Photo above:  The Branch Davidians’ “Mount Carmel Center” compound
near Waco, Texas, burns during an attack by FBI Agents on 2-28-93.

Smaller Religions & Modern Cults

(Essay #26, at 7-14-25)

Introduction

Note: This book of Essays, Nature’s Path of Continuing Creation, is opposed to biblical, fundamentalist, “Creationism.”

This Essay presents our brief remarks on ~50 selected Smaller Religions and Modern Cults. In general, Agents of Nature’s Continuing Creation oppose modern cults and most unusual spiritual paths because they involve myths and miracle stories.  First, let us define what we mean by “Spiritual” versus what we mean by “Secular-Spiritual.”

> If a Practice advocates belief in one or more Gods or goddesses, it is “Spiritual.“

> If a Practice advocates belief in supernatural “forces” (e.g., “reincarnation,” or “the law of attraction”), even if it has no belief in a God, it is “Spiritual.“

> If a Practice advocates only natural forces and systems (e.g., algebra, metabolism, thermodynamics, and evolution,), it is “Secular-Spiritual.“

> Therefore, the Practice of Nature’s Continuing Creation is Secular-Spiritual.  (For background, see our Essay “Forerunners to Our Path & Practice.”) 

Some of the ~50 listed cults and smaller religions are included because of the human suffering they have caused or continue to cause. Others were chosen for their nuggets of wisdom. Still others were chosen for their sheer weirdness. Nearly all of them are relatively modern.  Most of them have taken place in the United States, reflecting the fact that these are most familiar to your American author, J.X. Mason.

Most of the practices listed in this Essay have been paraphrased from their respective Wikipedia articles, as of 2023 and 2024.  J.X. Mason has chosen not to list the cited footnotes; readers can easily find those citations at the end of the respective Wikipedia articles online.

Wikipedia refers to all these minority spiritual paths and cults as “New Religious Movements,” a neutral term chosen to offend the fewest readers.  A few of our entries have used other, non-Wiki documents as their primary source.  In these cases, we have been careful to cite those other “primary sources.” As always, our evaluative comments are in *bolded brown type.*

Wikipedia itself has an excellent “List of New Religious Movements,” which covers a great many cults and strange spiritual Paths. It is a very long list.  Interested readers should take a look.  

Additionally, approximately 20 images of “Venn Diagrams of Irrational Nonsense” are available online. These extensive diagrams utilize overlapping fields to illustrate the complex interconnections between various “New Religious Movements.”  The Book of Continuing Creation opposes nearly everything shown in the Diagrams of Irrational Nonsense. See: http://crispian-jago.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-venn-diagram-of-irrational-nonsense.html.

We’ve presented our list in alphabetical order.  (We thought about a chronological order that would show the effect of earlier spiritual paths on later paths, but we decided instead to mention the essential historical connections between the entries on our list.) 

Note: Our own Path & Practice of Nature’s Continuing Creation does not have an entry in this Essay, because it is not a “cult” and not strictly a “spiritual” path. Instead, our Path & Practice is based on scientific and historical knowledge.  As science and history are extended, corrected, & clarified, so must our own Path & Practice be extended, corrected, & clarified. 

Elsewhere in our book about Nature’s Continuing Creation, J.X. Mason has noted that religions and spiritual paths emerge because they are perceived as solutions to the life problems of people at certain times and places. These evolved solutions break into two groups:

 A. Practical Real-world Solutions:

• Promise a better life here and now through revolution or conquest;
• Promise a better future through creativity and technology,
• Promise rescue by a more prosperous, more enlightened country or international agency;   
• Reform of the present culture – more morality, more justice, more sharing, more jobs.

B. Spiritual / Mental Solutions, – i.e., New Invented Religions:

• They may invent a religion that features:  Rescue by a messiah; and/or
• Promise of a second life in a supernatural heaven; and/or
• Provides a means of mental escape here on Earth.

The illusory beliefs in Group B point to the high probability of continually inventing new religions, given sufficient misery & gullibility of the populace.

“A” things may combine with “B” things to create “Secular Religions” – such as Communism or Nazism. “A” things may also combine with “B” things to develop fanciful expectations of supernatural solutions expected to happen here on Earth.  These are the anticipated “solutions” we see in many of the Cults and Unusual Spiritual Paths we list in this Essay.

Here are some of the characteristics readers should look for in the Cults and Spiritual Paths on our List: 

• Secret knowledge, knowledge that outsiders do not have.
• A handsome, charismatic, self-confident, narcissistic leader with an excellent speaking voice.
• A path that offers integrated, on-Earth solutions to all the followers’ problems.
• Provides a solution now, soon, or just after death. (e.g., Jesus returns and leads the Kingdom of God on Earth.)
• Communal living. Everybody is equal (except the exalted leader and his lieutenants).
• The Leader often takes over the wealth of the followers.
• The Leader often takes over sexual access to the young and beautiful followers.
• The experience of a special “rising up” (feeling carried away by the presence of God) that outsiders will not experience.

 As you see these features in the various Cults and Paths that we list below, remember that the same features are present in respected dystopian novels, such as The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood or George Orwell’s book, 1984.    

Remember that there is significant human capacity to believe all kinds of nonsense – Sedona Arizona vortexes, “auditing” in Scientology, the healing power of crystals, rejection of modern medicine, the angel Moroni, the extreme Communism of the Khmer Rouge, speaking in tongues, the burning of witches.  Only the lamp of reason, critical thinking, and evidence-based intellectual inquiry stand against such nonsense.   

The Practice of Continuing Natural Creation finds many Shortcomings, and some Strengths, in each of the “one-off” Practices & Paths that we list below.  We insert the word Strength, or the word Shortcoming, to quickly express our evaluation of each of the Paths. 

Note: For a baseline comparison of the practices below to a modern, debated, secular moral and ethical document, see Wikipedia’s article, “Humanist Manifesto,“ online.  Also, see three of our own Essays:

• “Leading an Ethical, Moral Life“
• “Leading a Virtuous & Honorable Life”
• “Leading a Fulfilled & Happy Life“

Our List of Smaller Religions & Modern Cults:
(Presented in Alphabetical Order)

Amish and Mennonites  (1694 to now)

The Old Order Amish (often abbreviated to ‘the Amish’) are a group of traditionalist Anabaptist Christian church fellowships with origins in Switzerland, Germany, and Alsace. The Old Order Amish are known for simple living, plain dress, Christian pacifism, and self-sufficiency.  They are slow to adopt many conveniences of modern technology, with the goal of not interrupting family time or replacing face-to-face conversations. The Amish value rural life, manual labor, humility, and Gelassenheit (submission to God’s will).

In the early 18th century, many Old Order Amish and the less restrictive Mennonites immigrated to Pennsylvania. Today, most Amish speak a variant of German called “Pennsylvania Dutch,” (aka, “Pennsylvania Deutsche“). As of 2021, over 350,000 Old Order Amish lived in the United States, and about 6,000 lived in Canada. Non-Amish people are generally referred to as “The English” by the Amish.

Amish church membership begins with adult baptism, usually between the ages of 16 and 23. Church districts have between 20 and 40 families, and worship services are held every other Sunday in a member’s home or barn.

The “Ordnung” (rules of the church) must be observed by every member and covers many aspects of day-to-day living, including prohibitions or limitations on the use of power-line electricity, telephones, and automobiles, as well as regulations on clothing.

The Amish typically operate their one-room schools and discontinue formal education after the eighth grade. Most Amish do not buy commercial insurance or participate in Social Security. Like many present-day Anabaptists, Amish church members practice nonviolence and will not participate in any military service.

In the second half of the 19th century, the Amish were divided into Old Order Amish and Amish Mennonites. The Mennonites may drive motorcars, whereas the Old Order Amish do not, retaining much of their traditional culture and embracing limited technology.

There is much to recommend the Amish and Mennonite ways of life.  After the impending energy crisis devastates Earth’s ecosystem, communal living may save our ecosystem and all humanity, provided it is based on sustainability. — JXM

Bahá’í Faith  (1848 to now)

The Bahá’í Faith is a monotheistic religion emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. It has about 6 million followers.

It was founded in 19th-century Persia by Bahá’u’lláh (1817-1892).  He was exiled for his teachings, from Persia to the Ottoman Empire, where he died while still officially a prisoner. After Bahá’u’lláh’s death, under the leadership of his son, `Abdu’l-Bahá, the religion spread from its Persian and Ottoman roots, gained a footing in Europe and America and was consolidated in Iran, where it still suffers intense persecution. There are probably more than 5 million Bahá’ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories.

In the Bahá’í Faith, religious history is viewed as unfolding through a series of divine messengers, each of whom established a religion tailored to the needs of the time and the capacity of the people. These messengers have included figures from the Abrahamic and Dharmic traditions — Krishna, Moses, Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, and others. For Bahá’ís, the most recent messengers are Bahá’u’lláh and the Báb.

Shoghi Effendi, the appointed head of the religion from 1921 to 1957, wrote the following summary of what he considered to be the distinguishing principles of Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings, which, he said, together with the laws and ordinances of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, constitute the bedrock of the Bahá’í Faith.

The following principles are frequently listed as a quick summary of the Bahá’í teachings. They are derived from transcripts of speeches given by `Abdu’l-Bahá during his tour of Europe and North America in 1912: (The list is not authoritative; a variety of such lists circulate)

• Unity of God
• Unity of religions
• Unity of humankind
• Equality between men and women
• Elimination of all forms of prejudice
• World peace
• Harmony of religion and science
• Independent investigation of the truth
• Principle of Ever-Advancing Civilization
• Universal compulsory education
• Universal auxiliary language
• Elimination of extremes of wealth and poverty
• Obedience to government and non-involvement in partisan politics, unless submission to law amounts to a denial of Faith.

Regarding the pursuit of world peace, Bahá’u’lláh prescribed a world-embracing collective security arrangement as necessary for establishing a lasting peace. [32]

Although the Bahá’í teachings place a strong emphasis on social and ethical issues, several foundational texts have been described as mystical. “The Seven Valleys” is considered to be  Bahá’u’lláh’s “greatest mystical composition.” It outlines the stages of the soul’s journey toward God. It was first translated into English in 1906. The Hidden Words is another book written by Bahá’u’lláh during the same period, containing 153 short passages that present spiritual truths in brief form. (Note: The author of Nature’s Continuing Creation, J.X. Mason, says that the Bahá’í has an excellent list of Principles, bulleted above, but he has not read any of the Bahá’í’s mystical foundational texts.)

The Branch Davidians & their leader, David Koresh  (1885 -1993)

Note: The primary source here is not Wikipedia, but The Critical Dictionary of Apocalyptic and Millenarian Movements.  Also, see the Wikipedia article on the “Branch Davidians.”

The Branch Davidians were a splinter group of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA), whose members believed in the imminent return of Jesus and that living, modern-day prophets could interpret the hidden meanings of God’s Word, as written in the Bible. Jesus’ “imminent return” means he will return to rule a “Kingdom of God” to be located here on Earth. (John 14:2-3).  The several protestant denominations that preach that Jesus will return to Earth and govern a 1,000-year Kingdom of God on Earth, before the Last Judgment, as foretold in the New Testament’s Book of Revelation, are called “Millennialists.” The Seventh-day Adventists, with 20 to 25 million members worldwide, are one such denomination.

The original leader, Victor Houteff (1885–1955), claimed unique insights into the Bible’s Book of Revelation and founded the “Davidian Seventh-day Adventists.” In 1935, Houteff established his church, the “Mount Carmel Center,” near Waco, Texas.

Note: The New Testament’s crazy, blood-soaked Book of Revelation should not be a part of the Bible. Humans are perversely enticed by visions of creepy, cruel punishments – a testament to the example of Dante’s Inferno. The more extreme, the easier these fictions are believed, especially when they are repeated over and over. — J.X. Mason

After Victor Houteff died in 1955, his successor, Benjamin Roden (1902–1978), took the title “Branch” based on a passage in the Old Testament, “and a branch shall grow out of his roots” (Isaiah 11:1). His followers became known as the “Branch Davidians.”

David Koresh, born Vernon Howell (1959–1993), joined the Branch Davidians near Waco in 1981, becoming the leader of the core group by 1984. Koresh, like most successful cult leaders, was handsome and charismatic. In daily teachings at Mount Carmel, Koresh outlined his interpretations of the Book of Revelation. Koresh claimed to be the “Son of God,” the “Christ for the Last Days,” and the “Lamb of Revelation.” 

The Branch Davidian group had licenses to manufacture and sell weapons. Believing the group was illegally stockpiling weapons, the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) attempted to serve a search and arrest warrant on the ranch in February 1993.  An intense gunfight erupted, resulting in the deaths of four ATF agents and six Branch Davidians.

Then, a siege lasting 51 days was initiated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). In April 1993, the FBI began a tear gas attack in an attempt to force the Branch Davidians out of the ranch. Shortly thereafter, the Mount Carmel Center became engulfed in flames. The fire resulted in the deaths of 76 Branch Davidians, including 25 children, two pregnant women, and David Koresh. The events of the siege, the attack, and particularly the origin of the fire, are disputed by various sources.

