Posted by Siamang on: 02.20.2007 /
By Siamang
Sunday I was reading Isaone’s post at the same time my wife was flipping through the TiVo. And in a moment of coincidence, “The Secret” was on both. So we watched and discussed “The Secret.”
“The Secret” is a video and a book and I’ll call it what it is, a brand-name for a particular style of prosperity theology. Ellen DeGeneres had done some episodes on it, so did Larry King, and now it was Oprah’s turn. My wife and I watched the second of two episodes Oprah did on “The Secret.” And Oprah touted it without skepticism, with barely a wiff of any opposing viewpoint.
The gist of “The Secret” is the idea that you “magnetize” whatever you bring into your life by your own thoughts. “The Secret” is a very new-age set of beliefs, with more than a bit of name-checking of “Jesus the Christ” for some street-cred. This makes it nominally Christian, but certainly not mainstream. This is very close to what my beliefs were just before I became an atheist. I’ll explain my problems with this after the video.
Oh, and they also try to rip off the DaVinci Code too.
My wife and I watched the Oprah show, which was called “The Secret”: The Reaction. The entire episode was filled with glowing viewer responses talking about how they were going through problems, but now everything seemed so clear to them and they have a new outlook on life after watching “The Secret.”
And steam shot out of my ears. Here was Oprah, who has more money than God, telling people who will never, ever be rich or famous that the key to success was to do what she does, which is apparantly just to want stuff. No Oprah, the key to success is EDUCATION. The key to success is HARD WORK. The key to success is to be at the right place at the right time with the right talents. The key to success is to have good opportunities, and loving people who will help you get the chances you need. The key to success is NOT to watch a tv show and “ask the universe” for material goods.
As Mike’s Weekly Skeptic Rant writes (caution, strong language): This is blaming the victim. I guess starving children in Africa just don’t visualize food well enough, or “ask the universe” the right way.
As I said before, I believed this idea of magnetizing things to you by thinking positive thoughts. And as my wife says, at one level, sure it’s correct. If you have a positive outlook, you’ll draw people to you with similar outlooks, and you’ll see some benefit in your life… no magic required. Just the “magic” of human kindness.
But I believed it on a magical level, and here’s where I hit upon the moral problem of this belief. If I get good things because I think good thoughts, then people who are suffering are suffering because of their own thoughts. This is a terrible moral position because it excuses me from my moral duty to help others. Katrina victims? Why they probably brought that negativity on themselves. The poor? Oh, they don’t think positively enough.
This kind of belief is a balm to the folks who feel guilty that they should be doing more to share their good material wealth. It sure feels good, if you have a lot, to comfort yourself with the idea that you deserve it, and that luck didn’t have anything to do with your station in life. How nice to look upon a homeless family and never have to think “there but for the grace of God go I.”
As I said before, Oprah is richer than God. And wouldn’t it be wonderful if the economy worked in such a way that wealth was generated not by work, but by wanting stuff? If it were, wow, Oprah could impart that secret, and prosperity would just make itself happen. Oprah could then make every one of her tv viewers fabulously wealthy (as they have made her fabulously wealthy).
On the Oprah episode, one audience member spoke with clinched jaw about how this wasn’t Christian theology. Oprah was very dismissive of her views.
I explained to my wife how Prosperity Theology worked. I saw it first-hand when I was growing up. My father belonged to a “New Thought” church which taught a flavor of it. They taught that abundance was our right as children of God, and God provided all. “Abundance” was always referenced holistically. The church leaders weren’t talking about mere monetary abundance, but “an abundance of spirit” as well. They spoke of a “abundance of all things, mentally, physically, spiritually.” Spoken in those terms, it didn’t sound greedy. It sounded normal and healthy to say that we all deserve to be well and rich in mind, body and spirit.
The trouble was, this prosperity theology was a con. Probably a self-working con, believed as fully by those getting rich off the con as well as those whose pockets were getting picked. They were taught a bible verse that said something like (biblical experts correct me here), “whatever thou givest shall be returned to thee tenfold.”
This verse was printed on the offering envelopes.
Remember in the video above, Bob Doyle says,
“What will help you generate the feelings of having it now? Go test drive that car, go shop for that home, get in the house, do whatever you have to do to generate the feelings of having it now and remember them, whatever you can do to do that will help you to literally attract it”
Of course, the ultimate way to “generate the feelings” of having it now is to buy the item, on credit. When my father would put $500 he could barely afford in the offering envelope, God was promising him $5,000. But only if he could generate the feelings of having it now.
