The World’s “Most Dangerous” Spiritual Guru: Oprah Begins 10-Week Online New Age Class
By John JalsevacMarch 7, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – This past Monday Oprah Winfrey, considered by many to be the world’s most influential woman, began a ten-week long online course on the best-selling book, “A New Earth,” by New Age guru, Eckhart Tolle. “A New Earth” has already sold some 3.5 million copies worldwide, thanks largely to the publicity given to it by Oprah. According to Oprah, 500,000 people from across the world signed on to the first segment of the online course, to spend an hour and a half listening to Ekhart and Oprah talking about chapter 1 of the book, and taking calls from participants.
In recent years Oprah has been inviting an increasing number of representatives of new age spirituality onto her talk shows, including figures such as Marianne Williamson, Barbara DeAngelis, LaVar Burton, Richard Carlson, Betty Eadie, and many others. Oprah has strongly endorsed many of their works, and has included some of them in her “Book Club” list.
Since the beginning of this year Oprah has offered daily classes on her XM radio station on the book “A Course in Miracles.” “A Course in Miracles” (or ACIM for short) was written by another major player in the New Age movement, Helen Schucman, who claims that the book was dictated to her by an interior voice, which she identifies with Jesus Christ. In that course, the listener is taught that there is no sin, is told not to make the “mistake” of “clinging to the old rugged cross,” and that the name of “Jesus Christ as such is but a symbol.”
Oprah, who is a self-labeled “Christian”, was recently named the “most dangerous woman in the world” by Bill Keller, considered by some to be the world’s leading Internet evangelist. He accused Oprah of peddling the equivalent of “spiritual crack.” Keller has been warning the subscribers of his Daily Devotional for years about Oprah and how she uses her TV program to promote every New Age philosophy in the world, including the wildly popular book and DVD last year, “The Secret,” which teaches readers or viewers that simply by desiring them strongly enough, one may obtain wealth, health and happiness.
However, rarely has Oprah shown more enthusiasm for a New Age guru than for the so-called Eckhart Tolle, who takes his first name from the well-known 13th century Catholic Rhineland mystic, Meister Eckhart. Tolle is the author of several books including “The Power of Now,” and, most recently, “A New Earth.”
Much like many other New Age systems, Eckhart’s “spirituality” is a vague, ethereal blend of spiritual theories and ideas, gleaned from all of the world’s major religions. Eckhart promises the attainment of “inner peace” and a higher state of consciousness by utilizing methods of meditation that plunge one into the “now.” He also says that mankind is in a moment of crisis, in which the race must either achieve the next stage in its evolution by attaining “higher consciousness”, or destroy itself and the planet.
The title of his newest book, “A New Earth,” is taken from Chapter 21 from the Book of Revelations, in which the Biblical visionary says that he “saw a new heaven and a new earth.” Throughout his newest book Eckhart sprinkles quotations from Scripture, and he frequently speaks about Christ and Scripture in his talks.
The core of Eckhart’s teaching is a religious relativism, in which he eschews all rigid doctrine or exclusive claims to truth as dangerous and manifestations of “egoiic consciousness.” “The moment you say ‘only my belief’ or ‘our belief’ is true, and you deny other people’s beliefs, then you’ve adopted an ideology,” Eckhart told the participants in Monday’s online class. “And then religion becomes a closed door.”
Eckhart explains away conscience and feelings of guilt as but the consequence of years of conditioning. He told one caller, who confessed that she still feels guilt when she decides against going to church on Sunday, that she must recognize that “the voice” which tells her to go to church is simply the result of social conditioning.
One caller into the show told Oprah that she was a Catholic, and was having trouble seeing how Eckhart’s teachings could be reconciled with her Catholicism. Oprah responded that the caller must simply realize that Christianity is but one of many ways to achieve the “higher consciousness,” and that the belief that one must follow a set of doctrines is a consequence of “egoiic consciousness.” While Christianity is a valid way to achieve high states of spirituality, it must not be considered a unique way, or a “correct way”.
“Jesus,” said Oprah, “came to show us Christ-consciousness…Jesus came to show us the way of the heart…Jesus came to say, ‘Look I’m going to live in the body, in the human body and I’m going to show you how it’s done.’ These are some principles and some laws that you can use to live by to know that way”
She concluded, “I don’t believe that Jesus came to start Christianity.”
“What Jesus said is much deeper than what you, how the church interprets it. There’s a depth to it. And it reflects your own depth when you read it. So there’s no conflict between this teaching, which is purely spiritual, and any religion.”
