This article presents relevant data from the 2007 McMinnville Project regarding the New Age Movement—a.k.a. the holistic milieu, and provides four key implications from that data concerning the direction the holistic milieu is moving in the Pacific Northwest—that people in the holistic milieu express their faith more as radical individualists than communally or institutionally, that despite being anti-institutional, they are not necessarily opposed to the notion of Jesus or the use of the Bible, that they are personally committed to their spiritual quests, and that they appreciate and utilize non-traditional avenues of religion and spirituality in their lives. Matthew Fox writes, “Renewal implies a new beginning, a new spirit, a new energy unleashed, a new paradigm, a new way to see the world. Enter the phrase, ‘New Age.”’
It argues that, contrary to Paul Heelas et al.’s prediction that “Those forms of spirituality in the West that help people to live in accordance with the deepest, sacred dimension of their own unique lives can be expected to be growing,” the holistic milieu is not usurping the traditional religious domain in people’s lives and priorities. It still has a limited presence, but it is not a strong one nor one that will be taking over the spiritual scene very soon, if at all (based on the statistical data of participation, longevity, etc.). Compared to traditional avenues of spirituality, the holistic milieu is difficult to find, although once found, it is not hard to join.
One of the more difficult aspects of the McMinnville Project’s sociological study of religion has involved the defining, locating, and sampling of the alternative spirituality practices. Peter Ellway suggests that, based on religious studies such as Knoblauch’s, “Europe displays declining religiosity, but shows how this is qualified by a real takeup of what he [Knoblauch] calls alternative religion, a wider term than ‘New Age’ which means privatized non-traditional and non-institutional religions.”
Concerning spirituality in the United States, Dan Kimball remarks,
In our increasingly post-Christian culture, the influences and values shaping emerging generations are no longer aligned with Christianity. Emerging generations don’t have a basic understanding of the story of the Bible, and they don’t have one God as the predominant God to worship. Rather, they are open to all types of faiths, including new mixtures of religions.
Heelas et al. mention that these activities and groups are “less obvious” and that they are synonymous with the New Age movement. Heelas states,
One’s initial impression is of an eclectic hotch-potch of beliefs, practices and ways of life. Esoteric or mystical Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Toaism enter the picture. So do elements from ‘pagan’ teachings including Celtic, Druidic, Mayan and Native American Indians. An exceedingly wide range of practices—Zen meditations, Wiccan rituals, enlightenment intensive seminars, management trainings, shamanic activities, wilderness events, spiritual therapies, forms of positive thinking—fall under the rubric.
Because of the aforementioned, the holistic milieu, or New Age Movement, has been described as a “cultural fog bank,” “undeniably nebulous” and “subjective-life spirituality”—labels that describe the sometimes-ambiguous, very personal nature of the holistic milieu.
Certainly connected to its ubiquitous floating presence is the challenge to find such centers and gathering places of its adherents. Obviously, there is no “Church of the Holistic Milieu” officially set up in the Pacific Northwest; rather, there are pockets of people coming together to share a commonality of faith/spirituality different from the mainstream understanding. Not only are these assemblies difficult to find, but also they are also difficult to scientifically examine. Very often, people from the outside are welcomed in as seekers, but not always as observers (from personal experience during the 2007 McMinnville Project).
What follows is an analysis of participants’ understandings of religion, spirituality, and the role of the individual in McMinnville, and the implications to greater society in the Pacific Northwest.
Key Characteristics
There are a few specific traits that seem specific to the holistic milieu. These include a belief in and involvement with alternative spirituality practices that holistic milieu participants consider spiritual in nature, a plurality or dualism in religious activity that allows for dual membership in traditional and alternative practices, a strong sense of community, and a cautionary outlook in life and relationships.
Belief in the Spirituality of Holistic Activities
First and foremost, the holistic milieu participants experienced or were clearly aware of a spiritual connection in the alternative spirituality activities they were involved in outside of church. Some 90% of participants indicated that they had recently and regularly participated in a spiritual activity that they considered spiritual or religious in nature. Furthermore, holistic milieu participants were involved with the holistic milieu activities for an extended period of time. This involvement was not a one-time affair but ongoing in their lives. Their involvement in the holistic milieu also was more diffused than in the congregational study; 90% of holistic milieu participants had tried multiple alternative activities.
Sacro-Communalism
A seemingly paradoxical characteristic of the holistic milieu participants was a strong sense of community that embraced people with a strong sense of individualism. Stephen Hunt states, “The movement is sufficiently broad, however, to embrace all-comers.” The holistic milieu survey responses also provided some light in this matter. In the survey, several people indicate that they joined their particular groups, “to meet like minded people.” They were looking for a spiritual support group where they could be fed (by a personal and community experience) and led (through individual and community enlightenment). As one survey participant wrote, “I like the teachings of my community because I like what my spiritual leader says and what he says we are to do. He wants us to be free in our thinking, he wants us to question, but there are certain laws we have to obey or we will suffer.”
