Establishment
The institutions that have power and interpretation in the world are generally described as flawed. Instead, those in power should be "wise people." The media in many cases goes the establishment's errands and chooses to remain silent about things that could be inconvenient, such as signs or even evidence that the Earth is visited by individuals from other planets. There is too much focus on money in the world. Criticism is directed at people who benefit from the economic crisis. Healthcare is perceived as hiearchic, conservative and overly focused on diseases and social mathematics. Instead, it should take a holistic approach and work preventively. One respondent said it should be called a "healthy house" instead of a hospital. The Academy is described as a dead world. Psychologists and therapists are rarely experts in the field in which they are considered to be. However, a couple of respondents express gratitude for the help they have received through regular psychotherapy, although they also emphasize that the usual therapists would need to supplement their understanding with the new perspective.
In particular, criticism is directed at the natural sciences and the Church. These are described as outdated paradigms. The scientific paradigm is atheistic and materialistic. It is limited and needs to be expanded, rather than replaced, with the perspectives that the new spirituality represents. Christianity has had a mission to fulfill during a period when people had no ability to absorb more advanced answers to the big questions. However, new discoveries, such as in quantum physics, have made old explanations insufficient and many questions are pushing for other answers, both in science and religion.
Respondents show a great interest in theological issues. From a Christian point of view, for example, it is claimed that God's ways are inexhaustible, which from a new-age perspective is not correct. Some of the Church's beliefs, in particular the notion that Christ's death on the cross could free us from guilt, are rejected by arguments of reason. The Church's notion of sin and guilt is basically a misunderstanding: "Skip this with sin and forgiveness and garbage, and so actually talk about life and love, and where to go and what to think about," says one interviewee. All in all, the criticism goes against the Church's teaching that it is simplistic, narrow and narrow. Throughout history, religion has been the basis of many wars, dictatorships and other things that oppressed people, which shows that religion is also a potentially very dangerous phenomenon. To begin to take an interest in the new worldview is like "coming out of the box". One of the respondents describes herself as very religious, but says she has never felt at home in church.
The Bible has been distorted throughout history. Above all, it is the Catholic Church that is to blame for this. The motive has been that they wanted to safeguard their own power and, for example, reserve the right to issue indulgences. Another reason has been that the men of power within the Church wanted to maintain a patriarchal order. One respondent believes that what is in the Bible may have been corrected or adapted right from the start: "Yes, and it has had its function. What would Jesus have done for the people of that time? They did not have our concepts as we have today like that, so religion has been corrected to those who embraced it." There are other gospels, even one written by a woman, who have been suppressed. The Gospel of Thomas was found in the 1940s, but was hidden away by the Catholic Church for forty years. What is so inconvenient about this latter gospel is that there is nothing said about sin in it. In the Gospel of Thomas, the focus is instead on love.
Most respondents also get into aspects of the old paradigms, especially science, that interest them. Steven Hawkins is mentioned with appreciation, as is Albert Einstein. Einstein said he was a believer. "God creates through science," says one of the respondents, arguing that the new spirituality would have much to gain from opening up to and taking an impression of science. Positive things about the church that are highlighted are, for example, the music and the stillness. The church room itself is described as an oasis, beautiful and peaceful. In a church, you can also experience community. The Church still has an important role to play in society. An example of this is how this can bring people together after a major accident or disaster. After all, the Church is a good forum and an institution that people need. There are also good priests who think for themselves.
The Bible is or may have been a source of inspiration to respondents. Many people say that they have read it for some time, especially the New Testament. One of the respondents was influenced during his confirmation, primarily by the Gospels. However, he already felt that these were treated superficially in the teaching. The church has also changed over time, according to one respondent. It has had to give up its absolute claim that the Bible should be the word of God, so that the Church could "participate in the intellectual game." Living in a country as secular as Sweden is seen as a positive thing.
The detronization that takes place by both parents and previous generations recurs in the view of the establishment. The newness rejects both science and religion as "veihcles of truth" and instead argues that the individual needs to listen to his inner self, writes Houtman and Aupers (2007). The relationship seems to be ambivalent. "Scientists may act as both punching bags and heroes, deeding the needs of esoteric teachings," Hammer writes (2000, p. 11). Ambivalence is also expressed in the new terminology. Many words and concepts that appear in the interview responses have a rational or scientific connotation, for example: Laws, principles (as in "the slaying principle"), working hypotheses, frequencies, geometry, scales, systems, energies, light, perspective, atoms, hindsight, logic, synchronicities, talent cores, fractals, holograms, dimensions, chemistry ("chemistry of thoughts") and resonances.
In literature, this is apparently described as "Scientologist" (Hammer, 2000, p. 15) and "religism" respectively. Wikström (1998) writes about how the church, though imperfect and rigid, still stood up for something. People have been able to "take a stand against a religious core of ideas in their doubt or in their rejection" (p. 38). Perhaps the respondents' ambivalence can be understood as a desire to participate, but not really know how this should be done? Recognizing these institutions, such as science, would reasonably also require subordination, as scientists have already been working on these things for hundreds of years.
Vitz (1977) writes that the new spirituality "knows no laws at all, since laws imply a law-giver" (Kindle location 2218). In addition to concepts being borrowed from both science and religion, some general words are also used with a new and partly divergent meaning, for example: evil, goodness, darkness, God, love, justice, and more, and it can perhaps be argued that language also constitutes a superior host structure to which the interviewees have a charged or ambivalent relationship.