Oprah also indicated that there are many names that one might give to that which she calls “God”, including “energy,” “consciousness” and “life.”
Oprah also contrasted what she called the “old” spirituality vs. the “new” spirituality, as espoused by Eckhart. “The old way is the hierarchy has the authority. Church authorities tell you how to worship in church and how to behave outside of church. The new spirituality is that you are your own best authority as you work to know and love yourself, you discover how to live a more spiritual life.”
Despite Oprah and Eckhart’s reduction of Christianity to but one “way” amongst many other equally legitimate ways to God, and their calling Christ a “revolutionary” who has been misunderstood by the Church, and who simply came to manifest “Christ-consciousness”, a quick search through the internet reveals that many Christians are following Oprah in attempting to fuse together the teachings of Eckhart, and the doctrines of the historical Christian church.
One writer on the message board on Oprah’s website wrote a message with the subject line, “Scared I’m replacing my religion, which I love.” “I just started the book” she wrote, “and I love the idea of the book but I guess the question I keep repeating in my head is will this be replacing my religion? How do the two work together. Can someone please help ease my mind that I’m not turning on the lord.”
Many of the respondents to the questioner confessed that they too had similar misgivings about the book, but “upon reflection”, realized that Tolle draws from numerous Christian sources, and that he and Oprah were giving them a “deeper understanding” of their faith.
However, Keller, and a number of other Christian pastors have begun to actively warn Christians that Oprah and Eckhart’s teachings are by no means compatible with Christianity. “Oprah is now trying to be the spiritual guru to this nation,” said Keller in an appearance on Fox. “Sadly, she is being used as a tool of Satan to lead millions of souls to hell with her false teachings.”
Another pastor, James A. Smith Sr., writing in the Florida Baptist Witness, criticized Oprah’s “spirituality” for its emphasis on the power of the individual to define truth and reality, and to totally control one’s own life. “What this fails to acknowledge is that man dos not define reality; man does not determine what truth is,” wrote Smith. “The source of truth for our decisions and power is the one true God of all reality and He has communicated plenary propositional truths to us in the Bible and remarkably, uniquely in His incarnation in Jesus Christ.
“Oprah, as with other New Agers, is not in pursuit and in communion with God.”
WorldNetDaily columnist Chuck Norris, wrote about Oprah and The New Earth, “The reason Tolle’s psychology and spirituality is marketed so easy is that it is an eclectic mix of conventional and unconventional wisdom, and Western and Eastern beliefs, presented in a tolerant, non-threatening, and non-sectarian way. In other words, it’s ‘Religion Light,’ in which one can be spiritual with ‘little down and no credit.’”
Norris recommended that his readers simply sit down and read a Bible, rather than “A New Earth.” “One could easily save the purchase price of ‘A New Earth’ and subsequently avoid misleading remarks by reading a Bible, which gives a much more thorough and accurate picture of life’s purpose and methods for overcoming its obstacles,” said Norris.
See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Oprah Winfrey Endorses Homosexuality Again With Upcoming Show
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/printerfriendly.html?articleid=05101707
Oprah Promotes Homosexual Agenda Again Referring to Lesbians as “Married”
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/printerfriendly.html?articleid=03110704
OPRAH WINFREY SUPPORT FOR ABORTION AND HOMOSEXUALITY
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/printerfriendly.html?articleid=00081101
Back to Top | Email to a Friend | View Story on LifeSiteNews.com
Catholic College Hosts Canada’s Most Outspoken Abortion Advocate
By Thaddeus M. BaklinskiLONDON, ONTARIO, March 7, 2008 – Yesterday evening Brescia Women’s College at The University of Western Ontario hosted notorious abortion and homosexual “marriage” advocate Michele Landsberg, who gave a talk entitled, “The F-Word: Fearless, Funny, Fast-Forward and Fabulous…Feminism.”
The talk was given as part of Brescia’s ‘Women Making Change’ conference in conjunction with International Women’s Day.
Landsberg is an extremely outspoken critic of orthodox Christianity and a venomous opponent of the pro-life movement.
Landsberg wrote a column in The Toronto Star a number of years ago, saying, “Will no priest or minister publicly resolve to stop the indoctrination of youth to view abortion as murder? Is none ashamed of the blood-drenched holocaust vocabulary used so cynically (and anti-semitically) to whip up fervor for the crusade? Where are the outspoken cries of conscience by bishops and cardinals who should be appalled by the evidence of links between anti-abortion fanatics and far-right militias, neo Nazis, and white supremacists? Is there no religious leader who regrets his church’s role in feeding this blind frenzy? Will none of them repent of their excesses, will none call a halt to their sickeningly manipulative campaigns of ‘precious little feet,’ their fake ‘documentaries’ about screaming fetuses? You’d think that the world had enough lessons in the dangers of hate speech.”
