The “colonization” theory might even apply to many new-agers as well, especially in the context of their millennialist Angst and expectations. For them, the “natural world” has been taken over, exploited, and raped by science, technology, capitalism, and materialism. New-age-kitsch beliefs such as Atlantis conjure a long-gone golden age, a society said to be based on magic and wizardry rather than “what we know today.” Did Egyptians use UFOs to build the pyramids? Did ancient civilizations reach pinnacles of knowledge and spiritual mastery unknown to us, only to be devastated by an Apocalypse of their time – perhaps a rogue asteroid? Despite any good anthropological or historical evidence, the seductive appeal of such pop-culture mythology can be as powerful as the Garden of Eden story in the Bible.

Another psychological and social need which is met through the apocalyptic faith is vengeance. For gun-toting posttribulationists, the god of apocalypse isn’t some flaccid, sandal-wearing hippie who preaches love and forgiveness. The flock has endured enough vice and blasphemy for so tolerant a deity. Their god can be one of retribution, vengeance, and justice who comes armed with a sword. 

A vengeful-god is appealing to those who have experienced the frustrations inherent in a problematic, changing world. No amount of cash sent to TV evangelists, no volume of prayer and sacrifice appears sufficient to smite Satan. Secular culture – the postmodernist Babylon populated by money-changers, doubters, blasphemers, and other sinners – needs a whipping. 

Sin is ever-present in the form of temptation; the devil is an active agent seducing people with the delights of modern life, even food. “The devil wants me fat!” declares one ministry’s booklet about diet and prayer. Resistance to temptation is often depicted in terms of “doing battle” with the weakness of the human flesh. With seductive ads, movies, and magazines, and a cornucopia of tasty cuisines, it is a difficult battle indeed. 

The “final days,” despite their frightful bloodletting, can serve as an emotional vent for all this, and more. The righteous will no longer be tempted (or may even indulge their cravings with god’s approval in a modern-day chiliastic orgy). Sinners will be “getting theirs”, as the Lord’s just wrath descends on enemies.

Millennialism can also constitute part of a social or theopolitical agenda. Apocalyptic belief frequently demonizes certain ethnic, social or cultural groups. Jews, Freemasons, humanists, libertines, Atheists, abortion-rights activists – they are no longer simple individuals with a different lifestyle or point of view, but agents of Satan. This “mean streak” in the millennialist fervor is embodied in numerous end-times movements ranging from the Christian Identity sects to ultra-nationalist fascist groups in the former Soviet Union and elsewhere. It is a theopolitical conspiracy theory running deep in the consciousness of apocalyptic cults, fringe sects, and crank movements who feel that “their time” is just a few more pages on the calendar away. 

Millennialist visions of doomsday or utopia can meet vital psychological and social needs for a spectrum of groups, even those which manage to fuse diverse, contradictory elements into their apocalyptic road map. Some new-age groups manage to incorporate Bible prophecy with the more esoteric tenets of modern occultism. Benevolent aliens in flying saucers replace Jesus Christ in the momentous task of rescuing humanity from itself. The cosmic age when humans evolve to a “higher spiritual plane” serves as a surrogate for the more traditional vision of the New Jerusalem, and the post-tribulation reign of the returned Messiah. Love, peace, and benevolence rule; war is abolished, conflict resolved. We live “in harmony with nature” while developing fantastic powers of ESP or telekinesis. “We shall be as gods!” 

The millennialist parallels run even deeper. Christianity speaks of a lost golden age, the Garden of Eden. For the new-age, it is Atlantis, Lemuria, perhaps the postarmageddon world destroyed by fire (asteroid impact, global warming, nuclear war) presided over by an enlightened cult. The Savior can descend on a golden throne, or some glittering space ship. As we head relentlessly toward 2000, both Jesus and E.T. are expected to call home. 

Many developments which have been transforming religious groups over the past two decades have implications for any millennialist outburst. One is the conflict noted by Walter Truette Anderson in his book on deconstructionist thought (Reality Isn’t What It Used To Be) between what he terms exoteric and esoteric religions. 

Esoteric religions are characterized by organization structures, doctrines, and a priesthood which usually serves as the intermediary between believers and the deity. These religions serve to locate society and individuals within a cosmic order, and often reflect social and class assumptions about how the world is said to operate. Morality and salvation are linked to a rote learning and acceptance of doctrine, an external body of teachings accessible in the form of holy books and other sacred texts. 

Esoteric religions focus more on the primacy of individual belief and development than on external structures. They emphasize spirituality as opposed to religious hierarchy, along with inner mental states, and exercises as facilitating the revelation of truth. Esoteric systems can encompass everything from Zen and twelve-step programs to new-age crankery and cannibalized “eastern wisdom.” The near-addictive faddism of self-help, group therapy, and twelve-step regiments for a seemingly endless array of dysfunctions and ills is testament to the rampant popularity of esotericism. 

Religious movements are rarely either totally exoteric or esoteric; the latter can easily degenerate into the former, when a “teacher” or “master” is transmogrified into priest, leader, or cult-commander. Exoteric religions are now challenged by esoteric philosophies, which in turn can quickly degenerate into pop-culture psychobabble and vehicles for uncritical belief, in an “Anything-goes” atmosphere. While the sheep in exoteric religions often fail to question rigid doctrines, believers in esoteric systems fail to ask: Is there anything which isn’t true?

Esoteric, new-age beliefs tend to picture the millennium in terms of vague, amorphous, mystical events; their exoteric counterparts see the end-times as a titanic struggle between god and Satan, a cosmic drama played out in both the spiritual and worldly realms. 

Powerful cultural and technological forces allow and even encourage the exoteric and esoteric doctrines to co-mingle and interpenetrate. Andres Tapia, a staff writer for Christianity Today, asked in a recent issue: “In multicultural America, the question is not is there a god, but which god? Young adults especially are redefining spirituality in very personal terms. And today’s theological NAFTA combines Buddha, Mohammed, Jesus, Isis, Gaia, and the four winds...” One Christian market researcher observes that 36% of young adults “do not define God in orthodox Judeo-Christian terms.” Tapia extends his arguments on the vacuous nature of “spirituality” by noting the popularity of movies like Angels in the Outfield, or even the non-denominational Lion King which has attracted the wrath of the Southern Baptist Convention and other fundamentalists for its alleged “nature worship” themes. 

It remains to be seen whether the spiritual smörgåsbord in the post-modernist religious marketplace is really any larger and diverse than, say, a century or two ago. Many Christian and even Jewish groups are nevertheless undergoing subtle changes, including renewed emphasis on what they term “spirituality” and psychic fulfillment, as well as unconditional acceptance of certain crank, pseudoscientific, and even occult esoteric doctrines. For instance, the Church of St. John the Divine has assisted in publishing the writings of mystic Alice Bailey. This pillar of American establishment-style religion stages trendy solstice and Earth Day masses, complete with a procession of animals and celebrants in outrageous costume. Many congregations are “greening” – sponsoring twelve-step meetings for everything from drug and alcohol abuse to sexual dysfunction and incorporating beliefs which just a generation ago were consigned to the locked closet of the occult and the bizarre. 

All of this naturally fosters a reaction. The postmodernist religious-belief bazaar is a dialectical process, setting up conflicts of opposites – in this case, the fundamentalist backlash. All of the different factions and sects have a unique slant, a peculiar interpretation, a different view of “their reality.” The confluence of esoteric and exoteric religions thus produces a dizzying array of possible theologies and eschatologies, a marketplace of competing beliefs. 

For new-agers, biblical fundamentalists, and others, there is no one concrete vision of millennialism or even doomsday.

There remains another factor in the explosive popularity of the mystical bazaar – the lack of critical reasoning in so many areas of life, including the mass media. There are many prime-time programs, as well as special and bogus “documentaries” about flying saucers, alien abductions, angels, reincarnation, near-death experiences, Noah’s Ark, miracles, apparitions of the Virgin Mary or Jesus, and other related topics. Most of this programming fails to present critical arguments which question these unusual claims and mystical-religious beliefs; one rarely sees Atheists, skeptics, and reputable scientists given equal time to question or refute what is being asserted. This is not so much the result of a conspiracy to promote religion and pseudoscience, but the result of tacit assumptions concerning the existence of the supernatural, along with a singular interest in catering to fashionable, pop-culture spirituality. 

In his chapter aptly titled “The Magic Bazaar,” Anderson noted in his book: 

Some people really believed that the modern era was going to bring an end to religion, the final triumph of reason over superstition...instead, we seem to be in a world with more religion that there has ever been before. Never before has any civilization openly made available to its population such a smorgasbord of realities...never before has a society allowed its people to become consumers of belief, and allowed belief – all beliefs – to become merchandise...

While some may delight in this religious pluralism, the darker side of this becomes evident when we ask: “What about us? What about Atheists, or non-believers who aren’t on the belief-bandwagon?” Some 25,000,000 Americans describe themselves as Atheists, freethinkers, rationalists, humanists, or religious skeptics of some kind. While that is a considerable number of people (larger than many mainstream religious groups such as Jews, Methodists, Episcopalians, or even Southern Baptists), the tolerance of non-belief remains problematic and precarious. What impact does the emergent and pluralistic “culture of the irrational” have on society in general. Religious belief of just about any kind is often touted as an anchor for those hungry, thirsty, and starved for spirituality and adrift in a sea of postmodern alienation. How far will people go to satisfy this craving? What will they do, whom will they follow and serve to quench the thirst for belief? 

Conrad Goeringer is an antiquarian bookseller and freelance writer who lives on the cape of New Jersey. A frequent speaker at American Atheist national conventions, he is director of American Atheists On-line Services and a contributing editor of American Atheist.