Letters to the Editor
-
I find the negative comments come from missing spirituality.
I have had the priveledge of spiritual experiences lately. The reason for mistrust of Oprah and the authors of The Secret is your lack of spiritual experience and your belief in it. My transition into feeling and trusting spiritual experience was in some ways rocky because it was so new.
I am an ordinary person experiencing some extraordinary stuff and someday in the future what I am doing will just look ordinary. The people of the Secret are on the right path. There is extraodinary power and energy within the spirtual world and how we tie into it.
It does not surprise me that there are so many negative comments. I invite the doubters to look into the spiritual world. There are snake oil salespeople in this realm out to take your money and energy from you in a con. And yet in the genuine thing it is phenomenol. A lot awaits you in your experience for those willing to step in.
Jeff
-
"The reason for mistrust of Oprah and the authors of The Secret is your lack of spiritual experience and your belief in it."
What did I say just a few posts previously?
We're all too spiritually blind to see what these enlightened souls see, I guess.
Why don't they just say, "Turn on, tune in, get rich" & have done with it?
-
Jeff Green...
"The reason for mistrust of Oprah and the authors of The Secret is your lack of spiritual experience and your belief in it."
What a truly horrible, insulting thing to say.
I'm glad that you're having new experiences that are benefitting you, but please don't make the mistake of assuming that if the rest of us simply shared your expereinces we'd feel differently.
That's precisely the kind of condescending solipsism most of us are objecting to.
I've been engaged in a spiritual practice for the past 8 years, and rely heavily on faith in my daily life.
I'm also an atheist.
My path is unusual, and I think it's horrible that anyone would dare peddle one single "secret" meant to reveal THE right path that's right for anyone and everyone.
Faith is belief in the ABSENCE of evidence.
It is not belief in SPITE of evidence.
A spiritual experience is not necessarily mystical gobbledy-gook, and it sure as hell isn't a product to be marketed.
So please, PLEASE don't tell those of us who are insulted by "The Secret" that we just don't "get it."
-
Nifty Logic Trick
I don't think that any part of the film endorsed the idea of blaming a victim for his or her troubles; rather, it tells people that they can create better circumstances for themselves out of their own strength, positive attitude, and volition.
-- velika
a = strength, positive attitude, volition
b = better circumstances
1) if a then b (as you and the book assert)
2) not b (in the case of "victims")
therefore
3) not a (in the case of "victims")
and hence, "blaming the victims."
-
Oprah's Kooky KokoNutz
This letter form sure provides a nice compilation of how Oprah's Kidz operate. Looks like every Oprah minion out there found a way to this forum.
What's the real Secret? A nickel for every pro-Oprah word posted? A certificate for 20% off Oprah-Greene-Heaven - Made with real Poverty-OFF(TM)? One free ride on the Blue Line back to O'Hare (or the Skokie Swift, if you prefer)?
Tell me, tell me, TELL ME!!!
-
The Secret
I can't believe this! Oprah is preaching self-responsibility in the age of AIDS? She is espousing individualism and self-reliance while a war is going on that kills thousands? How dare she have the nerve to encourage people to think and act for their own best..wait a minute.
Sorry, guys. This is nothing new or shocking. Principles of uber-individualism are the basis of this country That's right, the men who owned slaves founded a republic where individuals are in charge. Talk about hypocrisy in action. In fact, if you take your line of logic to its inevitable end, how dare anyone, during in any time, at any place preach self-reliance as long as millions die every year and suffer.
You can't preach individualism while they're victims in the world, according to you. You can't preach self-reliance as long as you rely on others...ever. Most Americans don't and won't buy this argument. Maybe the book is filled with cliches about visualization and wanting things. Maybe it's too materialistic and simplistic. But it certainly isn't immoral or evil to tell people to achieve their dreams on their own.
As a self-professed overachiever who frequently had 2 or 3 jobs in high school and college while playing sports, winning honors, and holding various fellowships, you can guess which camp I'm in. If people can be over rewarded for being victims in this world, then why shouldn't they be rewarded for winning and achieving. In my experience at school and various jobs, I found the general population pretty lazy and willing to sit back. That's just the law of averages. Most people are moderately lazy and disinterested in achievement. Fine, good for you, enjoy. But that's not for me. Never has been and never will. I'm an African American who didn't grow up rich or privileged. I was raised by parents who were vociferously disgusted by 'playing the victim.' The home was all about strength, education, and work ethic. They beat that message into me and my sister's head (she's a very successful doctor, by the way).
If more disadvantaged families stressed this to their children, we may have a few eccentric exceptions but, on the whole, this country would be further along in achieving fairness for all people regardless of race or class. We can not wait for freedom and liberation to be granted. We have to claw it out of the hands of the privileged through work, concentration and determination. Sorry to sound like a Rand-head but these have always been the keys for success. What Oprah is teaching may be overstated cliches, but it certainly isn't untrue.
-
Mr. Green
I have had the priveledge of spiritual experiences lately. The reason for mistrust of Oprah and the authors of The Secret is your lack of spiritual experience and your belief in it. My transition into feeling and trusting spiritual experience was in some ways rocky because it was so new.
Bah.
If anything, my reason for mistrust of The Secret is having too MUCH spiritual experience not insufficient spiritual experience.
What you learn ... what you yourself will learn when this spiritual experience you're having is much less new ... is that there are no free lunches, easy answers or simple solutions. Faith is about showing up when the weather is bad, when the good are downtrodden into the dirt and the wicked flourish like the green bay tree. That's the difference between having a spiritual practice and having a DVD.
It's not enough to have some cool new ideas and say you're spiritual, and I can talk and talk and you won't believe me until you figure it out yourself.
I happen to believe that some of the techniques advocated by The Secret just might work ... and are not based in any spirituality or magic at all. But be careful what you wish for. The fairy tales all say that any magic comes with a price.