Landsberg is married to Stephen Lewis, who has a long record of outspoken opposition to Catholic moral principles and has unequivocally placed himself on the side of the Culture of Death.
Kim Young Milani, director of The Circle Women’s Centre at Brescia, which sponsored the lecture, said, “She’s one of Canada’s feminist icons. We’re really excited to have her,” in an interview with the London Free Press.
Loretta Dubrick, an alumna of Brescia, told LifeSiteNews.com she is saddened at the news. “It seems so far from the Catholic heritage of that College, and a total departure from the traditional Catholic spirituality on which it was founded,” she said. “It shows a lack of discernment about their Catholic identity to encourage their students to accept dissenting ideologies. It’s really disappointing and I do deeply wish they had reconsidered.”
Brescia was established in 1919 by the Ursuline Sisters and has been affiliated with The University of Western Ontario since its founding.
Calls by LifeSiteNews.com to the administration of the college were not returned.
To express your concern please contact:
Brescia University College at The University of Western Ontario
1285 Western Road
London, Ontario, Canada, N6G 1H2
Tel: (519) 432-8353 Fax: (519) 858-5137
Email: brescia@uwo.ca
Most Rev. Ronald P. Fabbro, C.S.B.
Bishop of London
1070 Waterloo Street
London, Ontario N6A 3Y2
Phone: (519) 433-0658 Ext 224 Fax: (519) 433-0011
E-mail: bketelaars@rcec.london.on.ca
Related LifeSiteNews.com articles:
Ontario Catholic University to Feature Prominent Pro-Abortion Politician
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/feb/05020701.html
PRO-ABORTION ZEALOT TO SPEAK AT CATHOLIC HEALTH CONFERENCE
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2000/nov/00112302.html
Back to Top | Email to a Friend | View Story on LifeSiteNews.com
Colombia Announces Abortifiacient “Morning After Pill” Giveaway Program for Adolescents
Drugs will Allow Teenagers to Abort their Unborn Children After Engaging in Sexual Intercourse
COLOMBIA, March 7, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The government of Colombia has announced a new program through which it will distribute the abortifiacient “morning after pill” as “emergency contraception” free to all women who are of the age of fertility.”The measure covers victims of rape and all women who have had sexual relations without protection. The first must make an emergency request and the second through a priority consultation with her EPS (Health Promoting Entity),” said Blanca Elvira Cajigas, Vice Minister of Health and Well Being in an interview with El Tiempo.
All teenage women, regardless of their participation in the nation’s health care system, will receive the abortifacient contraceptives free of charge. Women older than 19 years must be enrolled in a government or private health care plan to receive the benefit, although Cajigas believes that even this requirement will be dropped.
“The plan is that next year, when we reach universal health care coverage, everyone can have access” to the program, she said.
All three forms of contraceptives offered not only prevent pregnancy, but also can cause abortions by preventing a newly conceived zygote from implanting in the uterine wall of his mother. Despite the fact that Colombia’s constitution says that the “right to life is inviolable” and bans the death penalty, the Colombian Supreme Court overruled such protections in 2006 based on its interpretation of international “human rights” treaties signed by Colombia.
Colombia is the second Latin American country to offer free contraceptives to the public. The first was Chile, which has also required the nation’s pharmaceutical chains to distribute the drugs to the public (see LifeSiteNews coverage at http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/nov/07111301.html).
Back to Top | Email to a Friend | View Story on LifeSiteNews.com
Indian Government Offers $3,000 to Families to Prevent Female Abortions
Only 927 Girls are Born for Every Thousand Boys in Ongoing Crisis of “Gendercide”
By Matthew Cullinan HoffmanINDIA, March 7, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – India’s crisis of sex-selective abortions has become so grave that the government has begun to offer close to $3,000 to poor families for each new female birth.
The British medical journal, The Lancet, estimates that 10 million unborn females have been killed in the last twenty years by sex-selective abortion. About 500,000 are aborted annually.
Despite India’s policy of prohibiting doctors from reporting the sex of a child to the parents before birth, the practice has continued. Today only 927 females are born for every 1000 males in India, down from 945 girls for every 1000 boys in 1991, three years before the policy was implemented. In the state most affected by the practice, Punjab, only 793 girls are born for every 1000 males.