In the years leading up to the raid by the FBI, claims of child and sexual abuse had been leveled at Koresh and the community by former members and critical relatives. Koresh did engage in sexual relations with a number of minors. In 1984, he married his wife, Rachel Jones, when she was 14, with the permission of her parents, who were longstanding members of his cult.

In 1986, Koresh claimed a divine mandate to take other “spiritual wives” from among the young women and girls within the community.  In 1989, he began teaching that all women in the community, including those married to others, were his wives; all the men, except himself, were to be celibate.  

Koresh taught that he was intended by God to father 24 children. These children would be raised within the community and would eventually serve as the “Twenty-four Elders” spoken of in the Book of Revelation (verse 4:4) who would govern during the “Millennium,” a thousand-year period when Jesus would rule as King of the Kingdom of God on Earth.

Among Koresh’s spiritual wives was Michele Jones, the sister of Rachel, who was 12 years old at the time, below the age of legal consent in Texas. Many of the women believed that it was an honor to have a child with Koresh, and parents consented to their young daughters entering extra-legal marriages. By 1993, Koresh had fathered 17 children by eight different women.  But one girl, Kiri Jewell, alleged that Koresh sexually molested her when she was only ten.

It is an appalling shortcoming of cults (and some major religions) that charismatic leaders abuse their persuasive power over followers to have sex with underage boys and girls in their congregations. But we have seen this abuse of religious power over and over across history. Such abuse has been done by Catholic priests, by Joseph Smith and early Mormon leaders, and by the Branch Davidian leader David Koresh.  — JXM

The Brethren (1970-1980)

Also known as “The Travelers” and “The Road Ministry,” the members of The Brethren shunned material possessions and family, living essentially as vagrants and taking on odd jobs to cover their expenses. The Brethren were active between 1970 and 1980.

The “Cargo Cults” of the South Pacific (1942 to now)

During WW2, both the Japanese and the Americans air-dropped and air-delivered vast amounts of military equipment and supplies to islands in the South Pacific.  Manufactured clothing, medicine, canned food, tents, weapons, and other goods arrived in vast quantities for the soldiers, who often shared some of it with the islanders who were their guides and hosts.

With the end of the war, the military abandoned the airbases and stopped dropping cargo. In response, charismatic “Big Man” islander leaders developed “Cargo Cults.” The cult leaders explained that the cargo would be gifts from their ancestors, or from mythical, powerful Americans. It is not at all clear if the Big Man leaders were sincere or were running scams on gullible populations.

 A South Pacific Island Girl wearing homemade “Radar Machines” tied over her Eyes.

On the island of Tanna, in Vanuatu, islanders were persuaded that a mythical individual named “John Frum” or “Tom Navy” would deliver the goods. The John Frum Cult is the most widely known and longest-lived cargo cult.

In attempts to retrieve cargo by parachute or land it on planes or ships again, islanders mimicked the day-to-day activities and dress styles of US soldiers, such as performing parade ground drills with wooden or salvaged rifles. They carved wooden headphones and wore them while sitting in simulated control towers. Many built life-size replicas of airplanes out of straw and cut new military-style landing strips out of the jungle, hoping to attract more airplanes.

Cults spin and sell fantasies to their gullible followers.  But religions of all sizes also sell myths and miracle stories to their followers. The magical arrival of Cargo by Air for people who build “control towers” is a lot like the promise of Heaven after death for people who confess sins, atone, say prayers, and make offerings — it is a Shortcoming.  

“The Celestine Prophecy” & “Synchronicity” (1993 to now)

The Celestine Prophecy is a 1993 best-selling novel by James Redfield, in which two travelers uncover an ancient manuscript that prepares them for a series of unique experiences.  These experiences reveal “Nine Insights,” which many regard as the “Nine Guidelines to Living a ‘New Age‘ Life:”

Nine Guidelines to Living a “New Age” Life:

1. Pay attention to chance coincidences, because they may be “Synchronicities” (i.e., coincidences that aren’t really coincidental).
2. There is a meaning and purpose in life.
3. There is a subtle energy that infuses all things.
4. An unconscious competition for energy underlies all conflicts.
5. The key to overcoming conflict is to draw our personal energy directly from the source, rather than manipulating others to gain a share of their individual energy.
6. Heal our childhood traumas.
7. Follow our inner guidance.
8. Find your tribe.
9. Create heaven on Earth.

     Note: Our Practice of Continuing Natural Creation agrees with #2, #4, #6, and #9. — JXM

Christian Science (1875 to now)

Christian Science is a set of beliefs and practices associated with members of the Church of Christ, Scientist. It was founded in 19th-century New England by Mary Baker Eddy, who wrote the 1875 book “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” which outlines the theology of Christian Science. The book became Christian Science’s central text, along with the Bible, and by 2001 had sold over nine million copies.  There are approximately 269,000 followers, with the majority residing in the United States.

From its First Church in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1894, Christian Science became the fastest-growing religion in the United States, with nearly 270,000 members there by 1936. That figure declined to just over 100,000 by 1990 and reportedly to under 50,000 by 2009. The church is known for its newspaper, The Christian Science Monitor, which won seven Pulitzer Prizes between 1950 and 2002, and for its public Reading Rooms around the world.

Ms. Eddy described Christian Science as a return to “primitive Christianity and its lost element of healing.” Adherents subscribe to a radical form of philosophical idealism, believing that reality is purely spiritual and the material world an illusion.[12] This includes the view that disease is a mental error rather than a physical disorder and that the sick should be treated not by medicine but by a form of prayer that seeks to correct the beliefs responsible for the illusion of ill health.

The church does not require Christian Scientists to avoid medical care, but maintains that Christian Science prayer is most effective when not combined with conventional medicine. Nevertheless, the reliance on prayer and avoidance of medical treatment has been blamed for the deaths of several adherents and their children. Between the 1880s and 1990s, parents and others were prosecuted for, and in a few cases convicted of, manslaughter or neglect. The rejection of modern medical science is a fundamental Shortcoming of Christian Science.

A Course in Miracles  (1965 to now)

A Course in Miracles (“ACIM” or “The Course”) is a 1976 book by Helen Schucman, a clinical psychologist and researcher.  A Course in Miracles (ACIM) was “scribed” by Schucman between 1965 and 1972.  She experienced the process as one of distinct and clear dictation from an inner voice, which had earlier identified itself to her as Jesus. Her inscription of A Course in Miracles began with these words: “This is a course in miracles. Please take notes.”

The greatest “miracle,” according to “A Course in Miracles,” is the act of simply gaining a full “awareness of love’s presence” in a person’s life. Scholars argue that the book has been primarily influenced by writings from the New Age movement. Christian critics say that ACIM is “intensely anti-biblical” and incompatible with Christianity, blurring the distinction between creator and created and forcefully supporting the occult and New Age worldview. 

The psychiatrist and author Gerald G. Jampolsky’s first book, “Love is Letting Go of Fear,” which is based on the principles of ACIM, was published in 1979. With the help of promotions on Oprah Winfrey and Johnny Carson, over three million copies of A Course in Miracles were sold. Marianne Williamson, an announced candidate for U.S. President in 2020 and 2024, promoted the book on past Oprah Winfrey Shows.

“Deprogramming” — Exiting a Cult  (1960s to now)

Joining a Modern Cult (or even an Unusual Spiritual Path) can damage a person’s psyche.  A number of modern cults require members to give all their worldly goods to the cult leader, and some even require that female members must provide sexual access to the Leader.  A good number of clinics have arisen that “de-program” or “straighten out” escaped cult members who are trying to return to conventional beliefs and a mainstream lifestyle. However, if the deprogrammer is “mis-motivated” or poorly trained, the prescribed cure can be worse than the disease.

For more, see the Wikipedia article on “Deprogramming.” Readers can search for legitimate deprogrammers by consulting a licensed physician or psychologist for assistance.  If a family is trying to “retrieve” a loved one from a cult, consulting an attorney is also a good idea. — J.X. Mason 

Ecumenical Movement  (1920s to now)

The Ecumenical Movement is a mainstream Christian movement teaching that all Christian denominations, including Catholics, should work, sometimes worship together, and honor each other. While it is laudable that the world’s religions should engage in dialogue with one another, most of them need to eliminate their own reliance on supernatural gods and goddesses.

Esoteric Thought & Practices  (Ancient times to now)

Scholars broadly agree on which currents of thought fall within the category of Western esotericism, ranging from ancient Gnosticism and Hermeticism (including alchemy, astrology, and theosophy) to Rosicrucianism and the Jewish Kabbalah, and on to more recent phenomena such as the New Age movement. Nevertheless, scholars specializing in the subject disagree as to how best to define it.

1. One scholar views “esotericism” as a perennial “hidden inner tradition.”
2. A second perspective views esotericism as a category of movements that embrace an “enchanted” worldview in response to increasing disenchantment.
3. A third view regards Western esotericism as encompassing all of Western culture’s “rejected knowledge” that is neither accepted by the scientific establishment nor by orthodox religious authorities. These things would include magic, seances, fairies, wizards, fortune-telling, folklore, and alchemy.

Nature’s Continuing Creation aims to steer clear of all forms of the esoteric. Our Practice is based on Nature, Science, and History, without any myths or miracle stories.

Existentialism (Late 1800s to 1946)

Existentialism is a fully developed philosophy, not “a cult” nor a “smaller religion.” Therefore, we don’t cover it in this Essay.  Instead, see our Essay, Forerunners to Our Path & Practice.

Falun Gong (1990s to now)

Falun Gong emerged toward the end of China’s “Qigong boom“ — a period, circa 1990-2000, that saw a proliferation of practices involving meditation, slow-moving energy exercises, and regulated breathing. Falun Gong combines meditation and qigong exercises with a moral philosophy. The practice emphasizes morality and the cultivation of virtue and is identified as a practice of the Buddhist school, though its teachings also incorporate elements drawn from Taoist traditions. Through moral rectitude and the practice of meditation, practitioners of Falun Gong aspire to eliminate attachments and, ultimately, to achieve secular-spiritual enlightenment. 

In October 1999, the Chinese Communist Party initiated a nationwide crackdown and multifaceted propaganda campaign directed against the practice of Falun Gong, calling it a “heretical organization” that threatened social stability. Falun Gong still has hundreds of thousands of members worldwide.

       The practices of Falun Gong, as described by Wikipedia, seem innocuous. However, additional studies could reveal more to the story. — J.X. Mason.

Free Masonry  (circa 1400 to today)

Freemasonry, or Masonry, refers to fraternal organizations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons, which, from the end of the 14th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interactions with authorities and clients. Freemasonry is the oldest fraternity in the world and one of the oldest continuous organizations in history. 

There are roughly 6 million Freemasons worldwide. While Christians believe that people will be saved and enter Heaven if they accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior, Freemasons believe that a man will be saved and go to Heaven in reward for his good works and personal self-improvement. In the Masonic view, the Bible is not considered the exclusive Word of God, nor is it considered God’s sole revelation to humankind; rather, it is only one of many religious sourcebooks.  Masons consider most of them to be good guides for morality and ethics.

Above: The ancient symbol of Freemasonry.  “G” may be an abbreviation for “God.” The “Compass & Square” are tools used by stone masons and architects.

In the Masonic View, there is no doctrine that Jesus Christ was or is God. It is deemed to be un-Masonic to invoke the name of Jesus when praying or even mentioning His name in the Masonic Lodge. Suggesting that Jesus is the only way to God contradicts Freemasonry’s principle of tolerance.

Masonry teaches that man is not sinful, just “rude and imperfect by nature.” Human beings can improve their character and behavior in various ways, including acts of charity, moral living, and the voluntary performance of civic duties. Humanity possesses the ability to move from imperfection toward total perfection. Masonry teaches that the Great Architect of the Universe, whom Masonry believes is the true God of the universe, is representative of all gods in all religions.

The Strengths of modern-day Masonry are its tolerance, common sense, strong links to creative construction, rejection of original sin, and commitment to individual self-improvement, civic duty, and charitable giving.

Masonry’s emphases on action and improvement are very consistent with Nature’s Path of Continuing Creation.
For more about Freemasonry, see our Essay, Forerunners to Our Path & Practice.  

Fundamentalist Christianity in America (1740s to today)

Today (2025), in the United States, the Fundamentalist-Christian Denominations have become increasingly political under the banner of the “Religious Right.” Many of them work diligently to oppose evolutionary science, gay marriage, and abortion.

Note: Author Margaret Atwood, in her 1985 novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, and her 2019 sequel, The Testaments, has written a chilling dystopian forecast of the New Dark Age that might descend upon the U.S. if the Religious Right were to gain complete political power.

The Gaia Movement  (1970 to now)

The concept, “Gaia,” or “Mother Nature,” has evolved from biology, human culture, and environmental consciousness.

