Constance Cumbey (born February 29, 1944) is an American
lawyer and activist
Christian author.
Views
Cumbey offered the first major criticism of the
New Age movement
New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars consid ...
from a Christian perspective in ''The Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow: The New Age Movement and Our Coming Age of Barbarism'' (1983), but quickly lost academic credibility due to her promotion of
conspiracy theories
A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources:
*
*
*
* The term has a nega ...
linking the New Age movement to
Benjamin Creme
Benjamin Creme (5 December 1922 − 24 October 2016) was a Scottish artist, author, esotericist, and editor of ''Share International'' magazine.
He asserted that the second coming, prophesied by many religions, would come in the form of ''Ma ...
,
theosophy
Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion ...
and
Nazism
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) i ...
. Scholar of
New Age
New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars consi ...
religion
James R. Lewis describes this book as containing "a few few insightful criticisms with many accusations of the least responsible sort", and that she is "simply lumping together anything that departs from a rather strict interpretation of Christianity." Cumbey's accusations include that the New Age movement has "infiltrated all of Christianity, as well as Judaism", and that it is the motivating force behind
ecumenism,
holistic health
Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or evidence from clinical trials. Complementary medicine (CM), complementary and alt ...
centers,
New Thought,
humanistic psychology
Humanistic psychology is a psychological perspective that arose in the mid-20th century in answer to two theories: Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory and B. F. Skinner's behaviorism. Thus, Abraham Maslow established the need for a "third force ...
,
Montessori school
The Montessori method of education involves children's natural interests and activities rather than formal teaching methods. A Montessori classroom places an emphasis on hands-on learning and developing real-world skills. It emphasizes indepen ...
s,
modernism
Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...
,
secular humanism, and
zero population growth
Zero population growth, sometimes abbreviated ZPG, is a condition of demographic balance where the number of people in a specified population neither grows nor declines; that is, the number of births plus in-migrants equals the number of death ...
. She states that
Unitarian churches and
health food stores become "New Age recruiting centers", that the
Guardian Angels
A guardian angel is a type of angel that is assigned to protect and guide a particular person, group or nation. Belief in tutelary beings can be traced throughout all antiquity. The idea of angels that guard over people played a major role in ...
become one of the New Age movement's
paramilitary organizations and that "the New Age Movement has complete identity with the programs of Hitler". Her contention is that the New Age movement is not simply expressing a naive or unscriptural interest in metaphysics, but that it is an organized conspiracy to overthrow the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
and replace it with a Nazi-like regime.
Cumbey is harshly critical of all religions other than Christianity and Judaism, and those who take an interest in them.
In the wake of the attacks following the release of ''
The Innocence of Muslims
''Innocence of Muslims'' is an anti-Islamic short film that was written and produced by Nakoula Basseley Nakoula. Two versions of the 14-minute video were uploaded to YouTube in July 2012, under the titles "The Real Life of Muhammad" and "Muham ...
'' she suggested on her blog that the incident might have been a deliberate attempt by New Agers to set their enemies against one each other.
I have my own suspicions that this is an incited thing that is designed to set the three Alice Bailey delineated fundamentalist target groups of Jews, Christians, and Moslems off against each other. I have even uglier feelings that it was cynically produced and put in circulation with just that sort of "kill-off Monotheism" war... I suspect this may be a deliberate and well-financed move to incite the target groups against each other
Published work
*''Is the Antichrist in the World Today? An Interview with Constance Cumbey.''
Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...
: Southwest Radio Church, 1982
*''The New Age Movement: Age of Aquarius, Age of Antichrist.'' (featuring
Emil Gaverluk and
Noah Hutchings),
Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...
: Southwest Radio Church, 1982
*
The Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow: The New Age Movement and our Coming Age of Barbarism'
Shreveport, La.: Huntington House, 1983
*
A Planned Deception: The Staging of a New Age Messiah'
East Detroit, Mich: Pointe Publishers, 1986
References
Further reading
* Irving Hexham, "The Evangelical Response to the New Age," in ''Perspectives on the New Age'', James R. Lewis and J. Gordon Melton, eds., (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1992), pp. 152–163.
* Bob and Gretchen Passantino, ''Witch Hunt'' (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1990).
*
John A. Saliba, ''Christian Responses to the New Age Movement: A Critical Assessment'' (London: Geoffrey Chapman, 1999).
* SCP Staff, "The Final Threat: Cosmic Conspiracy and end times speculation," in ''The New Age Rage'', Karen Hoyt and J. Isamu Yamamoto, eds., (Old Tappan: Revell, 1987), pp. 185–201.
External links
*
What Constance thinks (blog)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cumbey, Constance
1944 births
Living people
People from Fort Wayne, Indiana
20th-century American lawyers
American religious writers
Women religious writers
People from Wayne County, Michigan
American conspiracy theorists
20th-century American women lawyers
Writers from Fort Wayne, Indiana
Christian conspiracy theorists
Baptists from Michigan
21st-century American women
20th-century American non-fiction writers
American women non-fiction writers
Writers from Michigan