Sex selective abortion in India is fueled by economic and social factors. While a male child is regarded as an economic benefit to the family, females are often seen as a loss. Male children are more likely to earn money for the family and care for their parents in old age, while females leave the family at marriage, and must be accompanied by an often expensive dowry to complete the transfer.
The almost $3,000 paid to qualifying families will be distributed in increments during the life of the child, subject to certain requirements. The girls must be immunized, receive an education and proper nutrition, and avoid marriage until the age of 18, at which time a lump sum of almost $2,500 will be paid. Authorities are reportedly hoping to save over 100,000 girls in the first year of the program.
Although the program will only be available to poor families, it is generally believed that sex-selective abortions are more often chosen by wealthier families who have access to the ultrasound technology needed to determine the sex of their unborn child. Punjab province, where the problem is most acute, is one of India’s wealthiest.
In their report, “Women in an Insecure World”, the Geneva Center for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF) estimates that between 1.5 and 3 million girls are killed for sex-selective reasons each year, resulting in an accumulated worldwide “deficit” of 200 million women. They refer to the phenomenon as “gendercide”.
Related Links:
Women in an Insecure World
http://www.dcaf.ch/women/pb_women_ex_sum.pdf
Related LifeSiteNews Coverage:
“Gendercide” – Abortion and Infanticide of Girls Leading to Lop-Sided Demographics
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/nov/05112208.html
500,000 Girls Aborted Per Year in India new Study Finds
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/jan/06010909.html
India’s Top Court Bans Sex-Selection Abortion Advertising
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2002/oct/02100906.html
Back to Top | Email to a Friend | View Story on LifeSiteNews.com
Oregon Patients Prescribed Lethal Drugs for “Fear” of Pain and Loss of Dignity
By Hilary WhiteSALEM, Oregon, March 7, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A new study shows that doctors in Oregon, where physician assisted suicide (PAS) is legal, have prescribed lethal drugs to patients not actually suffering severe symptoms of their diseases. Patients have been prescribed the drugs upon experiencing only fear of future suffering and loss of dignity in the dying process, research reveals.
The study says, “Some Oregon clinicians have expressed surprise at the paucity of suffering at the time of the request among these patients”.
Under Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act, a terminally ill patient can request that his physician give him a prescription for a lethal dose of medication for the purpose of ending his life. Smith and other opponents of euthanasia and PAS have said that such laws, despite “safeguards” in regulations, are open to abuse and result in emotionally vulnerable patients being intimidated into making the request.
The study, from the Journal of General Internal Medicine, asked relatives of patients who died by assisted suicide in Oregon to describe the reasons for their loved-ones’ requests. “In most cases, future concerns about physical symptoms were rated as more important than physical symptoms present at the time of the request,” the report says.
The study backs up other reports that show fear of pain, disability and “being a burden,” rather than actual symptoms of disease, is a leading motive for requests for PAS.
The study said, “Concerns about what may be experienced in the future, including physical symptoms, were substantially more powerful reasons than what they experienced at the time of the request.”
The study’s authors suggest that doctors receiving a request from a patient with these fears should “focus on eliciting and addressing worries and apprehension about the future with the goal of reducing anxiety about the dying process”.
The study continued, “Addressing patients’ concerns with concrete interventions that help maintain control, independence and self care, all in the home environment, may be an effective way to address requests for [PAS] and improve quality of remaining life.”
Bioethics writer Wesley J. Smith, who was himself a volunteer in hospice, writes that a physician who accedes to requests for lethal prescriptions “is lending the weight of his or her authority to the burdens felt by the patient”.
“How tragic that people in Oregon who decided on assisted suicide may have cheated themselves out of a time that, for all their fears, they might have ultimately found to be well worth the living.”
Back to Top | Email to a Friend | View Story on LifeSiteNews.com
“Homosexualism does not Correspond to Moral Principles of Society”: Ukraine Parliamentary Committee
By Hilary WhiteKIEV, Ukraine, March 7, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A committee of the Ukrainian Parliament is calling for a halt to the popularization of homosexuality that has become such a prominent feature of life in western European and North American societies. The Committee on the Issues of Freedom of Speech says the state must oppose the increasing promotion of “homosexualism, lesbianism, other sexual perversions, which do not correspond to moral principles of the society”.
The Committee’s report said, “Propaganda and expansion of homosexuality in the country form a threat to national security, contradict national interests and undermine the authority of rights and freedoms of human beings and family”.
