As stated before, one of the reasons behind western societies’ great interest in pagan religions like New Age is the atheist, idolatrous and materialistic context of superstitious Far Easter religions. The materialistic entities, distanced from the West’s Judeo-Christian culture, approve, support and promote all the superstitious beliefs of Far Eastern origins.
Materialistic Western culture believes in the lie of the coincidental Creation of the universe, and answers questions as to how man and life came to be in terms of Darwin’s evolution theory. This unscientific view rejects the existence of the human soul and maintains the lie that man is nothing more than a highly evolved animal species. It utterly and foolishly rejects the notion of a life in the hereafter or the belief in hell and paradise. This view is of course erroneous, yet it is compatible with superstitious Far Eastern religions. A great majority of these religions, especially Buddhism and Hinduism, reject the manifest existence of Allah and mendaciously attribute the sources of life to nature itself. These perverse beliefs reject the existence of hell and paradise, which is one of the reasons for the great support they get from the materialistic culture of the West.
The foremost evolutionists have supported Far Eastern religions since the 19th century, with Thomas H. Huxley being the most prominent name of those responsible for rallying support behind Darwin. His arguments with scientists and men of religion who advocated the belief in creation, and his fervent speeches and articles in support of Darwinism, made him the most famous Darwinist of the 19th century. Huxley’s interest in superstitious Far Eastern religions, in particular Buddhism, is less well known.
Huxley fiercely opposed the representatives of Divine religions like Judaism and Christianity and regarded Buddhism as a suitable religion for secular western civilization, at least in his own opinion. This subject is examined by the article titled “Huxley’s Buddhism in Evolution and Ethics”, published in the magazine Philosophy East and West. The article printed the following excerpt from Huxley’s book Evolution and Ethics:
“… [Buddhism is] a system which knows no God [Surely Allah is beyond that] in the Western sense; which denies a soul to man; which counts the belief in immortality a blunder and hope of it a sin; which refuses any efficacy to prayer and sacrifice; which bids men look to nothing but their own efforts for salvation … yet [it] spread over a considerable moiety of the Old World with marvelous rapidity and is still, with whatever base admixture of foreign superstitions, the dominant creed of a large fraction of mankind”.151
There is no doubt that the above extract shows what a great error and perversion Buddhism actually is. Huxley was an admirer of Buddhism because of these perverse aspects. According to the author of the article entitled “Buddhism in Huxley’s Evolution and Ethics” Vijitha Rajapakse,from the University of Hawaii, Huxley’s admiration for Buddhism was partly due to the similarities he identified between Buddhism and the ancient, pagan and atheist Greek philosophy:
“Huxley’s evident tendency to link Buddhist thought with Western ideas, which comes to the fore strikingly in his comments on the concept of substance, was further exemplified at other levels of his discussion as well. He found the nontheistic stance taken by the early Buddhists to be analogous to the outlook of Heracleitus and referred, in addition, to “many parallelisms of Stoicism and Buddhism.”152
Rajapakse notes not only Huxley’s, but also some other 19th century atheists’ great admiration for Buddhism. One of the parallels drawn at that time between Buddhism and Western philosophy involves the thought of David Hume’s. The 18th century Scottish thinker, Hume, was an atheist and anti-religious philosopher. Rajapakse says that interestingly, even the first western commentators on Buddhism recognized correctly the similarities between Buddhism and Hume’s philosophy, and then proceeds as follows:
Mrs. Rhys Davids [an early pioneer translator of Buddhist texts from Paali into English], for example, remarked that “with regard to the belief in an indwelling spirit or ego, permanent, unchanging, unsuffering, Buddhism took the standpoint two thousand, four hundred years ago of our own Hume of two centuries ago.153
As Rajapakse states, in Victorian England many other philosophers had taken a keen interest in Buddhism as it was compatible with atheism and Darwinism, the popular philosophies of that era.
