaces, as well as holidays or festivals. It could also include special passages, symbols, icons, and whatever concept of God or holy guides the religion has.... The possibilities are endless -- their imaginations and your boundaries are the limits.... Another possibility would be for students to make presentations... and answer questions as if they are the leader of the religion."[6]
Aaron, another visitor to our website, didn't learn his values from this URI lesson, yet he demonstrates its natural outcome. After reading our comments about Dungeons and Dragons, he sent us the following message:
"I am a Dungeon Master. I am in the midst of designing a world for my friends to participate in.... I am twenty years old, play D&D every week with my friends, and still believe in God. I come from a very strong Christian background."
Like Tolkien, whose heart was fixed on the mythical world of Nordic paganism, Aaron is fascinated by medieval myths and magical worlds. "I have almost completed my campaign world, more specifically the mythology of the world," he wrote. "I have researched many different mythologies that we as a planet have had. Everything from the primitive Olympian gods to the currently worshiped Buddhist culture in the east." And, like Tolkien, Aaron has designed an alternate world based on "primitive cultures religion." But while he delights in the pagan medieval world, he still clings to his identity as a Christian.
"After all, it is the medieval times, and one filled with magic and such. So, I have many gods, somewhat similar to the Nordic mythology of old. But, because I created these gods, that does not mean that I have lost my way with the Lord. I still am a good Christian and do everything a good Christian should.... I know better than to abandon the Lord, but I have been participating in Dungeons and Dragons for 7 years now."