The Ukraine is seeking membership in the European Union, the founding documents of which require the repeal of member country’s anti-homosexuality legislation. The Treaty of Amsterdam requires anti-discrimination legislation to be enacted by its member states.
A possible hurdle for the country’s entry into the EU is the fact that there is no positive law prohibiting “discrimination” against homosexuals, such as hate crimes laws, as there is in the UK, Germany and other EU nations where homosexual activists have been enormously successful in normalizing the “gay lifestyle”.
Homosexual relations were decriminalized in the Ukraine in 1991 and the country, at the same time, equalized its age of consent law. The term “sexual orientation” is not used anywhere in Ukrainian law.
The homosexual lobby has made little inroads in its efforts to popularize homosexuality in some of the countries of the former Soviet Bloc. Ukraine remains a staunchly Christian country and a recent poll showed that public support for the “gay” movement stands at only 15 per cent.
In February 2008, a group of Ukrainian deputies sent letters to a Christian organization, True Love Is Against Homosexuality, saying, “Propagation of homosexuality harms the moral education of children and youth by developing a perverted idea of human sexual life and the natural orientation of men and women”.
Yulia Timoshenko and Bloc deputy Ihor Yeresko, said in the letter that “it looks absurd when moral dissipation and sexual freedom are supported under the pretext of non-discrimination at the legislative level”.
In late February the All-Ukrainian Association of Christian Journalists, Publishers and Linguists, Novomedia, issued a statement expressing indignation at the broadcast of the US homosexual propaganda film, Brokeback Mountain, on television. They chastised the TV station, saying that “the channel not only dared to broadcast a film popularizing perversion and immoral behavior but also did it at prime time, when most families watch TV together”.
Ukraine’s deep commitment to Christianity may become a stumbling block for its relations with the aggressively secularist European Union. Unlike the EU that refused to acknowledge in its constitution the two millennia of Christian culture that defines Europe, Ukraine is deeply proud of its Christian heritage. Ukraine’s President Victor Yushchenko met recently with Orthodox Patriarch Filaret Denysenko of Kyiv to discuss the coming celebration of the 1020th Anniversary Baptism of Kyivan Rus, the medieval state dominated by the city of Kiev.
Back to Top | Email to a Friend | View Story on LifeSiteNews.com
Graphic, Profane and Vulgar Homosexual Porn Novel Given to Students at Posh Illinois High School
DEERFIELD, IL, March 7, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Deerfield High School, in Deerfield, Illinois, is offering the books “Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes” (Part One & Two) – laced with graphic sexual content, including gay sex, pervasive expletives, religious denigration and mockery – in English classes this spring.The books contain graphic descriptions of sodomy heretofore only heard of in hardcore homosexual pornography. With numerous uses of the ‘f’ word and vulgar sexual references to Mother Teresa, the Mother of Jesus, and God.
“After almost 15 years of school advocacy and reviewing many objectionable books and curricula, I have never seen anything this vulgar and harmful to students,” says Lora Sue Hauser, Executive Director of North Shore Student Advocacy. “Parents, taxpayers and concerned citizens must force themselves to read these excerpts, as horrific as they are, so you know what kids are being exposed to. The school justifies this egregious choice because of its themes of hope. Evidently, all great literature with themes of hope have already been exhausted so teachers need to start offering pornography. We say – enough.”
North Shore Student Advocacy (NSSA), an organization to help parents and students when they run into problems in public schools, was made aware of these books last fall when a parent complained. The books were part of required reading until NSSA filed a formal complaint with the school, asking the books to be reviewed by committee.
The committee decided to remove the books from required reading, but continued to offer them in the classroom as an optional title. “Optional Title,” according to the principal, means that the student may select the books to study with peers and be guided by the adult, male teacher. A parental permission slip will be required, but without full disclosure of the sexually explicit content. This conclusion is unacceptable to the complaining parent and to NSSA. They are asking that this pornographic book be removed from curriculum completely.
The State’s Attorney’s office of Lake County, Illinois, deemed the books “obscene” according to Illinois obscenity laws, violating the “distributing harmful materials to minors” statute. However, state and federal obscenity laws exempt schools and libraries under “affirmative defense,” giving the school and teachers involved near immunity.
To Express Concerns:
Deerfield High School
Principal
Sue Hebson
224-632-3011
shebson@dist113.org
1959 N. Waukegan Rd – Deerfield, IL 60015
Back to Top | Email to a Friend | View Story on LifeSiteNews.com