Friedrich Nietzsche was another atheist who warmed to Buddhism for similar motives. He was deeply hostile towards Christianity, but conciliatory towards idolatrous culture and morality. His views became the ideological basis for fascism and Nazism. His hatred for Divine religions was not just driven by these religions’ morality but also, and more significantly, by his fanatical atheist views. His foolish hostility toward religion was limited to Divine religions whereas pagan religions escaped unscathed. He held pagan religion in high esteem and praised it lavishly, especially Buddhism. Jason DeBoer, editor of the “Eighteenth-Century Studies” says: “…Nietzsche, although one of the fiercest atheists in history, was in fact not entirely anti-religious… [He] respected and admired many of the aspects of other religions, including paganism and even Buddhism.”154
On the same subject, English academic David R. Loy, states the following in one of his articles:
“Comparing Nietzsche with Buddhism has become something of a cottage industry, and for good reason: there seems to be a deep resonance between them. Morrison points out that they share many common features: both emphasise the centrality of humans in a godless cosmos and neither looks to any external being or power for their respective solutions to the problem of existence. For Nietzsche the problem is overcoming nihilism, for Buddhism it is the unsatisfactory nature of our lives. Both understand human being as an ever-changing flux of multiple psychophysical forces, and within this flux there is no autonomous or unchanging subject (“ego”, “soul”). Both emphasize the hierarchy that exists, or can exist, not only among individuals but among the plurality of these forces that compose us.”155
No doubt, these concepts shared by Nietzsche with Buddhism are erroneous. The cause for this error lies in man’s arrogance and ignorance. Every person who studies nature and the universe with reason and conscience will see the clear evidence for Allah’s existence. This fact is supported by scientific discoveries of our present time. Nietzsche’s and other atheists’ beliefs have been disproved by scientific discoveries like the Big Bang and the Anthropic Principle theories. Science has delivered clear proofs of the fact that Allah has created the universe and maintains it in a perfect order. (For details on the collapse of atheism see: The Rise of Islam, Harun Yahya, 2003, published by A. S. NOORDEEN). Evidence for Darwinism’s invalidity both supports and proves that Creation is an indisputable reality. The thoughts of 19th century thinkers like Freud, Marx and Durkheim have either been disproven by scientific discoveries or social developments one by one.
The architects of atheist and materialist Western culture are witnessing the collapse of their theories and are desperately trying to find another solution in promoting pagan beliefs in order to curb the rising interest in Divine religions, ay least in their own eyes. The New Age movement, created for this purpose, is a false “spiritualism” injected into materialism.
But why does western culture perceive this need? The English writers Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh and Henry Lincoln have researched the ideological development (and degeneration) of the Western world of the past 2000 years. They state that the Western world has been plagued by an “identity crisis” in the 20th century. In other words, the materialistic philosophy and way of life imposed on western societies, has distanced people from Allah and their worship of Him, thus rendering their lives meaningless. According to Baigent, Leigh and Lincoln, “Life became increasingly bereft of meaning, devoid of significance – a wholly random phenomenon, lived for no particular purpose.”156
The materialistic theories’ destruction on the scientific level, combined with this cultural identity crisis has reignited peoples’ interest in Divine religions, which is why religion is on the rise in all Christian, Jewish and Islamic societies. The proportion of people who believe in and practice religion is constantly increasing and religious practices and values play a greater role in society. (Especially the Islamic faith, which is growing with unprecedented rapidity in the western world).
The pagan New Age movement is being promoted to divert people who are struggling with the “identity crisis” to this false path of salvation. These are only erroneous and futile teachings followed by people who seek some form of “spiritualism”, but cannot or will not free themselves from the atheist and materialistic dogma. A little thought, coupled with some reason, is sufficient to recognize the futility of such teachings. In the face of the threat posed by these false beliefs people of faith have an important role to play here: they must teach Allah’s certain existence and the morality of religion. In order to curb the influence of the New Age propaganda, the message of Allah’s infinite power and might must be delivered to all people and they must be invited to faith. If Islamic morality is explained well, and all the goodness derived from a life dedicated to the cause of our Lord is demonstrated, people will not heed the call of false spiritualism.
