Over the last several days, Fox News has highlighted Rick Warren on news articles and in television interviews. It was looking like a Rick Warren Week at Fox News. On August 11th, Fox headlines read, “Can Rick Warren Save the World?” A few days later another article read, Can Rick Warren Change the World? On August 17th, Fox’s Bill O Reilly interviewed Warren. To wrap up the week, Fox did a special presentation Sunday evening with Warren, discussing his global peace plan.
Calling him an “evangelical superstar” and an “inspiring figure” Fox brought Rick Warren and the Purpose Driven Life to the world’s living room. No longer is Purpose Driven Life a program just for churches and Christians – with the help of Fox News, it is becoming a program for secular and religious alike.
Why has Fox News taken such a positive, supportive interest in Rick Warren and his book, The Purpose Driven Life? Is it possible it has something to do with the fact that Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, the owner of Fox News, is also the owner of HarperCollins/Zondervan, which is Warren’s publisher? In a 2004 News Corporation Earnings Report, HarperCollins experienced a 57% increase in revenues largely due to “unprecedented sales of The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren.”
While Rick Warren is promoting both the emerging church and contemplative spirituality and making efforts to bring about an ecumenical unity that may succeed beyond measure, the question must be asked, is Fox News being used as a catalyst for Purpose Driven and thus contemplative spirituality (a New Age, anti-biblical belief system that ultimately denies the gospel message of the Cross)?
Interestingly, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation also owns Fox Home Entertainment, the makers of the recent Be Still DVD, which is an infomercial for contemplative prayer. (See Murdoch’s News Corporation.) And thus this leads us to another question … is Rupert Murdoch’s corporation intentionally trying to bring contemplative spirituality to the world at large, or is it merely trying to capitalize on the popularity of this mystical, New Age movement, without realizing the implications? Either way, for a corporation whose yearly revenues are in the billions, much can be and is being done to escalate this spirituality, bringing it to the masses from North America to the rest of the world.
