By Lewis Loflin
Hey there, Lewis Loflin here. I’ve been poking around the edges of what folks call New Age religion, and it’s a fascinating mix—especially how it’s tangled up with environmentalism lately. Some say it’s the third biggest belief system out there, behind Christianity and Islam, pulling in everyone from former Marxists after communism’s collapse to modern atheists looking for meaning. Picture this: a blend of pantheism—where everything’s divine—mixed with a dash of socialism and a twist of nature worship. It’s less about reason and more about feeling, and it’s got a knack for showing up in places like environmental movements.
Take James Cameron’s *Avatar*, for instance. That 2009 hit was a blockbuster showcase of ecological pantheism—nature as sacred, capitalism as the villain. Bolivia’s then-president Evo Morales, a self-described communist, praised it in 2010, calling it a rallying cry against exploitation (*Independent.ie*, January 17, 2010). Funny enough, the Vatican wasn’t thrilled either, critiquing it just as the Pope was pushing his own green message. It’s a perfect snapshot of how New Age ideas have evolved over the last 15-20 years, shifting from crystals and aliens to something more political, like Karl Marx meets Gaia.
Wikipedia sums it up nicely: the New Age movement pulls from “older spiritual and religious traditions”—think atheism, pantheism, even bits of Eastern religions like Buddhism, plus modern stuff like ecology and the Gaia hypothesis. Science gets a nod, but it’s often more about faith in a “consensus” than the nuts and bolts of the scientific method. That’s where I start to squint a bit. Michael Crichton put it best: “I regard consensus science as an extremely pernicious development that ought to be stopped cold in its tracks. Historically, the claim of consensus has been the first refuge of scoundrels; it is a way to avoid debate by claiming that the matter is already settled.” When someone says “the scientists all agree,” I say, let’s look at the data ourselves.
Speaking of data, *The Washington Times* on February 2, 2010, pointed out cracks in the global warming story after Climategate. Leaked emails from the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit showed researchers dodging conflicting data and critics. British authorities found the university broke freedom-of-information laws by stonewalling scientists asking for raw numbers. Then there’s the Russian angle—analysts noted British temperature records skipped 40% of Russia’s land, much of which showed no warming for 50 years. NOAA in the U.S. trimmed Canadian weather stations from 600 to 35, leaning on just one for the whole Arctic north of Canada, despite 1,400 stations available. It raises questions about how we’re picking our facts.
Now, this isn’t new—nature worship’s been around forever, and I’ve written about how climate’s shaped history before. The Hypsithermal warming 7,000 years ago spread civilization, while a cold snap ended the Vikings in Greenland. Droughts hit the Byzantine Romans hard, and maybe even Roanoke’s lost colony. Whale fossils hint at an ice-free Northwest Passage long ago. I dive deeper into this in Taking a Sober Non-Mystical View on Climate Change. Point is, the Earth’s got a long story, and humans aren’t the only characters.
Today’s New Age environmentalism often ties into “sustainable living”—reducing your carbon footprint through diet, transport, energy use, all aiming for balance with nature’s cycles, per Wikipedia. It’s got rituals, like any faith, but sometimes it’s skeptical of tech and industry. NASA’s Dr. James Hansen, for example, once suggested those doubting man-made global warming should face trials for “crimes against humanity and nature.” Nature as a legal entity? That’s a leap. Hansen reportedly got $1 million for bridging climate models to policy (*Washington Times*), which shows how deep the stakes run.
New Age stuff blends Eastern mysticism—think atheistic Buddhism or Hindu vibes—with secular humanism and nature worship. It’s big on tolerance and moral flexibility, but critics note it can sour on Western values or individualism. Some call it “Evolutionary Godhood”—humans evolving spiritually into divine beings—or “Global Unity,” dreaming of one world in harmony with nature (hello, Gaia again). It’s less a church with a rulebook and more a vibe, but it’s got legs, especially among eco-activists with socialist roots.
Extracts from www.allaboutspirituality.org describe it as a system where “man is divine” and “there is no objective morality”—everything’s relative to your own truth. Gaia’s revered, sometimes worshipped, and native rituals get a nod for their earth-focus. It’s a package that’s less about proof and more about purpose, especially for folks seeking something bigger without the old-school dogma.
Acknowledgment: I’d like to thank Grok, an AI by xAI, for helping me draft and refine this article. The final edits and perspective are my own.