The evolution theory has played a significant role in the development of the New Age movement. Most of the followers of the New Age movement acknowledge Theilard de Chardin as their spiritual leader. Theilard was a paleontologist who played a major role in the history of the evolution theory. He was also one of the key figures in one of the greatest ever “science” fraud scandals recorded by history: the Piltdown man.157 The following words are sufficient to explain the degree of his allegiance to Darwinism:
“(Evolution) is a general postulate to which all theories, all hypotheses, all systems must henceforward bow and which they must satisfy in order to be thinkable and true. Evolution is a light which illuminates all facts, a trajectory which all lines of thought must follow.”158
His own words bear testimony to the fact that Theillard de Chardin was one of the most dogmatic advocates of the evolution theory ever. He swallowed and perpetuated the lie that man has not only a physical evolution, but a spiritual evolution as well. He imagined that once man has supposedly evolved enough socially, he will attain a state of spiritual perfection. This state he called the “omega point”.
Besides Theillard, many other evolutionists like Julian Huxley and Theodosius Dobzhansky are counted among New Age ideologues. Dobzhansky’s erroneous idea that “whilst the evolution process gave rise to man, it became the first only time its own consciousness in the history of the universe” this a frequently used expression by New Age advocates. The geneticist, Francisco Ayala said the following after Dobzhansky:
“Dobzhansky was a religious man, although he apparently rejected fundamental beliefs of traditional religion, such as the existence of a personal God…. Dobzhansky held that in man, biological evolution has transcended itself into the realm of self-awareness and culture. He believed that mankind would eventually evolve into higher levels of harmony and creativity.”159
Countless scientific findings have proved that this irrational belief of Dobzhansky’s is untrue. We have seen that the New Age movement focuses on the life on earth and places man at the center of everything. Whilst foolishly rejecting belief in Allah, it ignorantly ascribes divinity to man himself (Surely Allah is beyond that) and gives him the attributes of Allah. One of the foremost advocates of this perverse movement, Shirley McLaine, a famous singer and actress at one time, wrote: “You must never worship anyone or anything other than self. For you are God.”160 (Surely Allah is beyond that), thereby revealing the perverted beliefs of the New Age movement.
According to the ideologues of the New Age movement, whose primary objective is to create an atheist society by guiding people away from the belief in Allah, man is his own guide and judge. This perverted belief suggests that man will attain perfection by means of meditation, yoga, reiki, contacting spirits and the help of crystals; this perversion leads people to an even worse aberration. It ultimately causes people to believe that man is a divinity and is beyond right and wrong, sin or goodness. In other words, according to the New Age belief, everything that man does, is right. Prof. H. Wayne House, from the theology department of Michigan University, points out in one of his papers that according to the perverted beliefs of the New Age movement, man as a divinity cannot judge or be judged by another, and that rights and wrongs do not exist.161
It follows that all murders, torture, robberies, plunder, atrocities and injustices taking place on earth must be considered as beyond judgment. This is a clear mistake as man is not hold unaccountable. There is a Creator who sees everything he does, knows all he thinks and Who will judge, and either reward or punish him after his death. Our Creator Allah, has created man with a soul, reason, willpower and the faculties of comparison and judgment. Even if man has instincts that drive him, he has been created with these faculties with which he can choose that which is right instead of evil. Someone who is easily agitated and of little or no restraint, can consider himself and his opponent as animals, and injure him without thought and can be similarly cruel even if he is facing a defenseless child. In contrast, someone aware of the soul within given to him by Allah, will be rational and self-conscious at all times and exercise self-control when he feels anger building up inside. His judgment and conscience will be clear and he will refrain from even the smallest bad deed that he will be held to account for in the Presence of Allah. Those who act differently will have committed a crime. They chose to do wrong and commit a sin because they do not believe in Allah, do not believe that they will be answerable to Him, and therefore do not exercise restraint. Allah reveals in one verse that He has given man the ability to do right as well as wrong (Surat ash-Shams: 7-10). Therefore he knows right from wrong and only does wrong when he does not follow the voice of his conscience. Every person has a soul given to them by Allah and is ultimately answerable to his Creator. In one verse we are told:
He Who has created all things in the best possible way. He commenced the creation of man from clay; then produced his seed from an extract of base fluid. Then (He) formed him and breathed His Spirit into him and gave you hearing, sight and hearts. What little thanks you show! (Surat as-Sajda: 7-9)