After a decade or so of belonging to this church, my father’s finances collapsed under a mountain of debt.
- Siamang
Comment by: Jim Henderson
1You nailed it Siamang. Oprah plays it whatever way works and gets “a pass” for name dropping Jesus along the way.
I think she is the most influential “preacher” in America primarily due to great production values. But you caught her doing what she does best - she leads the spirituality business called “Selfism”
and I really like her! (but not for that)
Comment by: Citizen Deux
2Solid and on the money. The new “prosperity” churches seemed to spring alive from the boom of the 1990s. If those guys are rich, why shouldn’t we be rich? Seems to tbe the prime tenet. Now arrives the Secret with more LoA mumbo-jumbo. The problem is getting it only half right. I like David Portney’s site which finishes the equation. Positive intentions coupled with hard work equals success.
No surprises there. It is as old as Horatio Alger stories. Then it was called Pluck and Luck. A combination of being in the right place and with the right skills!
Comment by: Karen
3Oh my, what a bunch of unadulterated bullshit that video is! I was invited to see the movie and declined despite a glowing review from a woman I know, but I had no idea it would be THAT bad. Unbelievable. I’m sure I couldn’t have sat through the whole thing.
I love the titles of all the “Doctors” in the video: “Visionary” “Metaphysician” “Author” “Philosopher” ;-)
Are we supposed to be impressed by that ridiculous nonsense they’re spouting?!
Comment by: Siamang
4Dr. Joe Vitale, MSC.D. Metaphysician is the first person on that video.
What’s an MSC.D.?
Why it’s a Doctor of Metaphysical Science® awarded by the University of Metaphysics on their website!
Here’s an actual sample lesson:
Oh, I’m intuitively sensing a reality here, all right.
Comment by: vicki
5I think the problem here is that these people took a valid belief system (whatever we focus on expands) and turned it into a commercial for their own financial gain.
In response to your statements: Eduction is the answer to poverty, but only to those who focus on their education.
The key to success is focusing upon working hard.
And, according to you the key to success is “Luck”, which I don’t exactly agree with, however, I will acknowledge it may seem that way.
My point above is that even in your own words about education and success, it requires focus to become a reality.
It is a law of this universe that what we focus on grows. Is there a magical genie sitting out there on a star waiting to grant our every wish? of course not.
don’t dismiss the belief system based upon those who are trying to make a quick fortune using SOME of the principles and ideas.
Lastly, it isn’t necessarily a New Age idea/belief system - the ideas go back to ancient esoteric thought.
Comment by: MTran
6Holy Crapola, these scam artists are claiming that they are a religion?!
Blame the Victim + The Power of Positive Thinking = $ in the wallets of the so-called Doctors of Metaphysics.
This reminds me of the old MLM, AMWAY, and est crowd. Uggh.
Opra should be ashamed of herself promoting this sort of nonsense.
Comment by: Karen
7ROTFL! “Tongue in mouth” technique? Sounds like the latest pandemic. ;-)
Comment by: Siamang
8I didn’t say that, and I don’t believe it. I did say being in the right place at the right time with the right talents, which I believe is true. To say the key is “luck” is in essence to say that it’s useless to prepare, because fate picks her winners and losers.
I’m saying the opposite. I’m saying prepare! Study, practice, get good at something. Be ready when your opportunities arise.
Well, yes. Deep thinkers from Jiminy Cricket and before have told us that wishing on stars can get you the things you want.
But Jiminy Cricket would tell us that more often than not it requires rolling up our sleeves, spitting on our hands, and doing the work.
I’m dismissing the Oprah segment, and “The Secret®” trademarked and patented name brand of scammery.
I’m not sure what beliefs you hold, or how they differ from mine, if they even do. But you seem to take exception to my dismissal of “The Secret”, even though you similarly dismiss their “genie in a bottle” formulation.
Let me attempt to understand what you’re saying, is this it:
You seem to agree that focussing on education and hard work produces results. But you don’t credit hard work or education, but somehow credit the amorphous force of “focus”.
Isn’t that like saying that it wasn’t the medicine that cured you, it was the TAKING of it that did?
Comment by: Ir (Helen)
9Wow, I hadn’t heard of this. But I have heard of the Prosperity Gospel and I see that this is just a New Age version of it in which “God” is replaced by “the Universe”.