The Gaia Movement (or Gaianism) is an earth-centered philosophical, holistic (wholistic), and secular-spiritual belief that shares expressions with Earth religions and paganism. The term describes a worldview that implies a transpersonal devotion to Earth as a global superorganism. The Gaia Movement aims to mitigate global warming, promote sustainable farming and industry practices, and restore the Earth’s ecosystems to their natural state of health. Many commentators associate the Gaia Movement with “New Age” (For more on “New Age,” see below.)

The Gaia Movement is an essential forerunner to the practice of Nature’s Continuing Creation.  (See our Essay, Forerunners to Our Path & Practice)

Hare Krishnas  (1400s and again in the 1960s)

A “Hare Krishna” is a member of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (“ISKON”), which is one of the mainstream schools of Hinduism. As a mainstream school of Hinduism, we will not say much about ISKON in this Essay. In the late 1960s through the 1970s, Hare Krishnas were frequently seen chanting in American streets, parks, and airports.  Hare Krishnas follow a “lacto-vegetarian” diet, and do not consume intoxicants, gamble, or engage in “illicit sex.”

“Heaven’s Gate”  (1970s to 1997)

“Heaven’s Gate“ was an American cult founded in 1974 by Bonnie Nettles and Marshall Applewhite, who attracted a following of several hundred people in the mid-1970s. The central belief of the group was that followers could transform themselves into immortal extraterrestrial beings by rejecting their human nature, and then ascend to a kind of heaven, referred to as the “Next Level” or “The Evolutionary Level Above Human.”

The death of Nettles from cancer in 1985 challenged the group’s views on ascension; where they initially believed that they would ascend to heaven while alive aboard a UFO, they later came to believe that the body was merely a “container” or “vehicle” for the soul and that their consciousness would be transferred to new “Next Level bodies” upon death. On March 26, 1997, deputies of the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department discovered the bodies of the 39 active members of the group, including that of Applewhite, in a house in the San Diego suburb of Rancho Santa Fe. They had participated in a mass suicide, a coordinated series of ritual suicides, coinciding with the closest approach to Earth of Comet Hale–Bopp.

Jehovah’s Witnesses  (1880 to now)

The Jehovah’s Witnesses are known for their door-to-door preaching, distributing literature such as The Watchtower, and refusing military service and blood transfusions. They consider the use of God’s name (“Jehovah”) vital for proper worship. They reject the Trinity, the inherent immortality of the soul, and hellfire. They do not observe Christmas, Easter, and birthdays because they have pagan origins incompatible with Christianity.

They consider “human society” to be morally corrupt and under the influence of Satan, and most limit their social interaction with non-witnesses. Congregational disciplinary actions include formal expulsion and shunning, which are considered a last resort for serious offenses. The denomination’s “Watch Tower Societies” have made various unfulfilled predictions about major biblical events such as Christ’s Second Coming, the advent of God’s Kingdom on Earth, and Armageddon.  Alas, this denomination has little to recommend it — J.X. Mason.

The People’s Temple Cult & the Deadly “Flavor-Aid”  (1955-1978)

James Warren Jones, known as Jim Jones, (May 13, 1931 – November 18, 1978), was an American preacher, political activist, and mass murderer. He led the People’s Temple, a new religious movement, between 1955 and 1978. In what he called “revolutionary suicide”, Jones and the members of his inner circle orchestrated a mass murder-suicide in his remote jungle commune at Jonestown, Guyana, on November 18, 1978. Jones and the events that occurred at Jonestown have had a defining influence on society’s perception of cults.

Jim Jones, Infamous leader of the People’s Temple Cult 

Jones was ordained as a Christian minister in the Independent Assemblies of God, attracting his first group of followers while participating in the Pentecostal Latter Rain movement and the Healing Revival during the 1950s. Jones distinguished himself through civil rights activism, founding the Temple as a fully integrated congregation, and promoting socialism.

Beginning in the late 1960s, reports of abuse began to surface as Jones became increasingly vocal in his rejection of traditional Christianity and began promoting a form of communism he called “Apostolic Socialism” and making claims of his own divinity. Jones became progressively more controlling of his followers in the People’s Temple, which at its peak had over 3,000 members.

Following a period of negative media publicity and reports of abuse at Peoples Temple, Jones ordered the construction of the Jonestown commune in Guyana in 1974 and convinced or compelled many of his followers to live there with him. Jones claimed that he was constructing a socialist paradise free from the oppression of the United States government. By 1978, reports surfaced of human rights abuses and accusations that people were being held in Jonestown against their will.

U.S. Representative Leo Ryan led a delegation to the commune in November of that year to investigate these reports. While boarding a return flight with some former Temple members who wished to leave, Ryan and four others were murdered by gunmen from Jonestown. Jones then ordered a mass murder-suicide that claimed the lives of 909 commune members, 304 of them children; almost all of the members died by drinking Flavor Aid laced with cyanide.

   The People’s Temple was a true cult with the usual cult characteristics:  A charismatic & narcissistic leader;  financial & sexual abuse;  and a violent & tragic end. — JXM.

Judaism (600 BCE to now)

With only about 15.5 million Jews worldwide, Judaism qualifies for inclusion in this list as a “Smaller Religion.” (Christianity has 2.6 billion followers, Islam has about 1.9 billion, Hinduism has roughly 1.0 billion, Taoism has 8.7 million, and Buddhism has 0.5 billion.) 

But Judaism is by no means a “cult” nor an “unusual spiritual path.” Judaism continues to have a profound impact on the world stage. It provided a historical basis for Christianity, Islam, the Bahá’í Faith, Samaritanism, the Druze, and Rastafari. Together, these six are known as the “Abrahamic Religions.” All of their theological traditions are influenced by the depiction of the God of Israel in the Hebrew Bible, and all of them trace their roots to Abraham as their original patriarch. 

God is monotheistic in the Abrahamic Religions. All the other religions of the same era are polytheistic, i.e., they have multiple Gods and Goddesses. In Judaism, God is conceived as unique and perfect, free from all faults and deficiencies. and further held to be omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, and completely infinite in all of His attributes. He has no partner or equal, being the sole creator of everything in existence.

In Judaism, God is often depicted as masculine and is referred to as Yahweh (i.e., Jehovah). He is never portrayed in any image, because he transcends portrayal. (The same holds true in Islam.) The idea of God as a duality or trinity is heretical in both Judaism and Islam, and such a portrayal would be considered akin to polytheism. God is an indivisible and incomparable being, beyond all forms of human thought and expression. In Judaism, God is conceived as anthropomorphic, unique, benevolent, eternal, the creator of the universe, and the ultimate source of morality. God is not merely a projection of the human psyche. Traditional interpretations of Judaism generally emphasize that God is both personal and transcendent, able to intervene in the world, while some modern interpretations of Judaism emphasize that God is an impersonal force or an ideal rather than a supernatural being concerned with the universe.

Judaism is an ethnic religion. It comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jewish people, having originated as an organized religion in the Middle East during the Bronze Age (3300 BCE to 1200 BCE). Contemporary Judaism evolved from “Yahwism,” the cultic religious movement of ancient Israel and Judah, around the 6th or 5th century BCE, and is thus considered one of the oldest monotheistic religions. 

Some suggest that strict monotheism developed during the Babylonian Exile, perhaps in reaction to Zoroastrian dualism. In this view, it was only during the Hellenistic period that most Jews came to believe that their god was the only god, and that the notion of a clearly bounded Jewish nation, identical with the Jewish religion, began to form. The biblical scholar John Day argues that the origins of biblical Yahweh, El, Asherah, and Ba’al may be rooted in an earlier Canaanite religion, which was centered on a pantheon of gods similar to the ancient Greek pantheon.

In the Bible, Abraham is hailed as the first Hebrew and the father of the Jewish people. As a reward for his act of faith in one God, he was promised that Isaac, his second son, would inherit the “Promised Land,” then called Canaan.

Later, the descendants of Isaac’s son Jacob were supposedly enslaved in Egypt, and God commanded Moses to lead the Exodus from Egypt. However, most scholars believe that the Israelites never actually lived in captivity in Egypt and that Moses, not the Pharaoh, supposedly led the Israelites out of Egypt and into Canaan. After exiting Egypt, the Israelites received the Torah — the five books of Moses in the desert at Mount Sinai. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of observing God’s Covenant with Moses (including the Ten Commandments), which was established at Sinai between God and the Israelites. 

In much of the Jewish Bible, Yahweh is a God of war. After Sinai, He actively helps the Jews, led by their warrior-general Joshua, conquer Canaan, their “promised land.” And shortly after victory in the war, God directs the Jews to kill all the Canaanites in a Biblical “ethnic cleansing.” (Canaan was located roughly where Palestine and Israel are today.)

In the Book of Deuteronomy, Verses 7.102 and in 20.16-18, God commands the Israelites to exterminate all the Canaanites: 

“When the Lord your God brings you into the land where you are entering to take possession of it, and He drives away many nations from before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you, and when the Lord your God turns them over to you and you defeat them, you shall utterly destroy them. You shall not make a covenant with them nor be gracious to them.  Furthermore, you shall not intermarry with them: you shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor shall you take their daughters for your sons. For they will turn your sons away from following Me, and they will serve other gods…” (New American Standard Version of the Bible)

Note: As of November 2023, Jewish Israel and the Islamic Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip are at war… again. This is the 17th war or conflict between Israel and militant Islamist factions since 1948. See Wikipedia’s List of Wars Involving Israel.

Eventually, the Israelites constructed a tabernacle (“Solomon’s Temple”) in the city of Jerusalem. As time went on, the spiritual level of the nation declined to the point that God allowed the Philistines (forerunners of today’s Palestinians) to capture the tabernacle. The people of Israel then told Samuel the Prophet that they needed to be governed by a permanent king, and Samuel appointed Saul to be their King. However, when the people pressured Saul into disobeying a command given to him by Samuel, God instructed Samuel to appoint David as King instead.

Modern Jewish religious doctrine encompasses a vast array of texts, practices, theological positions, and organizational forms. Among Judaism’s core texts is the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy), which are the first five books of the Tanakh. The Tanakh, known in English as the Hebrew Bible, is also referred to as the “Old Testament“ in Christianity. In addition to the original written scripture, the supplemental “Oral Torah” comprises later texts, including the Midrash and the Talmud.

Today, the largest Jewish religious movements are Orthodox Judaism (including Haredi and Modern Orthodox), Conservative Judaism, and Reform Judaism. Significant differences between these groups are their approaches to halakha (Jewish law), the authority of the rabbinic tradition, and the significance of the State of Israel.

> Orthodox Judaism maintains that the Torah and halakha are divine in origin, eternal, and unalterable; and that they should be strictly followed.

> Conservative Judaism is more liberal, generally promoting a more traditionalist interpretation of Judaism’s requirements.

> Reform Judaism takes the position that Jewish Law should be viewed as a set of general guidelines rather than as a set of restrictions and obligations whose observance is required of all Jews. Historically, special courts enforced Jewish law (halakha); today, these courts still exist, but the practice of Judaism is mostly voluntary. Authority on theological and legal matters is not vested in any one person or organization but in the sacred texts and the rabbis and scholars who interpret them.

> Humanistic Judaism offers a nontheistic alternative to contemporary branches of Judaism. It defines Judaism as the cultural and historical experience of the Jewish people rather than as a religion, and it encourages Jews who are humanistic and secular to celebrate their identity by participating in relevant holidays and rites of passage (such as weddings and bar/bat mitzvahs) with inspirational ceremonies that go beyond traditional literature while still drawing upon it.

> Haredi Judaism (1900 to now)

Note: The Wikipedia articles on Haredi Judaism and Hasidic Judaism are excellent and very comprehensive. With deep religious roots going back thousands of years, the Haredi and Hasidic movements could never be called “cults.”  To outsiders, they may seem like “unusual spiritual paths.”

Haredi Judaism comprises groups within Orthodox Judaism that are characterized by their strict adherence to halakha (Jewish law) and traditions, in contrast to modern values and practices. Its members are often referred to as “ultra-Orthodox” in English; however, the term “ultra-Orthodox” is considered pejorative by many of its adherents, who prefer terms like “strictly Orthodox” or “Haredi.” Haredi Jews regard themselves as the most religiously authentic group of Jews, although other movements of Judaism disagree.

Orthodox Jewish Men

The Haredim emphasize withdrawal from (and disdain for) the secular world and the creation of an alternative world that insulates the Torah and the life it prescribes from outside influences.  The Haredi choose to live among other Haredi Jews. Haredi boys and girls attend separate schools and proceed to higher Torah studies in a yeshiva (school or seminary), starting at ages between 13 and 18.

A significant proportion of young men remain in yeshiva until their marriage (which is usually arranged through facilitated dating). After marriage, many Haredi men continue their Torah studies in a kollel. Studying in secular institutions is often discouraged, although educational facilities for vocational training in a Haredi framework do exist.  Families are large, with as many as twelve or more children.

