On April 17th, Fox News released an article titled, “Is Oprah Starting Her Own Cult?.” Fox reporter Roger Friedman begins the article by stating: “Oprah Winfrey may have gone too far in exploiting and distributing the teachings of a questionable New Age writer.” He is referring to Oprah’s present promotion of New Ager Eckhart Tolle and his new book, A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose. However, while Friedman’s title and subtitle give the impression that this will be a warning to readers of the serious dangers of Oprah’s New Age philosophies, Friedman put most of his energy into trying to show that Oprah’s motivation and passion for what she does is money and power related. In addition, he minimizes the New Age’s impact and reality by calling it “goobledygook,” “nonsense,” and “kooky.”
What’s more, Friedman questions whether Eckhart Tolle is “an appropriate spiritual leader,” but his concerns focus more on Tolle’s troubled past rather than Tolle’s spiritual beliefs. Of Tolle, Friedman says: “He says he spent time wandering and sitting in London’s parks, with “no relationships, no job, no home, no socially defined identity.” Friedman adds:
His books, “The Power of Now” and “A New Earth,” are the same gobbledygook as most New Age stuff. They’re all about self-empowering and how to find out who we are. “Awakening” is Tolle’s key word.
Friedman goes after Oprah, but not for her spiritual affinities–he believes the energy that drives Oprah is pure greed. He makes statements like: “Winfrey is nothing if not gifted at recognizing what’s already popular in the culture and exploiting it,” and “You’ll notice that she, not Tolle, has the sole copyright on the broadcasts. Ka ching!” For an article that starts off in one direction, Friedman veers off with an entirely different focus.
While no one can argue that Oprah is an extremely wealthy woman, and she is most likely not complaining about that, Friedman misses the mark when he insinuates that this is her main agenda. Oprah is a woman on a spiritual mission, and it just so happens that this mission is to bring “awakening” to humanity through New Age philosophy. And though Friedman alludes to what this New Age philosophy is when he says “awakening,” he does not seem to understand the implications of the New Age vision to awaken mankind to his own divinity.
Friedman is not alone in his assessment that the New Age is nothing more than gobbledygook and nonsense. Many people feel this way about it. Ray Yungen explains that the reason they do is because they don’t believe that mysticism (i.e., New Age) or the supernatural are real. Therefore metaphysics is just “kooky,” like Friedman refers to A Course in Miracles. Yungen illustrates why mysticism is not just silliness and is based on an actual presence:
If mystical experiences are not real, then there would be no continuity in their end results. But through the ages, when one examines different reports, it is clear to see there is uniformity to these experiences, meaning that they are tied into a central force of spiritual connection that does not change its message.
Friedman’s article is actually a kind of paradox, and here is why: Friedman, representing Fox News, says that A Course in Miracles is “kooky.” But would Fox’s owner, Rupert Murdoch, agree with that? Probably not. Recently, Murdoch showed his support for Robert Schuller by participating in the Rethink Conference at Crystal Cathedral. In an article on WorldNet Daily (Rethinking Robert Schuller), former New Age follower, Warren Smith, documents Schuller’s long-standing commitment to A Course in Miracles, which incidentally is also being promoted heavily by Oprah this year. As Smith points out, in Schuller’s 2005 book Don’t Throw Away Tomorrow: Living God’s Dream for Your Life, A Course in Miracles advocate Gerald Jampolsky’s endorsement sits on the back cover. Schuller is as dedicated to A Course in Miracles today as he was in 1982 when he praised Jampolsky in his book Self Esteem: The New Reformation.(1) One can only wonder what Rupert Murdoch would think if he knew Fox News was calling A Course in Miracles, “kooky.”
A Course in Miracles and the New Age are anything but “kooky.” Instead, they are a serious attempt to redefine biblical Christianity; and it is not just Oprah who is introducing these false teachings to the world. They are also being presented by men like Robert Schuller, but unlike Oprah, no one is calling Schuller into account–on the contrary many high profile Christian figures continue to support him.
It is difficult to know what Friedman’s objective was in writing this article. Possibly political, trying to discredit Obama by discrediting Oprah, such as in the recent release of Carrington Steele’s book Don’t Drink the Kool-Aid. But whatever the reason Friedman wrote the article for Fox, he did not issue a needed warning about the New Age vision for the world and the ramifications this vision will have on millions of people throughout the earth. No one can know for sure to what degree money plays in Oprah’s zeal, but one thing we can know is that Oprah has been devoted to the New Age vision for many years and she is passionate about helping others to grab hold of this “awakening” of divinity within. Friedman insinuates that Oprah cares more about money than she does about people. It is poor reporting to attack what cannot be proven and to avoid reporting on the obvious. Oprah has shown herself to be a caring person, who is often willing to give her own money to help the needy. This cannot be legitimately disputed. What must be disputed though is her message – Creator and creation are one and the same, and thus man is divine. For all the well-meaning efforts Oprah makes to help humanity, her zeal and passion are leading millions down a road that goes further and further away from mankind’s only hope – Jesus Christ, as Lord, Savior, and God.
Although Oprah claims to be a Christian and sees Jesus as a great spiritual master, she does not see Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, and does not see Him as a personal Savior; rather, she sees Him as a model for the christ-consciousness. This is what Jesus proclaimed would be the sign of His coming in Matthew 24.(2)
Perhaps Friedman truly believes that New Age spirituality is a bunch of silliness. Some Christian leaders believe this too. Rick Warren’s chief apologist has stated: “[Rick] Warren has made it very clear that he feels the New Age and everything connected to it is pure silliness.”3
The Bible is very clear that familiar spirits (those which are behind the New Age spirituality) are not to be dismissed as kooky or silly. Scripture warns adamantly of the enemy of our souls who seeks to devour us, (“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” I Peter 5:8) and who is the father of lies (John 8:44). It also says that a day will come upon the earth when there will be such a great falling away that if possible even the elect (the body of Christ) would be deceived (I Timothy 4:1, Mark 13:22). And it states that we should not be caught unaware of these coming times like a thief in the night (I Thessalonians 5:1-4). We are to recognize and expose the deeds of darkness and let our lights shine so others may accept the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ, who is God come in the flesh. And let our zeal not be in vain for worldly matters but rather let our zeal be found in Him.
It’s time that the media and those who represent themselves as Christian leaders present the New Age and its teachings for what they are–a paradigm shift that is seeking to remove biblical Christianity from our world today.
For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. (Romans 10: 2-4)
Notes:
1. Warren Smith, Deceived on Purpose (Magalia, CA: Mountain Stream Press, 2004), chapters 5 and 9.
2. To understand this in light of biblical prophecy, read For Many Shall Come in My Name.
3. Quote by Richard Abanes
