Differences Between New Era and Christianity
Do you believe that there is no right and wrong, that whether
something is right or wrong is decided by each individual? Or do
you believe there is bad karma and that you pay for it by being
reincarnated? Or do you believe neither- then what alternative
is there, if any?
Do you believe that God wants everyone to be saved or only a
few? Do you think that promoting the belief in Having any values
whatsoever is good for the world? Your answers to these
questions tells whether you support the New Era movement or not.
In the New Era belief, you yourself decide what it right,
values are relative. New Era supporters believe in
reincarnation, because as one pop song put it, "it takes more
than one lifetime to learn". Yet the New Era followers believe
in karma. However the New Age movement does not try to stimulate
moral values in people for them, or tells them they can do
whatever because there is no need for salvation. In the new Era,
the followers believe that everyone is saved no matter what bad
they do.
In contrast, Christians accept that ten million lifetimes would
not be enough to learn. The more that the world progresses in
technology, the worse that the weapons become. The more
medicines are invented, the more billions that have no access to
them because of poverty. We have the accumulated knowledge of
past generations accumulated as formal education, we have more
information than ever. But we still have the same world problems.
Christians believe there is definite right and wrong. If not
there would not be so many problems in the world. We are all
imperfect and need salvation, but we can not earn salvation by
ourselves because not even one bad thing that we have done can
become undone by all the good we do. Nor can we clean up guilt
by saying that all we do is good. The Belief in Karma can not
save us because karma is a racist philosophy from India that
justifies the mistreatment of a race of people called "the
untouchables".
Karma, according to people in the New Era movement, is the idea
that you pay for what you do wrong. Karma as a belief is not
"new" at all, it originated from India. In India, Hindus and
Buddhists believe that karma is accumulated through
reincarnation and one pays for karma in their next reincarnation.
In India, karma is used as an excuse to justify the wrongs
accepted with racism. They believe that people who were born
with black skin are born that way because they were evil in a
past life. In India, the blacks are called the untouchables.
They and anybody who is crippled or poor are denied equality and
opportunities to improve their life,as K.P. Yohannan explains in
his Christian book, Revolution in World Missions, according to
karmic belief, Hindus believe that helping them would worsen
their condition, prolonging the time they have to suffer to pay
for their bad karma. Thus the belief in karma plus reincarnation
equals racism.
In Hinduism, some animals are sacred because it is believed
that people incarnate into them. Sadly, Hinduism keeps India
poor, K.P. Yohannan adds, because the Hindus believe that rats
are sacred. They will not exterminate rats even though they eat
one third of the crops and cause disease. The cows and rats eat
the crops but starving people are not allowed to eat of it.
In Christian belief, all races are made by God from one common
ancestor, Adam and Eve. We are all made in God's image and
deserve to be treated equally and loved as God loves us (Genesis
2:27). The Bible tells us to help the poor. "If there be any
among you that are poor of one of thy brethren within any of thy
gates in thy land which the Lord has given you, you shall not
harden your heart, nor shut your hand from your poor brother
(Deuteronomy 15: 7) and "And thy shall not glean your vineyard,
neither shall you gather every grape of thy vineyard; you shall
leave them for the poor and the stranger" (Leviticus 23:22). To
glean means to pick up every last crop. Some of the crop must be
left behind for the poor of the country and the poor foreigners
to gather.
Jesus taught that a man who could not see was not born Without
sight to pay for his sin nor for the sin of his parents (John
9:1-3). People with handicaps are equal to all and should not be
looked down upon.
But from Western eyes, it is not desirable to have "good karma"
either. Reverend Mois