Haredi Jews are typically opposed to the viewing of television and films, and the reading of secular newspapers and books. There has been a vigorous campaign against the Internet, and leading rabbis have also banned Internet-enabled mobile phones without filters. Haredi Jews are typically opposed to the viewing of television and films, and the reading of secular newspapers and books. 

The men dress in black with white shirts (no necktie) and black fedora hats over a yarmulka. Usually, men must let their sidelocks grow long. Women are required to cover their hair in public. Dairy foods must be kept separate from meats. (Why? Because it says so in the Torah.)

> Hasidic Judaism

Many authorities say that Hasidic Judaism is a subset of Haredi Judaism, but many Hasidic Jews would disagree. To outsiders, Hasidic Jews do appear to be the same as Haredi Jews in their dress and customs.

However, Hasidic Jews (the Hasidim) practice a more mystical form of Judaism that draws heavily from their study of the Lurianic Kabbalah. The foundational document of the Kabbalah is the Zohar, written by Moses de Leon (1240-1305 CE). Jewish Kabbalists use these classical Jewish scriptures and the numbers associated with them to explain and demonstrate Judaism’s mystical teachings. These teachings are held by Kabbalists to define the inner meaning of both the Hebrew Bible and traditional rabbinic literature. This study reveals their formerly “concealed dimension,” and the “inner significance” of Jewish religious observances.

The Law of Attraction (1886 to now)

The “Law of Attraction” is a “New Thought” spiritual belief that positive or negative thoughts bring positive or negative experiences into a person’s life. The belief is based on the idea that people and their thoughts are composed of “pure energy” and that “like-energy” can attract “like-energy,” thereby enabling individuals to enhance their health, wealth, or personal relationships. There is no empirical scientific evidence to support the law of attraction, and it is widely regarded as pseudoscience. (See the entry for “New Thought” below.)

Advocates generally combine cognitive reframing techniques with affirmations and creative visualization to replace limiting or self-destructive (“negative”) thoughts with more empowered, adaptive (“positive”) thoughts. A key component of the philosophy is the idea that to effectively change one’s negative thinking patterns, one must also “feel” (through creative visualization) that the desired changes have already occurred. This combination of positive thought and positive emotion is believed to allow one to attract positive experiences and opportunities by achieving resonance with the proposed energetic law. For example, the early twentieth-century Minister Wallace Wattles preached that the mind, properly used, worked like a magnet to attract favorable circumstances.

Proponents of the Law of Attraction refer to scientific theories and use them as arguments in favor of it. However, the “Law of Attraction” has no demonstrable scientific basis. Several researchers have criticized the misuse of scientific concepts by their proponents.  Nevertheless, it is quite true that the positive ideas and visualizations in a person’s mind will influence that person to take action. The action might be to get a new job or to seek out situations and people who can aid the person in realizing their goals. — JXM

Millerism  (1831-1844)

William Miller was a farmer who lived in Low Hampton, New York, who preached that the literal Second Coming would occur on October 22, 1844.” Millerism became extremely popular in western New York State, and some views remain active in church organizations affiliated with Adventism (i.e., the belief that Jesus will return to set up the Kingdom of God on Earth).

“Moonies”  (1954 to Today)

“Moonies” is the slang name for members of The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, also known as the Unification Church, which is a “new religious movement“ derived from Christianity. The members are called “Moonies” because their leader was the late Sun Myung Moon (1920-2012). According to the church’s Divine Principle, a proper understanding of theology focuses simultaneously on man’s relationship with God (vertical) and man’s relationship with his neighbor (horizontal). Man’s sin has disrupted both of these relationships, thus causing all the problems in the world. These problems will be solved through the restoration of man to God through Christ, as well as through such measures as establishing appropriate moral standards and practices, forming true families uniting all peoples and races (Oriental, Western, and African), resolving the tension between science and religion, correcting economic, racial, political, and educational injustices, and overcoming God-denying ideologies such as Communism.

“Mormonism” – The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints  (1829 to now)

Note: This entry on Mormonism is paraphrased from two primary sources: the Wikipedia article on “Mormonism,” and author Jon Krakauer’s non-fiction book, “Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith,” 2003, First Anchor Books, pp. 54-72.

As of December 2022, there were approximately 17 million members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, making Mormonism one of the smaller world religions, yet too large to be considered a cult. (Roman Catholicism has 1.36 billion followers; Islam has over 2 billion; Buddhism has 500 million.) 

In his 2007 book, God Is Not Great, the late Christopher Hitchens wrote, “In March 1826, a court in Bainbridge, New York, convicted Joseph Smith, age 21, of being a ‘disorderly person and an impostor.’  At trial, Smith admitted to defrauding citizens by organizing mad gold-digging operations and claiming to possess ‘necromantic’ powers. Just four years later, he was back at it with Mormonism.

Smith was operating in the ‘Burned-over district’ of western New York State, known for generating one-off cults, including the Shakers and William Miller’s Adventism (belief in a Second Coming.” The name was inspired by the notion that the area had been so heavily evangelized as to have no “fuel” (unconverted population) left over to “burn” (convert).  (See Christopher Hitchens’ book, God Is Not Great, 2009, Hachette Book Group, pp. 161-8.)

There were a large number of ancient Indian burial mounds in the area, and a group of people were fond of digging into the mounds in search of silver and gold.  Another faction believed they could unearth the resting place of the “lost tribes of Israel.”

Joseph Smith went for the “big con.” He claimed that he was visited by the “Angel Moroni,” who directed him to a set of buried gold plates, which would explain the origins of all the people living on the North American continent and the arrival of Nephi, a central character in the Book of Mormon, who ostensibly wandered the land, fought battles, and gave birth to a large progeny over many generations.

 Joseph Smith, founder of The Church of Latter-Day Saints (the Mormons)

Smith was also directed to two buried “peep stones,” or “seer stones.” Smith would place his favorite “peep stone” inside his hat.  Then he would bury his face in the crown of the upturned hat.  The stone miraculously allowed the unknown script (“reformed Egyptian”) on the plates to appear in English in Smith’s mind, and Smith would then dictate the words for a friend on the other side of a blanket strung across Smith’s kitchen, to write down.  (The blanket kept the friend from seeing the gold plates.)

This process, spanning approximately eleven months, resulted in The Book of Mormon. Smith took the text and had it self-published in late 1829.  Smith would never show the gold plates to anyone, and when he had finished dictating their words to his neighbor and scribe, the plates were divinely swept up and away into heaven.

In April 1830, Smith incorporated his new religion of Mormonism, now known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The Book of Mormon is a narrative of ridiculous fictional events. The Lost Tribe of Israel (one of them) arrived in North America around 600 BCE. The tribe splits into two – the virtuous “Nephites“ and the evil (and dark-skinned) “Lamanites.” Jesus Christ makes an appearance, and his word persuades the two clans to cooperate for 700 years. But then they split again and went to war. The good Nephites are wiped out by the bad Lamanites, who are the ancestors of the American Indians (also “peoples of color”). The last leader of the Nephites was supposedly a man named Mormon.  Of course, there is no historical or archaeological trace of either clan anywhere on the North American continent.  And DNA analysis shows there is no ancestral link between Native Americans and any Hebrew people.

On the basis of this text, African Americans were denied membership in the Mormon Church until the 1960s. Then, around the time of the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1965, Mormon leaders in Salt Lake City received a second revelation that indicated African Americans were acceptable after all.  A similar “second revelation” convinced the Church that polygamy was wrong, just in time to avoid federal intervention in the marriage laws of Utah.  (See Christopher Hitchens, God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, 2009, Hachette Book Group, p. 167.)

Joseph Smith possessed a charismatic, outsized personality.  He had boundless energy, a zest for living, complete self-confidence, and a true gift for oratory.  And, of course, he was physically attractive.

He also had an enormous sexual appetite – today, we would likely call him a sex addict.  We don’t know whether Smith cynically extended his Great Con to ensnare the prettiest girls of his congregation, or whether he – like so many other popular leaders down through the ages — came to “believe in his own propaganda,” and concluded that God really did intend for the most powerful and potent Mormon male to “gather unto himself” the comeliest maidens of the new faith.

Smith bedded 15-year-old Marinda Johnson in 1831, while he and his wife were boarding with Marinda’s parents in Kirtland, Ohio.  For this offense, Smith was dragged out of bed by an angry mob of neighbors and badly beaten. But in 1833, he took as his second wife the 16-year-old Fanny Alger, who had been working as a servant in the Smith household.  

Smith continued to take more wives – all of them young beauties – through the 1830s and 1840s. Between 1840 and 1844, Smith married some forty women.  Many – seventeen-year-old Lucy Walker and fourteen-year-old Helen Mar Kimball — were coerced into marriage under the threat of eternal damnation. And all during the 1830s and 1840s, Smith took pains to conceal his polygamous behavior from all but a close inner circle of the most dedicated Mormons.  But even 40 young wives could not satisfy Smith’s addiction to sex. Creditable testimony shows that Smith visited a house of ill-repute in the town of Nauvoo, Illinois (since 1839, the new location of the Mormon Colony), dozens of times during the years he and his followers lived in that town.

Smith’s new Mormon religion had immediate success.  It explained the existence of the mysterious local Indian burial mounds and the origins of the Indians.  In the middle of two centuries of warfare between North America’s new white settlers and the Native Americans, the idea of an ancient conflict between the Nephites and Lamanites made sense to Smith’s followers in the 1830s and 1840s.  The Mormons were delighted to hear that they were God’s chosen people and that they had a special place in Heaven.  They were also pleased with the new theology and the new sermons, which extolled American free enterprise, the unabashed pursuit of wealth, and a positive, uniquely American attitude toward the United States, its freedoms, and its seemingly endless bounty of the Western frontier.

Joseph Smith also had the prescience to make Mormonism highly adaptive.  He decreed that down through the generations, the most senior elders of the Church would also be automatically gifted with the power of prophecy, just as he had been.

Today, the Mormon doctrines of hard work, a positive attitude, the pursuit of earthly wealth, and family-centered, clean living continue to draw thousands of people into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Here are the main Strengths of Mormonism, as viewed from the perspective of Nature’s Continuing Creation — 

• Pursue mainstream avenues of achievement – regular jobs, create wealth, and family first.
• No jihadi warriors
• No retreat into hours of Zen meditation.
• No monasteries, nunneries
• No ingrown priesthoods that harbor child molesters.
• Normal dress. No weird costumes. (They do wear what they call “the garment,” but it is worn underneath and is not visible to the public.) 

And here are some of the Shortcomings of Mormonism – 

• They have a truly ridiculous mythology, including the assertion that Jesus Christ visited the United States.
• They initially excluded Black people (the “people of Hamm”) as an inferior race compared to whites.
• Mormons who go to heaven can bring their ancestors with them. For this reason, some of the world’s best genealogical resources are located in Salt Lake City. This proved to be a fantastic marketing ploy: “Join the Mormon Church and not only will you go to heaven, but all your ancestors will as well.”  This welds together two ancient human impulses: The desire to live in paradise after death, and ancestor worship.

Native-American Spirituality & Modern Secular-Spirituality

We can hardly do justice to the wide variety of Spiritual Paths walked by the many Native American Nations. But most of them are Nature-based.
Below is the lovely and profound “Circle Poem” written by Black Elk (1863-1950), Medicine Man of the Oglala Sioux Nation:

Black Elk, Shaman of the Oglala Sioux Nation

Black Elk’s Circle Poem, “Life Is A Circle.”

“Everything the Power of the world does,
is done in a circle. 

The sky is round
and I have heard that the Earth
is round like a ball,
and so are all the stars. 

The wind, in its greatest power, whirls.
Birds make their nests in circles;
for theirs is the same religion as ours. 

The sun comes forth and
goes down again in a circle.
The moon does the same
and both are round.  

Even the seasons form a great circle
in their changing,
And always come back
to where they were. 

The life of a man is a circle,
from childhood to childhood.
And so it is with everything
where Power moves.”

Neo-Paganism, also known as Modern Paganism  (late 1970s to now)

Beginning in the late 1970s, some feminists, open to feminine personifications of the deity, became interested in witchcraft and Neo-Paganism. In the post-1980 decades, Neo-Paganism particularly flourished in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Scandinavia.  (This entire entry on Neo-paganism is paraphrased from Encyclopedia Britannica, online. See also our separate entry on “Wicca.”)

Adherents rely on a variety of sources, ranging from pre-Christian, folkloric, and ethnographic sources to varying degrees; many follow a spirituality that they accept as entirely modern, while others claim prehistoric beliefs or attempt to revive indigenous religions as accurately as possible. At one end is reconstructionism, which seeks to revive historical pagan religions; examples are Heathenry (Germanic), Rodnovery (Slavic), and Hellenism (Greek). At the other end are the eclectic movements, which blend elements of historical paganism with other religions and philosophies. Examples are Wicca, neo-Druidry, and the Goddess Movement.  Polytheism, animism, and pantheism are common features of pagan and neo-pagan theology.

