Jason at the Wild Hunt Blog has written about an intriguing study done in Australia that seems to be suggesting that young people who do not follow predominant religious traditions may be more susceptible to mental illness...
As usual with "scientific" studies that try to determine a link between New Age spirituality and mental problems, the study shows correlation, but not causality...as one commenter suggests, it may even be true that someone who was raised within a "traditional" religious household may in fact be seeking out "alternatives" because their family's religious path was not sufficient to address their mental difficulties...and, as usual, the media is blamed!
Still, interesting. But it is nothing new.
My question is: does all this doom and gloom reporting on the dangers of the occult actually end up achieving the opposite goal, and actually steer young people towards, and not away from, the occult? Now, that would be an interesting study.
1 comment:
I'm not sure doom-and-gloom reporting directly correlates with a rise in occult belief in teens, but I'm sure the trickle-down effect is there.
Teens like doing things that make their parents uncomfortable. It's how they assert themselves and disambiguate from the shared identity they forged with their parents that got them through early childhood. Changing one's religion is one of the easiest ways to rebel without having to do make too much of an effort. (stop going to church? play with crystals? hell yes!) Thus, the more occult religions are vilified, the more it will appeal to the younger generation.
Of course, I think all this has very little to do with those of us who have maintained spiritual beliefs beyond the Jeudeo-christian norm because that is what spiritually resonates with us. I still don't know why it's so scary to so many people, but I guess individuality can be a frightening thing.
And as for the correlation between the occult and mental illness? Totally bazoingus. I could probably find a correlation between smoking cigarettes and being born in the month of November (or something else that silly) if I wanted to.
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