Allah reminds people who think of themselves as unaccountable of their Creation and their resurrection following their death:
Does man reckon he will be left to go on unchecked? Was he not a drop of ejaculated sperm, then a blood-clot which He created and shaped, making from it both sexes, male and female? Is He Who does this not able to bring the dead to life? (Surat al-Qiyama: 36-40)
The erroneous belief that puts man at the center of the universe is central to the perverse New Age religion and also forms the basis for one of the Darwinists main arguments. Julian Huxley was one of Darwin’s main advocates, and his “evolutionary humanism” idea represented a strikingly similar perversion that aimed “to aid the evolution process to achieve its maximum”. This was not contained to the survival of the fittest and their reproduction, but also foresaw man as able “to attain the highest forms of his abilities”. In other words, efforts would be made to enable man to attain higher levels of physical and mental development. “Humanism” was defined by Huxley as follows:
I use the word “Humanist” to mean someone who believes that man is just as much a natural phenomenon as an animal or a plant, that his body, his mind, and his soul were not supernaturally created but are all products of evolution, and that the is not under the control or guidance of any supernatural Being or beings, but has to rely on himself and his own powers.162
Huxley lists the principles of evolutionary humanism as follows:
“The beliefs of this religion of evolutionary humanism are not based on revelation in the supernatural sense, but on the revelations that science and learning have given us about man and the universe. A humanist believes with full assurance that man is not alien to nature, but a part of nature. His true destiny is to guide the future course of evolution on earth towards greater fulfillment”.163
In reality Huxley’s movement was a baseless and grave error, because Allah, the Lord of the Universe, is the force behind the perfect Creation seen on earth. Man, so ignorantly exalted by Darwinists, has been created from nothing by Allah and he is a helpless being dependent on him. Allah reveals that life on earth is one of his miracles:
As for the earth, We stretched it out and cast firmly embedded mountains in it and made everything grow in due proportion on it. And We put livelihoods in it both for you and for those you do not provide for. There is nothing that does not have its stores with Us and We only send it down in a known measure. We send forth the pollinating winds and send down water from the sky and give it to you to drink. And it is not you who keep its stores. It is We who give life and cause to die and We are the Inheritor. (Surat al-Hijr: 19-23)
Huxley’s irrational ideas suggested that the so-called “sacred” purpose of mankind was to quicken his own evolution and these ideas deeply influenced the American philosopher and education reformer John Dewey.
Dewey developed this idea further, and founded in 1933 a new movement by the name of “religious humanism”. He was one of the thirty-four signatories of the famous Humanist Manifesto. The main principle proclaimed in this manifesto was the lie that the time had come to replace Divine religions with scientific progress and social solidarity.
The deaths of over 60 million people in the Second World War was a “scientific progress” (!) that shook the optimism of the Humanist Manifesto. Following further blows to the system, Dewey’s followers were forced to revise the manifesto which resulted in the proclamation of the second Humanist Manifesto in 1973, in which it was acknowledged that science could occasionally be harmful, but the Manifesto’s core philosophy remained nevertheless unchanged. According to this unscientific and nonsensical assertion, man was now competent to guide his own imaginary evolution, and science was to be the guiding principle. It said:
“Using technology wisely, we can control our environment, conquer poverty, markedly reduce disease, extend our life-span, significantly modify our behavior, alter the course of human evolution and cultural development, unlock vast new powers, and provide humankind with unparalleled opportunity for achieving an abundant and meaningful life.”164
Every evolutionist aspires to these errors that reveal the core perversions of the false “evolution religion” knowingly or unwittingly. First they dream up an imaginary evolutionary process and assumes that this process is the basis of all “creation”, that it will lead to man’s salvation and finally that his so-called “sacred” purpose is to serve this process. In short, the supposed evolutionary process is considered to be the supposed creator, as well as a sacred purpose; or in other words, a deity to be worshiped in an utterly foolish manner. (Surely Allah is beyond that.) However, the developments of the 20th century’s scientific world exposed Darwinist claims as a fraud. Developments in the recent past in microbiology, biochemistry, paleontology, genetics and anatomy have largely invalidated the evolutionary theory and revealed that life is the product of a sublime mind, in other words, Almighty Allah. The claim that scientific developments would accelerate human evolution thus rendering Divine religions unnecessary was exposed as fraudulent, as science tend to confirm rather than disprove creation. Allah’s existence was therefore revealed with clear evidence.