Additionally, Both Neil and Laura voiced their appreciation for their approach to spirituality and spoke highly of the benefits it had brought to their lives. In his interview, Neil confided about a family crisis where he was estranged from his wife and children. He said, “There were some overwhelmingly ripping mystical experiences that made that happen. That I was contacted and my wife was contacted by the Central Force in the Universe in a profound, jarring sort of way that brought me back to my family and sort of brought us back together.” The holistic milieu had a therapeutic aspect to it that helped heal, not only spiritual wounds, but emotional and physical ones as well. It helped bring Neil back into community with his loved ones.
Laura, too, in her interview, opened up and shared her past experiences of church life. She said, “As a youth I never felt connected in a way that I felt I should be. Intuitively, I felt there was way that I should be connecting; I thought I must not be very spiritual since I was not. Now I feel connected.” Before she had felt disconnected from God despite being deeply involved in church (her father was a Methodist minister; later he became a Presbyterian minister instead); however, with her husband and their new-found embrace of the holistic movement, she felt comforted and part of a spiritual community.
Cautionary Disposition
Another provocative aspect of the holistic milieu is its participants’ seemingly hyper-cautious response to outside investigation. All-too-frequently, when asked if I could observe a holistic group in action, do a demographic count, and distribute a survey, the contact person would ask, “Why do you want to know that about us?” Despite any further explanations and promises of innocuous intent, they would often reply, “I do not think we would be comfortable discussing our spiritual life with you.” Their response went beyond privacy, and I sensed they were threatened by the notion of a public, academic study of their belief system.
This is not mere paranoia; historically, the New Age Movement and the holistic milieu have been criticized, chastised, and ridiculed by others in mainstream religion. Concerning the traditionalist appraisal of the holistic milieu, Partridge explains, “What they see as New Age immanentism has prompted not only the Catholic Church but also other Christian Churches to attack the movement as a form of modern paganism. They often consider any spiritual approach outside of the orthodox world to be a cult, “. . . the term ‘cult’ being adopted from Evangelical Christians as the appropriate label for the despised new religions.” Just on the sales website page of Josh McDowell and Bob Hostetler’s book, The New Tolerance: How A Cultural Movement Threatens To Destroy You, Your Faith, And Your Children, one reads,
Best-selling author Josh McDowell and Bob Hostetler unmask the true nature of the cultural movement of ‘tolerance’ in this powerful release. It will not only help you to understand it, but equip you to counter its insidious effects on your faith and your children. In addition, the authors teach you how to: neutralize this threat by discerning truth from error, teach your children to discern between acceptance and approval, and lovingly respond to a hostile culture that seems willing to tolerate just about anything except biblical truth.
Evangelicals are not the only Christian group to criticize the holistic milieu. The Catholic Church also has condemned this New Age movement. The Pontifical Councils for Culture and Interreligious Dialogue warned Catholics that
It must unfortunately be admitted that there are too many cases where Catholic centres of spirituality are actively involved in diffusing New Age religiosity in the Church. This would of course have to be corrected, not only to stop the spread of confusion and error, but also so that they might be effective in promoting true Christian spirituality.
Furthermore, Jesuit Catholic Priest Father Mitch Pacwa called the New Age movement “downright dangerous.” It is clear that both Evangelical Christian groups and the Catholic Church are actively fighting against New Age beliefs and considers New Age groups to be generally spiritually harmful to Christianity and the world.
With this in mind, it is no wonder that many in the holistic milieu are reticent to divulge their innermost religious/spiritual beliefs and feelings. In one interview, one person said that she had “learned to live her spiritual life underground” because of the hostility she has experienced from mainline Christians. Another mentioned that she does not let anyone know at the church she is attending that she also embraces New Age spirituality. When I sent a short email to the New Thought group (found on their website), my email went through four people before it was replied to. I found a great deal of information from their web site, but I asked three supplemental questions: 1) How long has New Thought been in existence in McMinnville?; 2) How many attendees do you normally have during the week (Sundays and during your Silent Meditations)?; and 3) Would you consider yourselves part of the New Age Movement or do you consider yourselves another facet of religion?
In the final email, which included the members’ exchanges about my request, one person had written, “Seems harmless. You might want to reply to this guy.” Apparently, there was some question as to my motivation by the group; perhaps they had others try to trick them into giving up information used later to hurt them somehow.
A cautionary disposition was evident in the responses; it made arranging the interviews and surveys that much more difficult. Being such a small segment of society, it makes sense that they would feel “ganged up on” or self-preservative. Many of the beliefs of the holistic milieu practitioners are still considered taboo in traditional churches. If knowledge about their beliefs made it back to their home churches, they could risk exclusion or embarrassment.
The Future of the Holistic Milieu in McMinnville
According to the 2007 McMinnville Project data, what is happening with the holistic milieu in the Pacific Northwest at most falls more along the lines of Steve Bruce’s morbid conclusion than Paul Heelas and Linda Woodhead’s spiritually-expansive future. Yes, there are some people in the traditional congregations engaging in alternative spirituality practices, but they are doing them more out of fashion or personal curiosity than religious fulfillment (based on their survey responses that indicate no religious association). There is a minor percentage of people in McMinnville active in various holistic milieu groups who are very serious about their spirituality, but their numbers are small considering the overall state population size; however, the largest oak tree began as a small acorn, so time will only tell what becomes of the holistic milieu in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest.