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A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE PSI SYMPOSIUM
"ON OPRAH AND THE SECRET"
R.M. FEWKES
I am an ex-Christian Scientist and remain so for a reason. As much as I honor the power of the mind and spirit to effect healing in ourselves and others I long ago came to the conclusion that the body also can affect the mind and spirit and the health thereof. It is a two-way street, not a zero sum game with the spirit holding all the cards, infinite and eternal, while physical matter and the body have zero influence because the latter are ultimately unreal and temporal. Likewise I find myself holding a critical view of "The Secret" which holds that we all create our own reality solely by the power of our thoughts and attitudes-the poor and the sick are the way they are because they attract these things to themselves, and all they need do is change their thinking. Yes, up to a point, but a partial truth is not the whole truth, and that is where I part company those who would turn the Secret into a New Age dogma. What do you think? Let us hear from you. Speak your mind.
To prime the pump even further allow me to share a column from a ministerial colleague, and my successor in Norwell, the Rev. Victoria Weinstein, about "Oprah and The Secret." Here is what she had to say:
“Oprah, Oprah, Oprah, what could you be thinking? You have been our priestess of secular culture for years now, and we have had good cause to trust your judgment. But in your embrace of "The Secret," you are promoting an incredibly vapid and even harmful brand of New Age spirituality that claims that all we have to do is think positive thoughts and we can manifest anything we want in our lives.
Oprah, this isn't anything new and revolutionary: a more respectable version of this was done by Norman Vincent Peale back in the 50's, by the Course in Miracles founders in the 1970's and by Shakti Gawain in the 80's in her best-seller, Creative Visualization. But this newly-packaged, wildly irresponsible New Age nonsense you're hawking has something that none of those other versions had: it has your imprimatur, and for that reason, hundreds of thousands - maybe millions – more people will investigate "The Secret" and take it seriously. And it shouldn't be.
In a world where systemic oppression is the root of many evils, and where many people are uninvited to the table of power and privilege, where environmental toxins make so many of us sick, and where our lives are inextricably wound with unhealthy others who may be the source of many of our problems, it is not just ignorant but cruel to say, "the energy you put into the world -- both good and bad -- is exactly what comes back to you. This means you create the circumstances of your life with the choices you make every day." As Peter Birkenhead of Salon.com points out, there is a serious ethical issue present in the fact that Oprah Winfrey, "from a studio within walking distance of Chicago's notorious Cabrini Green Projects, pitches a book that says, 'The only reason any person does not have enough money is because they are blocking money from coming to them with their thoughts.'
Yes, thoughts are important. Positive thinking has its merits. There is a kernel of truth in the Law of Attraction, but not enough substance to warrant the basis of an entire spiritual philosophy. "The Secret," in being chock-full of outrageously stupid claims (Moses, Abraham, and Jesus were "prosperity teachers" and millionaires? Reeeeally?), failing to acknowledge the reality of interdependence and the moral imperative of "loving thy neighbor as thyself," is not a Secret any of us needs to keep.”
In faith, hope and love,
Vicki
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