If you watch TV or movies, pay attention to how many of them feature characters at AA-type meetings. There is a reason for that-- the 12 Step tradition is HUGE in California. When I lived in Santa Barbara there was something like 200 meetings every week. Tons of people were a part of it, including lots of people involved in the entertainment industry. Most of the people involved treated it either as church, or as the thing that was more important to them than Church even if they were a member of one.
In the groups had a very tribal spirit, which to my mind is very suggestive of "tamanous" does JMG has described it. Egalitarian, but with charismatic leaders dominating. A fission-fusion structure, like hunter-gatherer bands. An emphasis on personal spiritual experience. And strongly supportive networks formed among the members, who routinely found each other places to live, jobs, and so on.
To my mind it's a very American form of spirituality, democratic, egalitarian, franchisable, puritanical, bibliolatrous (every program has its Big Book). It has its drawbacks, but I can see a modified form of the 12 Step program having a big influence on the religions of the future on this continent, and I hope that it will.
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branchandroot
Re: Personal Spiritual Path and Religious Organizations
Date: 2023-07-03 09:19 pm (UTC)In the groups had a very tribal spirit, which to my mind is very suggestive of "tamanous" does JMG has described it. Egalitarian, but with charismatic leaders dominating. A fission-fusion structure, like hunter-gatherer bands. An emphasis on personal spiritual experience. And strongly supportive networks formed among the members, who routinely found each other places to live, jobs, and so on.
To my mind it's a very American form of spirituality, democratic, egalitarian, franchisable, puritanical, bibliolatrous (every program has its Big Book). It has its drawbacks, but I can see a modified form of the 12 Step program having a big influence on the religions of the future on this continent, and I hope that it will.