Some of the major Neo-Pagan groups are:

• The Church of All Worlds, the largest of all the pagan movements, centering on worship of the “Earth-mother Goddess;”
• Feraferia, based on ancient Greek religion and also centered on goddess worship;
• Pagan Way, a nature religion centered on goddess worship and the seasons;
• The Reformed Druids of North America;
• The Church of the Eternal Source revives ancient Egyptian religion; and
• The Midgard Vikings Brotherhood celebrates Norse rites.

We, Participants in Nature’s Continuing Creation, place a lot more confidence in the Gaia Movement than we do in Neo-Paganism.

New Thought Movement  (1820 to now)

Note: The “New Thought Movement” took place before the “New Age Movement.” We are reversing the alphabetical order of the two. “New Thought” was a historical and ideological forerunner of “New Age.”  

“New Thought” is a spiritual movement that coalesced in the United States in the early 19th century. The origins of New Thought have often been traced back to Phineas Quimby (1802-1866), or even as far back as Franz Mesmer (1734-1815) who was the originator of “Mesmerism,” today known as hypnotism.  Many of these groups are incorporated into the international “New Thought Alliance.”

Today’s “New Thought Movement” is a loosely allied group of religious denominations, authors, philosophers, and individuals who share a set of beliefs concerning positive thinking, the law of attraction, healing, life force, creative visualization, and personal power. Our Practice of Nature’s Continuing Creation agrees with “creative visualization” as a key step in performing creative acts in all walks of life.

Adherents of “New Thought” share most of the core beliefs listed below. 

• God or “Infinite Intelligence” is supreme, universal, and everlasting;
• Spirit is the totality of real things;
• Divinity dwells within each person;
• Divine thought is a force for good;
• All people are spiritual beings;
• The highest spiritual principle is loving, teaching, and healing one another;
• Sickness originates in the mind;
• Right thinking has a healing effect;
• Our mental states are manifested in daily living.

Of the nine things on the above list, Nature’s Way of Continuing Creation supports only the last one. The other eight lack clear definitions and lack evidence-based support. (See also, “Law of Attraction,” a separate Entry in this list.)

New Age ­Movement  (1970 to ~2000)

(Note:  The “New Age Movement” took place after the “New Thought Movement” discussed above. “New Thought” was a forerunner to “New Age.”)

New Age teachings gained popularity during the 1970s as a response to what some perceived as the shortcomings of Christianity and secular humanism in providing spiritual and ethical guidance for the future. Its roots are traceable to many sources, including astrology, Channeling, Hinduism, Gnostic traditions, Spiritualism, Taoism, Theosophy, Wicca, and other Neopagan traditions.

The movement originated in England in the 1960s, where many of these elements were already well-established. Small groups, such as the Findhorn Ecovillage in Scotland and the Wrekin Trust in England were formed. The New Age movement quickly gained international prominence.

“New Age” is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition of “New Age” difficult. Although many scholars consider it a religious movement, its adherents typically view it as spiritual or as unifying one’s mind, Body, and spirit, and rarely use the term “New Age” themselves.

New Age drew heavily upon esoteric traditions, including the occultism of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, as well as the work of Emanuel Swedenborg, Spiritualism, New Thought, and Theosophy. More immediately, it arose from mid-twentieth-century influences such as the UFO cults of the 1950s, the counterculture of the 1960s, and the “Human Potential Movement.”

Early New Age milestones in North America included the “New Age Seminar” run by the Association for Research and Enlightenment and the establishment of The East-West Journal in 1971. New Age expanded significantly in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, particularly in the United States. By the start of the 21st century, however, the term “New Age” was increasingly rejected, with some observers arguing that the New Age phenomenon had come to an end.

Theologically, “New Age” typically accepts a wholistic form of divinity that pervades the universe, including human beings themselves, leading to a strong emphasis on the spiritual authority of the self. This is accompanied by a common belief in a variety of semi-divine non-human entities, such as angels, gurus, and “masters,” and in channeling them through a human intermediary. (So, New Age borders on Secular-Spirituality.)

New Age philosophy includes a firm belief in the importance of uniting to preserve the health of the Earth, often referred to as Gaia (Mother Earth), which is viewed as a living entity. (Her life would be the interconnection of all Earth’s lives, and Her mind would be the interconnection of all Earth’s minds.)

Another common New Age belief is in a forgotten age of spiritual wisdom, which is said to have declined into periods of increasing violence and spiritual degeneracy, a trend that will now be remedied by the emergence of an “Age of Aquarius,” from which the movement derives its name. There is also a strong focus on healing, particularly using forms of alternative medicine, and an emphasis on unifying science with spirituality.

Several key events occurred that raised public awareness of the New Age subculture, including the production of the musical “Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical“ (1967) with its opening song “Aquarius“ and its memorable line “This is the Dawning of the Age of Aquarius,” and the release of Shirley MacLaine’s book, Out on a Limb (1983), later adapted into a television mini-series of the same name (1987).

(Note: You can hear The Fifth Dimension, with the fabulous Marilyn McCoo, sing “The Age of Aquarius” and “Let The Sun Shine,” on YouTube.) – JXM

Followers expected The New Age would be celebrated as The Age of Aquarius — an Earthly utopia in which there would be world government, and an end to wars, disease, hunger, pollution, and poverty. Racial, religious, gender and other forms of discrimination would cease.  People’s allegiance to their tribe or nation would be replaced by a concern for the entire world and for its people, its species, and its ecosystems. Followers of Nature’s Continuing Creation agree with such a change: from allegiance to tribal gods to allegiance to Nature’s Continuing Creation.

The practices taught at the Esalen Institute, the famous holistic retreat and intentional community located in Big Sur, California, are generally regarded as “New Age.”

New Age Works Include the Writings of:

• James Redfield (The Celestine Prophecy)
• Eckhart Tolle (The Power of Now and A New Earth)
• Barbara Marx Hubbard (Conscious Evolution: Awakening, The Evolutionary Testament of Co-Creation)
• Christopher Hills (Instruments of Knowing, Rise of the Phoenix)
• Marianne Williamson (Illuminata, A Return to Love, A Woman’s Worth)
• Deepak Chopra (The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, The Book of Secrets),
• Gary Zukav (The Dancing Wu Li Masters, The Heart of the Soul, The Mind of the Soul)
• Wayne Dyer (The Power of Awakening, Living the Wisdom of the Tao)
• Rhonda Byrne (The Secret, The Power, The Magic).
       (Note:  The books named above are not the complete works of their respective authors.)

Surveys show that between 5% and 10% of New Age followers believed in one or more of the following things:

• Astrology as a method of foretelling the future
• Crystals are a source of healing or energizing power
• Tarot Cards are a reliable basis for life decisions
• God is “the total realization of personal, human potential.”

And 25% of New Age followers believed in non-traditional concepts of the nature of God which are often associated with New Age thinking.  For example, 11% felt that God is “a state of higher consciousness that a person may reach.”

Today, some very conservative Christians believe that a massive, underground, highly coordinated New Age organization exists that is infiltrating government, media, schools, and churches. No such entity exists.  Some conservative Christians do not differentiate among the Occult, Satanism, Wicca, and other Neopagan religions. Many seem to regard all New Age concepts as forms of Satanism, whose followers perform horrendous criminal acts on children. (For example, see Pizzagate and QAnon). Nature’s Practice of Continuing Creation rejects these right-wing conspiracy delusions out of hand.

New Age argued for Universal Religion: The universal religion can be visualized as a mountain, with many spiritual paths to the summit. Some paths are challenging and others are easy. There is no one correct path. All paths anticipate that a new universal religion, incorporating elements of all current faiths, will evolve and become widely accepted worldwide.

Here is a List of Common New Age Practices:

Aura Reading — An Aura is believed to be an energy field radiated by the body. Invisible to most people, it can supposedly be detected by some as a shimmering, multi-colored field surrounding the body. Those skilled in detecting and interpreting auras can supposedly diagnose an individual’s state of mind and spiritual and physical health. Psychics have offered aura readings for many years. They claim to have a unique ability to see or sense individual’s auras, however no evidence has ever been provided to substantiate this claim. The idea of “auras” is too irrational for Weavers of Continuing Creation.

Crystal Healing – In the English-speaking world, “crystal healing” was heavily associated with the New Age spiritual movement. Practitioners believed that placing crystals on or near the body could boost low energy, prevent bad energy, release blocked energy, and transform a body’s “aura.” Participants viewed the practice as “individuated,” meaning it was dependent on extreme personalization and creative expression. Nevertheless, lasers made of crystals can have healing powers when used in laser surgery.  It is also true that crystal lattices in certain clays may have provided a framework or template for “abiogenesis,” the formation of First Life. See our Essay, “Abiogenesis: Evolution of The First Life on Earth.”

Channeling – Channelers usually tried, and still try, to make contact with a single, “spiritually evolved being.” That being’s consciousness is channeled through “A Medium” who then relays guidance and information to the group through the use of the medium’s voice. Channeling has existed since the 1850s, and many channeling groups consider themselves independent of the New Age movement. Perhaps the most famous channeling event was the popular A Course in Miracles. It was supposedly channeled through a Columbia University psychologist, Dr. Helen Schucman (1909-1981), over an eight-year period.  (We discussed “A Course in Miracles” earlier in this list.)  To be clear, there is no scientific evidence that “channeling” works.

Meditating – A process of blanking out the mind and releasing oneself from conscious thinking. This is often facilitated by the repetitive chanting of a mantra or focusing on a specific object. The Practice of Continuing Creation strongly endorses meditation. See our two Essays, Leading a Fulfilled & Happy Life, and Meditations for Co-Creators.

New Age Music — A gentle, melodic, inspirational music form involving the human voice, harp, lute, flute, etc. It is used as an aid in healing, massage therapy, and general relaxation.

Divination – The use of various techniques to foretell the future, including I Ching, Runes, Scrying, and Tarot Card Reading.

Astrology – The belief that the orientation of the planets at the time of one’s birth and the location of that birth predict the individual’s future and personality. Belief in astrology is common amongst New Agers, but is definitely not limited to them.

Holistic Health (or Alternative Medicine) — A collection of healing techniques that have diverged from the traditional medical model. It attempts to cure disorders in mind, body, and spirit and to promote wholeness and balance in the individual. Examples include acupuncture, crystal healing, homeopathy, iridology, massage, various meditation methods, polarity therapy, psychic healing, therapeutic touch, and reflexology.

Human Potential Movement (also known as the Emotional Growth Movement) is a collection of therapeutic methods that involve both individualized and group work, utilizing both mental and physical techniques. The goal is to help individuals advance spiritually. Examples are Esalen Growth Center programs, EST Seminars, Gestalt Therapy, Primal Scream Therapy, Transactional Analysis, Transcendental Meditation, and Yoga.

“Personal Transformation” — A profoundly intense mystical experience that leads to the acceptance and use of New Age beliefs and practices. Guided imagery, hypnosis, meditation, and (sometimes) hallucinogenic drugs are useful to bring about and enhance this transformation. Believers hope to develop new potentials within themselves, including the ability to heal oneself and others, psychic powers, and a deeper understanding of the universe’s workings. Later, when sufficient numbers of people have achieved these powers, a major spiritual, physical, psychological, and cultural planet-wide transformation – the “Age of Aquarius” is expected.

The Oneida Community  (1848 to 1881)

The Oneida Community was a perfectionist religious communal society founded by John Humphrey Noyes and his followers in 1848 near Oneida, New York.

This community believed that Jesus had already returned to Earth in the year 70 A.D., making it possible for the Oneidans to bring about Jesus’ millennial kingdom themselves and to be perfect and free of sin in this world, not just in Heaven (a belief known as perfectionism). The Oneida Community practiced communal property and possessions, group marriage, male sexual continence, and mutual criticism.

The community’s original 87 members had grown to 306 by 1878. The Oneida Community dissolved in 1881, converting itself to a joint-stock company. This eventually became the silverware company, Oneida Limited. Agents of Nature’s Continuing Creation generally applaud the Oneida Community’s goals and efforts, but we reject its myth-based, supernatural theology.

Opus Dei (1928 to now) and People of Praise (1971 to now)

Opus Dei is an institution of the Catholic Church whose members seek personal Christian holiness and strive to imbue their ordinary work and lives in society with Christian principles. The majority of its members are lay people; the remainder are secular priests under the governance of a prelate elected by specific members and appointed by the Pope.

As of 2018, there were 93,203 lay persons and 2,115 priests; plus an estimated 2,000 diocesan priest members of Opus Dei’s “Priestly Society of the Holy Cross.” Members are located in more than 90 countries. Approximately 70% of the members reside in their own homes, leading family lives with secular careers, while the remaining 30% are celibate, with the majority residing in Opus Dei centers.

Aside from their personal charity and social work, Opus Dei members organize training in Catholic spirituality applied to daily life.  Members are involved in running universities, university residences, schools, publishing houses, hospitals, and technical and agricultural training centers.