John Newport, honorary professor at the Theological Faculty of the Southwestern Baptist University in Fort Worth, Texas, wrote in his book titled The Worldview Crisis and the New Age Movement that the thought that man could attain a supernatural spiritual status by his own efforts was a fundamental lie of the New Age error. Newport says:
“It is all based on the same idea that we can become divine- We do not need a Savior, we do not need the basic thing that is present in Christianity,”165
This idea is of course an illogical one with no rational foundation. Human beings are created weak and are in need of Allah. Man’s only salvation lies in sincerely submitting to Allah and leading a life of which He will approve.
Another commentary on the subject is put forth by the renowned evolutionist Jeremy Rifkin, a fervent advocate of the New Age movement. Rifkin sets out his illogical ideas in his book entitled “Algeny – A New World”:
“Evolution is no longer viewed as a mindless affair, quite the opposite . … one eventually winds up with the idea of the universe as a mind that oversees, orchestrates, and gives order and structure to all things. We no longer feel ourselves to be guests in someone else’s home and therefore obliged to make our behavior conform with a set of preexisting cosmic rules. It is our creation now. We make the rules. We establish the parameters of reality. We create the world. And because we do, we no longer feel beholden to outside forces. We no longer have to justify our behavior, for we are the architects of the universe. We are responsible for nothing outside ourselves, for we are the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever.”166
Rifkin’s statement reveals why Darwinists feel so close to the New Age movement. The perverse materialistic worldview has for centuries rejected Allah’s certain existence and credited coincidental developments with the creation of the universe. They represent the same view that puts man at the center of existence like the New Age movement. As we have mentioned before, in reality man is a helpless being created from nothing by Allah and wholly dependent on our Lord, Who has created the whole universe and the world so perfect for our needs, with all the beings it contains created to unequalled standards of perfection. Each being exists in its ideal environment with a bodily order perfectly adapted to it. It is possible to see our Lord supreme creation in everything that exists in the universe. Allah reveals the perfection of his system in the Surat al-Mulk:
He Who created the seven heavens in layers. You will not find any flaw in the Creation of the All-Merciful. Look again – do you see any gaps? Then look again and again. Your sight will return to you dazzled and exhausted! (Surat al-Mulk: 3-4)
The following are other verses on the subject:
Say: “Am I to take anyone other than Allah as my protector, the Bringer into Being of the heavens and the earth, He Who feeds and is not fed?” Say: “I am commanded to be the first of the Muslims,” and, “Do not be among the idolaters.” (Surat al-An‘am: 14)
Their Messengers said, “Is there any doubt about Allah, the Bringer into Being of the heavens and the earth? He summons you to forgive you for your wrong actions and to defer you until a specified time.” They said, “You are nothing but human beings like ourselves who want to debar us from what our fathers worshipped; so bring us a clear authority.” (Surah Ibrahim: 10)
People who ignorantly ascribe divinity to man and regard him as a being of power and might are simply ignoring their incapacity. It is a great irrational perversion for someone who is helpless against an invisibly small virus, who cannot intervene in the faultlessly functioning system of his body and who can not delay the appointed moment of his death by Allah by even one second to claim a divine status, in his own eyes. Every human being came into existence by Allah’s command of “Be!” In this life on earth, our Lord is trying each human and will hold him accountable for his every action.
It is revealed in the Qur’an that the Prophet Eber’s (pbuh) people were idolaters who persisted in rejecting Allah but remained loyal to the worship of their fictitious idols. The Prophet Eber’s (pbuh) reminder to them is related in the verses:
I have put my trust in Allah, my Lord and your Lord. There is no creature He does not hold by the forelock. My Lord is on a Straight Path. (Surah Hud: 56)
Islam and Far Eastern Religions 