I have absolutely zero hate or judgment in my heart for young people trying to figure themselves out and are new to spiritual paths. None.
HOWEVER. I feel like it has become an increasingly larger problem when children are teaching other children about spiritual practices that they themselves are not well versed in. This is mostly a gripe with tiktok and the recent widespread revival of Hellenic Polytheism (again, no hatred towards Helpols). It definitely applies to other religions as well, especially ethnically entwined ones like the dharmic faiths, but Hellenic Polytheism is the one I've seen most.
It's become very obvious to me that these kids do genuinely seek spiritual guidance and it's not like an act, but it's also very much being treated like a roleplay of sorts. It's not common practice to seek out actual religious practitioners, and genuine practices and temples are kind of dying out in favor of doing your own thing. Religion is between you and the deity(s) you worship of course, but it's also dangerous to go into that without proper guidance, which is something I don't think people understand.
Hellenic Polytheism seems to at least be the "safest" option, so I'll take something like Sanatana Dharma as an example. I've seen MANY people jump straight into something like Sanatana Dharma because it aligns with their views, but they're jumping straight into things such as Tantric worship straight off the get go. For example, Maa Kali. She has become so commercialized that she's sort of become the "mascot" of Sanatana Dharma. And there's nothing wrong with connecting to her, but not understanding that there are different embodiments of Kali can genuinely put you in danger, and without a guru to guide you, you don't even know what version of Kali you're connecting to. Also, please understand that you can not "work with" the deities in these religions. This applies to most Dharmic faiths (yes even Buddhism because y'all aren't gonna go off about the "but Buddhism is the most peaceful religion 🥺" bullshit) and ethnic religions. I can't say much about ATRs because I tend to stay away from practices that require initiation and/or are generally closed, but it's also a BIG problem with Kemeticism and, like, Isese being treated like European pagan religions that you can just... step into.
And I do think in some capacity that it is whitewashing. Most white Americans haven't really been around these complicated faiths and it could be a desire to escape colonized Christianity and such, but it's not being done in the right way. Even Hellenic Polytheism, whose devotees are majority white, has cultural practices that you need to be aware of so that you can go about having genuine respect.
So if you're considering a specific religion and you're not sure how to go about it, JUST ASK!!! Go to temple, find online resources, engage with culture. It's really that easy. And if it's "too hard," then I'm sorry if this is a bit harsh, but that religion is probably not for you. You cannot reap the benefits of worship while not putting in any effort unfortunately, especially if you are not engaging with your community or maintaining proper respect.