People of Praise, founded in 1971 as a lay Christian intentional community, resembles Opus Dei but is generally less restrictive in its approach. Protestants can join People of Praise communities.

People of Praise practice a form of spiritual direction that involves the supervision of a member by a more “spiritually mature” person called a “head.” People of Praise maintains that members retain their freedom of conscience under such direction. The community, like the Catholic Church, has few women in leadership positions. It nevertheless encourages women to pursue higher education and employment. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett and her immediate family are members of People of Praise.

Membership in People of Praise is open to any baptized Christian who affirms the Nicene Creed and agrees to the community’s covenant. The majority of its members are Catholic, but Protestants are also welcome to join, reflecting the ecumenical nature of People of Praise.  It has 22 branches in the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean, with approximately 1,700 members.  It founded Trinity Schools, which are aligned with the philosophy of classical Christian education for grades 7-12.

In its early history, People of Praise influenced the institutional development of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal in the United States and played important roles in national charismatic conferences.

Many Agents of Continuing Natural Creation may applaud the People of Praise lifestyle but reject their myth-based theology. — JXM

Pedophilia in the Roman Catholic Church  (Centuries ago to now)

Note: This part of the Essay is taken from the 2014 motion picture, “Spotlight.” That film realistically dramatizes The Boston Globe’s newspaper investigation of the sexual abuse of minors by priests of the Boston Archdiocese, then presided over by Bernard Cardinal Law (1931-2017). The Globe’s series of articles on this topic won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. The Boston Globe’s investigation and writing was done by its “Spotlight Team,” which has been dedicated to doing in-depth investigations over the years.

The film depicts the Spotlight Team’s telephone interviews with Richard Sipe, a psychotherapist and former priest.  In the film, Mr. Sipe says that his 30 years of treatment and study of Catholic priests, including a 25-year ethnographic study published in 1990, showed that only 50% are celibate.  Sipe says that “many of the priests were ‘psychosexually stunted’ – at the level of 12 or 13-year-olds.”

“In a May 2009 study, Sipe found that there were extensive problems in the sexual behavior of Burlington, Vermont, Catholic clergy. He examined the records of 102 priests “whose records were available” between 1950 and 2002. He claimed that, of this group, 23 priests were sexually involved with children under age 13. Of those priests, 15 were reported for involvement with married women and 19 were said to have had sexual relationships with adult men. He asserted that 49 could be said to have a homosexual orientation.” (See Wikipedia’s article on Richard Sipe, as of 2023.)

“Richard Sipe (1932-2018) was a former Benedictine monk-priest of 18 years, a sociologist, and author of six books about Catholicism and the sexual abuses arising from the Catholic Church’s requirements of celibacy. He was an American Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor trained specifically to deal with the mental health problems of Roman Catholic priests. He practiced psychotherapy, “taught on the faculties of Major Catholic Seminaries and colleges, lectured in medical schools, and served as a consultant and expert witness in both civil and criminal cases involving the sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests.”  In 1970, after leaving the priesthood, Sipe married a former nun, Marianne; they have one son together.” (Wikipedia’s article on Richard Sipe as of 2023.)

Spotlight proved that Cardinal Law knew of at least 90 cases of child abuse by priests, nearly all of them routinely settled out of court (for only $20K per case — the legislated legal limit of liability).  The archdiocese routinely had the priests reassigned or placed in halfway houses, and it directed public legal documents to be illegally removed from the county courthouse.

In 2002, Spotlight wrote 600 stories on child molestation & cover-up within the Poston Diocese.  A total of 249 priests and brothers in the Boston Archdiocese were publicly charged.  Over 1000 survivors came forward in the Boston area. In Dec 2002, Cardinal Law resigned.  He was reassigned to the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, one of the highest-ranking Catholic churches in the world.

Major child abuse scandals involving the Catholic church were uncovered in 204 major world cities. For example, in August 2018, a Pennsylvania Grand Jury published an investigation saying priests had abused 1000 children in Pennsylvania.

These twisted and illegal behavior patterns are the fruits of the Catholic Church’s military chain of command, the ridiculous doctrine that “priests may not marry,” and the absence of any congregational control over their parishes.  Clearly, “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” — JXM

Ways to Reform the Catholic Church to Eliminate Sexual Abuse of Children – JXM

• Instances of abuse should be reported first and foremost to the police, then to the clergy.
• Make it a crime to shield or hide a priest from investigation & prosecution by the civil law.
• Let women be priests.
• At the same time, raise standards for admitting new people to the priesthood.
• Abolish celibacy.
• Provide the members of each parish with a say in the hiring and firing of its clergy.
• Get rid of the “Princes of the Church” mentality toward bishops and cardinals.
• Open all church archives dealing with priests’ assignments and questionable behaviors.
• Let priests get married (both opposite-sex and same-sex marriages). If priests are alone and celibate, the temptation grows to reach out to the people closest at hand for sex.  (This also happens in prisons and military cadres.) 
• If married people can become priests, then the priesthood will be able to attract new priests from a much larger population pool of candidates. Thus, the church will be able to be more selective in choosing qualified candidates.
• Extend or do away with statutes of limitations for these crimes.

Of course, pedophilia has been rampant in groups and organizations that are neither cults nor religions.  An important example has taken place in the Boy Scouts of America:

According to Wikipedia, “The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with 2.3 million youth members and approximately 889,000 adult volunteers. In 1979, there were over 5 million youths in BSA. Over 92,000 sexual abuse claims were filed with the bankruptcy court before November 16, 2020. There were nearly 2,000 reported cases of abuse within the Boy Scouts of America prior to 1994, and at least one abuse incident as recent as 2006. The high risk of volunteer youth organizations has been recognized, and, in 1988, the BSA created a sex abuse education and prevention program called the Youth Protection program to help address the problem… On February 18, 2020, the Boy Scouts of America filed for a Chapter 11 financial restructuring to offer “equitable compensation” to survivors and their families. The BSA cited approximately 200 pending lawsuits in state and federal district courts across the United States, with a total of 1,700 potential claimants. In May of that same year, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware set November 16, 2020, at 5 pm EST as the bar date for all survivors of sexual abuse. 82,000 sexual abuse claims were filed with the bankruptcy court before the November 16 deadline to receive claims.”

Positive Thinking & Positive Psychology Movements  (1950 to now)

In 1952, the Reverend Norman Vincent Peale (1898-1993) published a very popular book called The Power of Positive Thinking.  It provided anecdotal “case histories” of positive thinking using a biblical approach, along with practical instructions designed to help readers achieve a permanent, optimistic attitude. These techniques usually involve affirmations and visualizations. Peale claimed that such techniques would provide the reader with a higher level of satisfaction and quality of life. The book was negatively reviewed by scholars and health experts but was popular among the general public. President Reagan was a devotee of positive thinking.

The Positive Thinking Movement, which originated in the 1950s, has had a profound influence on American life.  In essence, its doctrine was “If you think it, you can make it so.” There is a good deal of truth in that adage, especially if you think it over and over.  However, the circumstances around you may make your visions unattainable.  That’s just a fact of life.

Positive thinking appears in the sermons and books of several best-selling author-preachers, including Norman Vincent Peale (“The Power of Positive Thinking”), Dale Carnegie (“How to Win Friends and Influence People”), Maxwell Maltz (“Psycho-Cybernetics”), Napoleon Hill, (“Think and Grow Rich”) and today’s Houston’s mega-church minister, Joel Osteen (“Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential.”)

Note: In 2014, a new book came out — One Simple Idea, by Mitch Horowitz. This is a thoroughly researched and well-written intellectual history of the Positive Thinking Movement.   

Much of Positive Thinking morphed into the New Thought movement, which contends that “our thoughts possess some kind of power, both on ourselves and on events around us.” This idea, often called “The Law of Attraction,” is “spooky” for us Continuing Creationists.  A thought has no effect on anyone else unless it is expressed in language, facial expression, posture, gesture, or action. See our earlier entries on the ‘New Thought Movement’ and the ‘Law of Attraction.’  — J.X. Mason

Positive Psychology — (1998 to now), is the more recent scientific study of what makes life most worth living, focusing on both individual and societal well-being. It studies “positive subjective experience, positive individual traits, and positive institutions…it aims to improve quality of life.” It is a field of study that has been growing steadily over the years as individuals and researchers seek common ground for improved well-being.

Positive psychology emerged as a distinct domain of psychology in 1998, when Martin Seligman chose it as the theme for his term as president of the American Psychological Association. It is a reaction against past practices, which tended to focus on mental illness and emphasized maladaptive behavior and negative thinking.  Positive Psychology builds on the humanistic movement put forward by Abraham Maslow (“Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs”), Rollo May, (“The Courage to Create”), James Bugental (“The Search for Authenticity”), and Carl Rogers (“A Way of Being”), all of which encourage an emphasis on happiness, well-being, and positivity.

While not attempting a strict definition of what makes up a good life, “Positive Psychologists” agree that people need to be engaged with meaningful experiences in order to have a Full and Meaningful Life. Both Positive Thinking and Positive Psychology have made significant contributions to Continuing Natural Creation’s online Essay, “Leading a Fulfilled and Happy Life.”

    Here is the famous diagram of Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs:”

The “Prosperity Gospel”  (1880 to now)

Many modern Evangelical Christian Ministers in the United States preach what sociologists call “The Prosperity Gospel,” which holds that God will bless all hardworking, faithful followers of Jesus with business success and material prosperity. The Mormon Church (see our entry above) teaches this doctrine, and Mormons who are “down on their luck” often receive practical and/or monetary help from more prosperous members of the church.

The Prosperity Gospel was first identified by the German historian, jurist, and political economist Max Weber, who wrote a book in 1905 titled The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Today, Weber’s book is regarded as a pioneering book in the then-new science of Sociology.

This “gospel of wealth,” was also an expression of “Muscular Christianity,” which understood success to be the result of personal effort rather than divine intervention. ¹

Weber demonstrates that certain branches of Protestantism endorsed worldly activities dedicated to economic gain, viewing these pursuits as endowed with moral and spiritual significance. Productive work was seen as a moral good. Wealth was not the aim, but merely the by-product and evidence of one’s hard work and dedication to God’s progress. 

Prior to the Industrial Revolution, the Roman Catholic Church had assured salvation to individuals who accepted the church’s sacraments and submitted to the clerical authority.  Weber wrote that the Protestant Reformation had effectively removed such assurances.

In the absence of Catholic assurances from religious authority, Weber argued that Protestants began to look for “signs” that they were saved. Worldly success became one of these signs. People who were prosperous could be confident that they were “saved.”  Weber also noted that within Protestantism, a vocation or calling from God was no longer limited to the clergy, but could include any useful occupation or trade.

In the United States, according to historian Kate Bowler, the prosperity gospel was formed from the intersection of three different ideologies: Pentecostalism (a person’s direct experience of God), New Thought, and “an American gospel of pragmatism, individualism, and upward mobility”.  (See our entry for “New Thought” earlier in this Essay.)

The American Prosperity Gospel was promoted by the steel magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie’s 1889 article, “The Gospel of Wealth” and Reverend Russell Conwell‘s famous sermon, “Acres of Diamonds” (1900-1025), in which Conwell equated poverty with sin and asserted that anyone could become rich through hard work.

Note: Interestingly, there is also a “prosperity gospel” in modern Hinduism. (See Professor Stephen Prothero’s book, God Is Not One: The Eight Religions that Run the World, 2010, Harper One, p. 153.) [/note]

We Co-Creators in Nature’s Processes also see productive work as a moral good, but only if that work contributes to the progress of Nature’s Continuing Creation (NCC).  However, NCC is not about making money.  It is about the advancement of science, engineering, medicine, ecology, and justice; as well as relationships with family, friends, community, and society; and with personal well-being.  Money is only a crude and often distorted measure of those advancements.- JXM

QAnon (2017 to now)

“QAnon” is an American political conspiracy theory and political movement, not a religious or spiritual movement. However, its beliefs are so bizarre that they can be considered myths, and QAnon can easily be described as a modern cult, one that primarily exists online. 

QAnon originated in the American far-right political sphere in 2017. QAnon centers on fabricated claims made by an anonymous individual or individuals known as “Q.” Those claims have been relayed, developed, and supplemented by numerous communities and influencers associated with the movement. This activity has principally taken place online.

“The core QAnon conspiracy theory is that a cabal of Satanic, cannibalistic sexual abusers of children operating a global child sex trafficking ring conspired against former U.S. President Donald Trump during his term in office. The QAnon conspiracy theory has direct roots in “Pizzagate,” an Internet conspiracy theory that appeared one year earlier. QAnon also incorporates elements of many other theories.

Followers of these conspiracy theorists say that the Trump administration secretly fought the cabal of pedophiles and would soon conduct mass arrests and executions of thousands of cabal members on a day known as “the Storm” or “the Event”.  QAnon conspiracy believers have named Democratic politicians, Hollywood actors, high-ranking government officials, business tycoons, and medical experts as members of the cabal.

QAnon has also claimed that Trump stimulated the conspiracy of Russian interference in the 2016 United States presidential election in order to enlist Robert Mueller to join him in exposing a liberal sex-trafficking ring and to prevent a coup d’état by Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and George Soros.

Note:  Will Sommer, a highly respected news journalist, recently published an excellent best-selling book on QAnon titled, Trust the Plan: The Rise of QAnon and the Conspiracy that Unhinged America. (2023, Harper Collins.)

Rastafari  (1930s to now)

(Note: This entry on “Rastafari” is quoted directly from Wikipedia as of 10-14-23)

“Rastafari,“ sometimes called Rastafarianism, is a religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified by scholars of religion as both a new religious movement and a social movement. There is no central authority in control of the movement and much diversity exists among practitioners, who are known as Rastafari, Rastafarians, or Rastas.

“Rastafari beliefs are based on a specific interpretation of the Bible. Central to the religion is a monotheistic belief in a single God, referred to as “Jah,” who is deemed to partially reside within each individual. Rastas have accorded key importance to Haile Selassie, the emperor of Ethiopia between 1930 and 1974; many regard him as the Second Coming of Jesus and Jah incarnate, while others see him as a human prophet who fully recognized Jah’s presence in every individual.

“Rastafari is Afrocentric and focuses attention on the African diaspora, which it believes is oppressed within Western society, or “Babylon”. Many Rastas call for this diaspora’s resettlement in Africa, a continent they consider the Promised Land, or “Zion.” Some practitioners extend these views into black supremacism. Rastas refer to their practices as “livity.” Communal meetings are known as “groundations,” and are typified by music, chanting, discussions, and the smoking of cannabis, the latter regarded as a sacrament with beneficial properties. Rastas emphasize what they regard as living “naturally,” adhering to “ital“ dietary requirements, wearing their hair in dreadlocks, and following patriarchal gender roles.

“Rastafari originated among impoverished and socially disenfranchised Afro-Jamaican communities in 1930s Jamaica. Its Afrocentric ideology was largely a reaction against Jamaica’s then-dominant British colonial culture. It was influenced by both Ethiopianism and the Back-to-Africa movement promoted by black nationalist figures such as Marcus Garvey. The religion developed after several Protestant Christian clergymen, most notably Leonard Howell, proclaimed that Haile Selassie’s crowning as Emperor of Ethiopia in 1930 fulfilled a Biblical prophecy.

“By the 1950s, Rastafari’s countercultural stance had brought the movement into conflict with wider Jamaican society, including violent clashes with law enforcement. In the 1960s and 1970s, it gained increased respectability within Jamaica and greater visibility abroad through the popularity of Rastafari-inspired reggae musicians, most notably Bob Marley. Enthusiasm for Rastafari declined in the 1980s, following the deaths of Haile Selassie and Marley, but the movement survived and has a presence in many parts of the world.

“Within the movement, attempts to summarize Rastafari beliefs have never been accorded the status of a catechism or creed. Rasta places great emphasis on the idea that personal experience and intuitive understanding should be used to determine the truth or validity of a particular belief or practice. No Rasta, therefore, has the authority to declare which beliefs and practices are orthodox and which are heterodox. The conviction that Rastafari has no dogma “is so strong that it has itself become something of a dogma,” according to the sociologist of religion Peter B. Clarke.”

Rosicrucianism (~1775 to now)

Rosicrucianism is a spiritual and cultural movement that emerged in Europe in the early 17th century following the publication of several texts announcing a new esoteric order to the world. Rosicrucianism is symbolized by the Rosy Cross, also known as the Rose Cross. In later centuries, many esoteric societies have claimed to derive from Rosicrucianism. The most influential of these societies has been the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (1888-1908), which counted many prominent figures among its members. They engaged in Seances and Tarot-Card Reading. The most significant Order is the Rosicrucian Order, AMORC, a multinational organization based in San Jose, California. In 1989, Paul Foster Case, founder of the Builders of the Adytum as a successor to the Golden Dawn, published The True and Invisible Rosicrucian Order: An Interpretation of the Rosicrucian Allegory & An Explanation of the Ten Rosicrucian Grades. (See also our entry on Theosophy.)

Scientology  (1952 to now)

Scientology was created by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard (1911–1986). He launched it in 1952 as a successor to his earlier self-help system, Dianetics, which he published as a book in 1950.

Hubbard characterized Scientology as an “applied religious philosophy” and made it the basis for a new religion. The first Scientology church was established in New Jersey in December 1953.  The Church of Scientology is legally recognized as a tax-exempt religion in the United States.

Scientology teaches that all people are immortal spiritual beings, “Thetans,” who have lived many prior lifetimes. However, most people have forgotten their true “Thetan nature.”  In Scientology, the concept of the “Thetan” is similar to the concept of the self, spirit, or soul found in other belief systems. Scientologists believe that it is a person’s “inner Thetan,” not the body’s central nervous system, which commands the body.

Our own Practice of Nature’s Continuing Creation holds that “Thetans” are purely fictional. They are as mythical as sprites, angels, demons, leprechauns, witches, and trolls. No outside creature, ghost, or “prior person” controls any human brain. Of course, each person’s brain is influenced by heredity and experience — J.X. Mason.

In Scientology, one’s “reactive” (emotional or subconscious) mind stores adverse mental images, called “engrams,” which are seen as not readily available to the “analytical” (conscious) mind. Engrams are emotionally painful and debilitating. As they accumulate, people move further away from their true positive and creative identity. Uncovered “engrams” are analogous to childhood traumas or adolescent crises.

In Scientology, a person’s engrams are removed largely through “auditing” sessions. During auditing, individuals consciously re-experience painful or traumatic events from their past to release themselves from their limiting effects.  Auditing is done one-on-one with a trained Scientology Auditor.

Once an area of concern has been identified, the auditor asks the individual specific questions about it, in order to help him or her eliminate the engram and uses an “E-meter” to confirm that the engram’s “charge” has been dissipated and the engram has in fact been “cleared.” As the individual progresses, auditing shifts from simple engrams to more complex engrams.

Through repeated, progressive auditing sessions, when all engrams have ostensibly been revealed and left behind, the audited Scientologist is declared to be “Clear.” A Clear individual responds rationally and creatively to life events rather than reacting to them under the warped direction of stored engrams. This process is sometimes referred to as moving along the “Bridge to Total Freedom,” or simply “the Bridge.”

There are higher levels of initiation, above the level “Clear,” where people are promoted to become “Operating Thetans“ (OTs). Scientology says that these mystical teachings “may be harmful to unprepared readers.”

A commonly held belief among Scientologists is that mainstream psychiatry and psychology are destructive and abusive practices. Nature’s Continuing Creation holds the opposite view.  We consider it dangerous for an “Auditor” to conduct mental/emotional therapy on another person without training and licensing as a Psychiatrist or a Clinical Psychologist.

Members are required to make “donations” for study courses and auditing as they progress through the Bridge, with the amounts increasing as higher levels are reached.  A number of outside observers contend that Scientology fleeces its members by charging far more than their Auditing sessions are worth.

The Eight Dynamics (Levels) of Scientology

Scientology teaches that the aim of life is to survive and prosper. There are eight ascending levels of “survival & prosperity,” called “the Eight Dynamics:”

1. First Dynamic is the individual’s desire or drive to survive and creatively prosper.
2. Second is the desire for the family to survive and creatively prosper.
3. Third is the desire for groups (clans, tribes, nations) to survive and prosper.
4. The Fourth Dynamic is the drive for mankind, our species, to survive and prosper.
5. Fifth is the drive for Life Forms [the ecosphere] to survive & develop.
6. Sixth is the drive for the Physical Universe to survive and evolve.
7. Seventh is the drive to survive & develop as Spiritual Beings.
8. Eighth Dynamic is the urge toward Infinity, the “Allness of All.”

These Eight Levels are very similar to Continuing Natural Creation’s arenas or concentric circles of human connection, with the exception of Scientology’s number Eight, which is…. uhm… “unclear.”  The recognition of the importance of all life forms, and thereby the ecosphere (Dynamic #5), is a Strength of Scientology.

Scientology teaches that spiritual progress requires and enables the attainment of high ethical standards. Actions are considered ethical if they promote survival across all eight dynamics, thus benefiting the greatest number of people or things possible while harming the fewest. Continuing Natural Creation thinks this is reasonable.

While Scientology states that many social problems are the unintentional results of people’s engrams, it asserts that there are also truly malevolent individuals. Twenty percent of the population, Hubbard thought, are “suppressive” persons.  And about 2.5 percent are hopelessly antisocial personalities — “the Adolf Hitlers and the Genghis Khans, the unrepentant murderers and the drug lords.” These percentages seem to be roughly consistent with analyses done by qualified psychologists, sociologists, and criminologists who say that about 4% of people are sociopaths.

At the “OT” levels, the levels above “Clear,” teachings include accounts of various cosmic catastrophes that befell the “Thetans” over the eons of their repeated lives. Hubbard referred to these early events collectively as “Space Opera.”  It is fascinating that Hubbard would use an appellation so overtly fictional to describe events he presented as real. However, “The bigger the lie, the easier it is to sell if it is repeated often enough.” 

One controversial Scientology belief is that “Thetans” lived among extraterrestrial cultures before becoming trapped in bodies on Earth. It is believed that Thetans were brainwashed by these extraterrestrial cultures as a means of population control.  Agents of Nature’s Continuing Creation think it’s way beyond controversial; it’s ridiculous.

Belief in extraterrestrial origins and other “Space Opera” topics is not taught to new members but is only presented after members have risen through the ranks of Scientology. Participation in higher-level courses on the Bridge may cost several thousand dollars; however, Scientology maintains that members typically progress through the Bridge at a rate determined by their income.

The Shakers  (1747 to now; with only one community left)

The “Shakers” split off from the Quaker religion at a time when the Quakers were weaning themselves away from frenetic spiritual expression. The Shakers have been known for their ecstatic bodily shaking during their Christian religious services. They emigrated from England and settled in Watervliet, New York, in 1774.  At its peak in the mid-19th century, there were 2,000–4,000 Shaker believers living in 18 major communities and numerous smaller, often short-lived communities. Today, the only remaining community is the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village in Maine. In their heyday, they practiced a celibate and communal utopian lifestyle, pacifism, uniform charismatic worship, and gender equality. They are also renowned for their simple living, distinctive architecture, technological innovations, music, and furniture.

Snake Handling, Faith Healing, & Speaking in Tongues in American Christian Evangelism  (1740s to now)

Note: A critically acclaimed fictional film criticizing Faith-healing Evangelism and Tent Revival Meetings is 1992’s “Leap of Faith,” in which Steve Martin plays a tent-revival faith healer. This dark comedy shows the magic tricks employed by “faith-healing” con artists.

Snake handling is a religious rite observed in a small number of isolated Christian Evangelical churches, primarily in rural areas of the United States, typically as part of the “Pentecostal“ movement and/or the “Holiness” Movement. These movements commemorate the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus Christ while they were in Jerusalem celebrating the “Feast of Weeks,” (in Hebrew, Shavuot or Shvues, described in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 2:1–31).

The charismatic ministry of George Went Hensley of Grasshopper Valley, Tennessee, played a significant role in spreading the practice of snake handling. Serpent-handling in north Alabama and north Georgia originated independently with James Miller in Sand Mountain, Alabama, at about the same time.  The current membership of snake-handling churches is unknown, but has been recently estimated to be as low as 1,000 and as high as 5,000, in possibly fifty to a hundred congregations located between Florida and Columbus, Ohio, with a few in Canada.

Practitioners believe serpent handling dates to antiquity, and they quote the Gospels of Luke and Mark to support the practice:

• “Behold, I give unto you the power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”  – Luke 10:19.
• “And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” — Mark 16:17-18.  (This second passage above is part of the “longer ending of Mark” which many biblical scholars regard as a later addition to the manuscript tradition. However, the canonical status of these two passages is rarely disputed.

Worship services usually include preaching, singing, praying, speaking in tongues, testifying to miracles, snake handling, and occasionally drinking poisons such as strychnine. During the service, believers may approach the front and pick up the snakes, usually raising them into the air and sometimes allowing the snakes to crawl on their bodies. Handling the snakes is not compulsory for those attending services.

Bitten believers usually do not seek medical treatment, but look to God for their healing. If they get bitten by the snake, it is a sign that “they lack the true Spirit.^“ The congregation prays over them. If they die, then God intended for that to happen.   In response to snake handling, several states have enacted laws governing the handling of venomous animals.

Religious snake handling, speaking in tongues, and poison drinking are three of the absurd and appalling results of taking the Bible literally. These three practices are major Shortcomings in certain branches of Evangelical Christianity.  These practices illustrate what can happen when followers are uninformed and susceptible to superstition. 