The cruelty of belief systems which make ridiculous claims and then say “if this doesn’t happen it’s because you didn’t do it right” really bothers me because it piles guilt on people who are suffering through no fault of their own.
I was taken aback by how openly this video focuses on materialistic greed. All the footage of the boy and his new bike.
I think it’s interesting that here we have followers of Jesus (one so far, anyway) and atheists equally opposed to what Jim called “selfism”.
Comment by: Jim Henderson
10I didnt watch the video but I saw the traces of this before of course in modern day evangelical-pentecostalism and then in the new age world.
Humans will do justify whatever it takes to offset our fear and inscecurity.
religions of all stripes line right up with their version of the cure
Comment by: David Janaro
11Let me say as a Christian, I really appreciate your take on this. I had many of the same reactions, you expressed it well. Not only do they try to misuse quotes from Jesus to support their nonsense, they even made up things and claimed Jesus said it. On the second show they claimed that Jesus said “heaven is in you.” That’s never in the Bible. As for the verse about the tenfold, I don’t think there is such a verse in the Bible. The closest is 2 Corinthians 9:6, “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly,” or perhaps Mark 10:29-30 “”I tell you the truth,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields– and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life.” But in context neither is talking about a guaranteed 900% return on a monetary offering. (note that the Mark passage guarantees persecutions).
Again, great post, thanks for having the guts to take Oprah and this group on with such on the money moral convictions.
Comment by: MTran
12But Siamang, asking the Universe for goodies is so much easier than actually working for it. If you’ve got the right attitude of entitlement, the world is your oyster. (Though with the effects of climate change already hitting the Alaskan oyster beds, that carries a huge risk of food poisoning.)
As for their weird science, however, these Prosperity folks seem to have things a bit backward. They say that like attracts like. I thought it was “opposites attract” while like substances dissolve like. At least that’s what I remember from my rather distant chemistry classes.
Every time I read that these Profiteers invoke the laws of nature and the forces of nature, a line from the movie Network pops into my head. The one about the:
atomic and subatomic and galactic structure of things today. And YOU have meddled with the primal forces of nature. And YOU WILL ATONE. Am I getting through to you?
I doubt they will atone. I’m guessing they’ll just keep cashing their checks.
Comment by: Siamang
13And in all this I’d be remis if I didn’t recognize and appreciate the folks who work to make the world better.
There’s much more rolling up of sleeves to be done in this world. I’m humbled by those who do more than I do to help others.
Comment by: Siamang
14On the Oprah show they claimed that this “Law of Attraction” was “very scientific”. “After all, when scientists look through a microscope, they find out that we’re all made of energy. All that exists in the universe is energy. So we’re just energy in a universe of energy.”…(not a word-for-word quote, but pretty accurate).
Cue me… “Okay, someone call professor Einstein and tell him his equation is unbalanced.”
Comment by: MTran
15If only we could make such a call…
It’s snake oil sales-types like this that makes me very angry about the abysmal level of science and critical thinking skills as (not) taught in the US highschools.
These people are very much like the scheming patent medicine quacks of previous eras. They appropriate some of the phrases of science, cloak them in a bunch of bunkum. Then their victims, who tend to either hate or be completely ignorant about science, accept this assertion of scientific validity.
I would really appreciate it if any psych professionals out there could tell me why there is this disconnect among people who claim to loathe or reject science yet embrace science jargonned charlatans. What’s that about?
Comment by: Ir (Helen)
16MTran wrote:
MTran, I’m not a psych professional - but maybe it’s because people are attracted to anything which offers something for nothing. And if it’s labelled ’scientific’ maybe then they are less embarrassed about getting interested in something which is ridiculous.
Comment by: Karen
17Helen:
I agree, it’s human nature. Most of us are lazy, when it comes down to it. No matter how many times people hear “there’s no free lunch,” they still line up at the buffet, and get scammed every darn time.
And the same principle holds true in the bigger picture: It’s very easy to absorb this vacuous message about energy and the universe - it’s easy because there are no specifics but it all sounds so good.
Science isn’t empty feel-good words. If you want to learn science, there are a whole lot of specifics to master, and counter-intuitive ideas to absorb. It takes work to learn science and then to keep up with the latest innovations (which are coming fast and furious, all the time).
And most people would prefer to get the lunch without working for it.
Comment by: Mike O
18Make that two!
The unadulterated selfishness is SO dangerous!