Sunday Assembly Movement  (2013 until now)

Sunday Assembly is a non-religious gathering co-founded by Sanderson Jones and Pippa Evans in January 2013 in London, England. The gathering is primarily for non-religious individuals seeking a similar communal experience to a religious church, although religious people are also welcome. As of December 2019, Assemblies have been established in 48 locations around the world, with the majority in Europe and the United States, and are run and funded by volunteers from their communities. See SundayAssembly.org. for the following quotations:

• “Sunday Assemblies are a 100% celebration of life. We are born from nothing and go to nothing. Let’s enjoy it together.
• “Has no doctrine. We have no set texts, so we can draw on wisdom from all sources.
• “Has no deity. We don’t do supernatural, but we won’t tell you you’re wrong if you do.
• “Is radically inclusive. Everyone is welcome, regardless of their beliefs – this is a place of love that is open and accepting.
• “It is free to attend, not-for-profit, and volunteer-run. We ask for donations to cover our costs and support our community work.
• “Has a community mission. Through our Action Heroes (you!), we will be a force for good.
• “Is independent. We do not accept sponsorship or promote outside businesses, organizations, or services.”

“What should you expect from a Sunday Assembly event?  Just by being with us, you should be energized, vitalized, restored, repaired, refreshed, and recharged. No matter what the subject of the Assembly, it will solace worries, provoke kindness, and inject a touch of transcendence into the everyday.  But life can be tough… It is. Sometimes bad things happen to good people, we have moments of weakness, or life just isn’t fair. We want The Sunday Assembly to be a house of love and compassion, where, no matter what your situation, you are welcomed, accepted, and loved.”

Sunday Assemblies look like a great place for Co-Creators in Continuing Natural Creation to spend some of their Sundays.

Theosophy  (1880 to now)

Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian, Helena Blavatsky (1831-1891), and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky’s writings. Categorized by scholars of religion as both a new religious movement and part of the occultist stream of Western esotericism, it draws upon both older European philosophies, such as Neoplatonism, and Asian religions, including Hinduism and Buddhism.

Blavatsky taught that there is an ancient and secretive brotherhood of spiritual adepts known as Ascended Masters, who, although found worldwide, are centered in Tibet. These Masters are alleged by Blavatsky to have cultivated great wisdom and supernatural powers.

Followers believe that these Masters are attempting to revive knowledge of an ancient religion once found around the world and which will again come to eclipse the existing world religions. (Readers will note the similarity between the Ascended Masters and the “Operating Thetans” of Scientology.)

Theosophical groups do not refer to their system as a “religion.” Theosophy preaches the existence of a single, divine “Absolute.” It promotes an “emanationist“ cosmology in which the universe is perceived as outward reflections or emanations from this Absolute.

Theosophy teaches that the purpose of human life is spiritual emancipation and asserts that the human soul undergoes reincarnation after bodily death, according to a process of karma. It promotes values of universal brotherhood and social improvement, although it does not stipulate particular ethical codes. Weavers of Continuing Natural Creation agree that “The Absolute” is a better word for Nature’s Continuing Creation than “God,” but none of us think or feel that we are stimulated by “emanations.”

Skeptical Movement, or Skeptics Movement  (1970s to now)

The Skeptics Movement is based on the idea of scientific skepticism. The movement aims to investigate claims made on fringe topics and determine whether they are supported by empirical research.  Skeptics pursue “the extension of certified knowledge.” Skeptic Magazine, edited in chief by Michael Shermer, has 50,000 subscribers, including the author of this Essay, J.X. Mason.

Transcendentalism (1825 to now)

Transcendentalism is a philosophical movement that developed in the late 1820s and 1830s in the New England region of the United States.  A core belief is in the inherent goodness of both people and Nature. Society and its institutions are said to corrupt the purity of the individual, and people are thought to be at their best when they are truly “self-reliant” and independent.

Transcendentalists see divine experience inherent in Nature and in everyday life, rather than believing in a distant heaven. Transcendentalists view physical and spiritual phenomena as integral to dynamic processes.  Emphasizing subjective intuition over objective empiricism, its adherents believe that individuals are capable of generating entirely original insights with little attention to or deference to past masters.

Transcendentalism emerged in response to the prevailing state of intellectualism and spirituality at the time.  The doctrine of the Unitarian Church, as taught at Harvard Divinity School, was closely related to Transcendentalism. Its famous figures include Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau.  Nature’s Continuing Creation owes a great deal to Transcendentalism, and it is clearly one of our important Forerunners. (See our Essay, Forerunners to Our Path & Practice.) 

Unitarian Universalism  (1550 to now)

The Unitarian Universalist tradition accommodates a wide range of understandings of God, agnostics, and even a few atheists. The focus of the service may be simply the celebration of life itself. Each Unitarian congregation is at liberty to devise its own form of worship. Typically, Unitarians will light their chalice (a symbol of faith) and include sermons, prayers, hymns, and songs. Some will allow attendees to publicly share their recent joys or concerns. 

“UU”s relish the inquiry, the journey, the process, the search, going outside the boundaries. The downside for UUs is the possibility of never finding anything that is the answer.  However, most UUs genuinely believe that there is something irreducible, transcendent, and mysterious. We just work harder at making sure it is not a false God.”

Your author, J.X. Mason, who has been a “UU” for decades, thinks that Continuing Natural Creation best describes “the irreducible and transcendent,” and does so without being mysterious.  (See our Essay, Forerunners to Our Path & Practice.) 

A Unitarian Universalist Church designed by Frank Lloyd Wright

Here are the Eight Principles of Unitarian Universalism:

“We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote:

• The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
• Justice, equity, and compassion in human relations;
• Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
• A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
• The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
• The goal of a world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
• Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.“
• We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote: journeying toward spiritual wholeness by working to build a diverse multicultural Beloved Community by our actions that accountably dismantle racism and other oppressions in ourselves and our institutions.”

The Practice of Nature’s Continuing Creation embraces all Eight of these Principles, but advocates changing the first one to read:

• The Inherent worth and dignity of every person and every ecosystem. 

The Unity Church of God  (1889 to now)

In the Unity Church of God (or Unity Church), God is understood as spiritual energy that is everywhere present and is available to all people. God is not a being in the sky who is capable of anger. The presence of God only seeks to express the highest good through everyone and everything.

According to Unity Church founder Charles Fillmore, God is spirit, the loving source of everything. God is one power, all good, all wise, and everywhere present.  God is Divine Energy, continually creating, expressing, and sustaining all creation. In God, we live,  move, and have our being.

Unity believes that Jesus expressed his divine potential and sought to show others how to do the same. Unity sees Jesus as a master teacher of universal Truth and one who demonstrated the Way. Unity uses the term “Christ” to mean the divinity in all people. Jesus is the greatest example of “The Christ in Expression.”

Unity teaches that we are individual, external expressions of God. Our essential nature is divine, and therefore, we are inherently good.

Unity understands the Bible as a complex collection of writings compiled over many centuries. The Bible is a valuable spiritual resource, but it is best understood as a reflection of the comprehension and inspiration of the writers and their times.

Affirmative prayer is understood, in Unity, as the highest form of creative thought. It involves releasing negative thoughts and holding in mind statements of spiritual truth. Prayer and meditation heighten our awareness of truth, thereby transforming our lives. Prayer is valuable not because it alters the circumstances and conditions of your life, but because it alters you.

The Practice of Continuing Natural Creation regards Unity Church as a welcome partial update of the Bible, but Jesus is not the best historical exemplar of Continuing Creation.  See our Essay, Radical Sharing & Universal Love Don’t Work.  Also, Unity’s definition of “affirmative prayer” is actually a definition of meditation.

“Wicca”  (1954 to now)

(See also our earlier entry on Neo-Paganism.)

Scholars of religious studies classify “Wicca“ as a new religious movement, more specifically as a form of Neo-Paganism, also known as Modern Paganism. Wicca is cited as the largest, best-known, and most influential form of Modern Paganism.

Several academics have also categorized Wicca as a form of Nature Religion, a term that is also embraced by many of its practitioners. However, given that Wicca also incorporates the practice of magic, several scholars have referred to Wicca as a “magico-religion.”

Wicca is also a form of Western esotericism, and, more specifically, a part of the esoteric current known as occultism. Some academics have categorized Wicca as part of the New Age, although others, including many Wiccans, dispute this categorization.

                 The Path of Nature’s Continuing Creation applauds Wicca’s attempt to find purpose and meaning in Nature, but we do not condone the practices of occultism and magic.

Witchcraft  (In Europe & the United States: ancient times through the 1700s)

In Europe, belief in witchcraft can be traced back to classical antiquity. In medieval and early modern Europe, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have used black magic or sorcery against their community and against Christianity. Usually, accusations of witchcraft were made by their neighbors, and they were followed by social tensions. Witches were sometimes said to have communed with evil beings or with the Devil. 

It was thought witchcraft could be thwarted by protective magic or counter-magic, which could be provided by the ‘cunning folk‘ or ‘wise people.’ Suspected witches were also intimidated, banished, attacked, or killed. Often, they would be formally prosecuted and punished If found guilty or simply believed to be guilty. European witch-hunts and witch trials in the early modern period led to tens of thousands of executions. While magical healers and midwives were sometimes accused of witchcraft themselves, they made up a minority of those accused. European and North American belief in witchcraft gradually dwindled during and after the Age of Enlightenment.

Many indigenous belief systems that include the concept of witchcraft likewise define witches as malevolent, and they often seek healers and medicine people for protection against witchcraft.  Some African and Melanesian peoples believe witches are driven by an evil spirit or substance inside them. Modern witch-hunting still takes place in parts of Africa and Asia. Today, followers of certain types of Modern Paganism self-identify as witches and use the term “witchcraft” for their beliefs and practices. Other neo-pagans avoid the term “witchcraft” due to its negative connotations.

Zoroastrianism  (from 2,000 years BCE to now)

There are only an estimated 100,000 to 200,000 Zoroastrians practicing Zoroastrianism today. About half of them are located in Iran and India, with smaller groups in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, in Afghanistan, and in the U.S.  Some estimates assert a smaller number: 110,000 to 120,000.

With roots dating back to the 2nd millennium BC, Zoroastrianism entered recorded history around the middle of the 6th century BCE. It served as the state religion of the ancient Persian empires (present-day Iran) for more than a millennium (approximately from 600 BCE to 650 CE) but declined from the 7th century CE onwards as a direct result of the Arab-Muslim conquest of Persia (633–654 CE), which led to the large-scale persecution of the Zoroastrian people. 

Zoroastrianism, centered in the area now known as Iran, is one of the world’s oldest organized faiths and is based on the teachings of the prophet Zoroaster. “Zoroaster” is a Greek rendering of the name “Zarathustra” in the early Iranian language. The famous German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche wrote the book “Thus Spake Zarathustra.”  Later, the composer Richard Strauss wrote a musical piece of the same name, which was adopted as the opening score for Stanley Kubrick’s science fiction film, “2001: A Space Odyssey.”

Zoroastrianism is a “dualistic” religion, meaning that there are two nearly equal, vigorous, supreme forces: One for Good and one for Evil.  However, this religion predicts the ultimate conquest of evil by good. The benevolent deity of wisdom is known as Ahura Mazda (‘Lord of Wisdom’). Historically, the unique features of Zoroastrianism, such as its belief in free will and judgment after death, and its conceptions of heaven, hell, angels, and demons, have been carried on into other religions, including the Abrahamic Religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Gnosticism; as well as into Northern Buddhism, and Greek philosophy.

Zoroastrian doctrine holds that human beings have the choice between Asha (truth, cosmic order), the principle of righteousness or “rightness” that is promoted and embodied by Ahura Mazda, and Druj (falsehood, deceit), the essential nature of Angra Mainyu that expresses itself as greed, wrath, and envy. Thus, the central moral precepts of the religion are good thoughts (hwnata), good words (hakhta), and good deeds (hvarshta), which are recited in many prayers and ceremonies. Many of the practices and beliefs of ancient Iranian religion can still be seen in Zoroastrianism, such as reverence for nature and its elements, such as water (aban). Fire (atar) is held by Zoroastrians to be particularly sacred as a symbol of Ahura Mazda himself, serving as a focal point of many ceremonies and rituals, and serving as the basis for Zoroastrian places of worship, which are known as fire temples. 

“Towers of Silence” are the architectural structures where Zoroastrians traditionally perform their final rites by leaving the corpses of deceased Zoroastrians to be consumed by vultures and further decompose under the sun. The Vendidad, a central text of Zoroastrianism, says that burying or cremating a body defiles the earth with dead matter. However, modern Zoroastrians living in the West have little choice but to follow modern public health regulations.

Many modern scholars believe that the “Three Wise Men,” the Biblical Magi, who supposedly visited Jesus’ birth at the manger in Bethlehem, were envisioned by the Gospel writers as being Zoroastrian priests who traveled to Bethlehem from Persia, now modern-day Iran.

________________________________________

       — J.X. Mason.  ContinuingCreation.org

Footnote to this Essay # 26: 

1. Kate Bowler, Blessed: A History of the American Prosperity Gospel, 2013, Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199827695. Pp. 11 and 31-32.