Back in September I took a class called Financial Peace University and it is all about NOT NOT NOT buying things you can’t afford. If “the universe” is so eager to give you what you want (heh heh, forget about thinking the world revolves around you … the WHOLE UNIVERSE revolves around you!), let it give you the money you need to buy what you want without charging it!!!
Although I must respectfully disagree on the tithing aspect of this. I do believe tithing is a principal that Christians should follow out of obedience and gratitude. But NOT as a way of srewing God into a corner where his hands are tied and he HAS TO bless you. God’s hands don’t tie.
Comment by: Siamang
19Tithing is just another aspect of the interconnectedness within the church community.
Here I’m not talking about anything like standard tithing. It was the promised prosperity to follow that got my father into something less like a church and more like a pyramid scheme.
Comment by: Jim Henderson
20David in comment # 11 said
Jesus did say something very close to this in Luke 17:21 (New International Version)
“Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.”
So - Jesus did tell a group of Pharisees (of all things) that the Kingdom was within them- what could he have possibly meant by that?
Comment by: Siamang
21Thanks for the kind comments, David.
Comment by: Mike O
22I love it when people ask questions like that! I have no idea what the answer is, but great question!
Comment by: MTran
23Mike O.,
This attitude is what makes your discussions so refreshing!
Comment by: David Janaro
24I’ll share my opinion on the Luke 17:21 verse. First, it doesn’t mention heaven. It does talk about the “Kingdom of God” which has nothing to do with heaven. It has to do with listening to and following the will of God.
When the verse says the Kingdom is in “you” the word “you” in the Greek is plural. He is saying the kingdom is in the presence of all the Pharisees he is speaking to, not inside individual people. In fact, many translations say “the Kingdom of God is in your midst,” and this probably gets the original meaning better.
I think Jesus is most likely referring to himself here when he says the “Kingdom of God.” He represents the power of God among the people. It could then be very loosely translated, “Why are you asking about when the Kingdom is coming? The King of the Kingdom is right here in front of you, telling you what you must do to become a part of the kingdom.”
It also may mean that all of the people have the opportunity to enter God’s kingdom by repenting and following God. That is, “why ask about the kingdom coming, any of you can be a part of it now by following God’s will.”
He’s certainly not saying “heaven is inside each of you,” or “each of you personally have the ability to create your own reality.”
I hope that helps.
Comment by: NCxian
25Thanks for your take on the Kingdom of God passage, David. In the last, oh, 5-7 years, I have begun to hear more and more of this view. It makes a great deal of sense to me. Once you start looking at the Kingdom of God as here, instead of in-the-sky, by-and-by, a lot of what is said in the new testament seems to fit in.
Comment by: Julie
26Aaaaah! This movie has been driving me NUTS. I can’t believe you sat through it. As soon as it was recommended to me by a friend who also did Landmark Forum, I thought I was going to chew through a brick wall in utter frustration.
Why do apparently smart people fall for this crap? It absolutely drives me crazy.
OK, but here’s the more important question. In a town full of entertainment industry nutjobs who buy into b.s. like this because it makes them feel better about being in a business over which they mostly have no control…what to do? Is the best tactic to smile and nod, or do we do what I just did, which was to tell yet another freaking actress friend of mine, “NOOOOOO! That movie is full of crap and it’s evil and stay away and nobody really understands quantum physics, but especially not the people who made the secret! Clear your mind of lies!”
That actually seemed to work, but mostly, that tactic is NOT successful, so I’ve tried just putting it out there with a sense of humor that I do not care for the movie. Honestly, I should actually see the movie, so I can specifically say what I dispute about it. But ugh….I don’t want to see it.
Julie, your neighbor and buddy
Comment by: Siamang
27Good one, Julie!
Thanks for responding!
Comment by: Laura M.
28OK, there are at least two large Unity churches in my part of town that I was looking into and considering visiting. When reading their websites, my only negative reaction was when I noticed their ‘prosperity/pray for whatever you want and you’ll recieve it’ teachings. I was figuring on stopping by and checking it out anyway.
I should learn to trust my gut instincts more. Sometimes I think I’m just too open minded for my own good.
Thanks for this entry, seriously .
Comment by: Rachel
29Speaking of prosperity theology…check out this “advertisement” I posted over on Justice and Compassion.
Comment by: iardtgs
30Siamang, may I suggest you check the facts before posting incorrect information. The University of Metaphysics does NOT award degrees online. At this time they do NOT even offer online classes. The University of Metaphysics is one of the most respected institutions among those who are in the field of spirituality known as Metaphysical Science.