Comments | free_thought181: The Secret

free_thought181

The Secret

Feb 18, 2007 10:05

Those of you who have heard me discuss Oprah know that she kind of annoys me. Her book club in particular drives me nuts.

Still, nothing she's done has made me lose all respect for her until now.

Twice now on her show she's promoted a book called The Secret. The Secret is that if you want something badly enough and put out good thoughts, the ( Read more... )

Comments 8

_newcitylights February 18 2007, 20:58:35 UTC

well far be it from me to defend oprah, but (minus the jesus part) that's kind of the essence of my favorite book, the alchemist. no jesus though. and it's more of a spiritual thing, not so much physical basic needs.

anyway. cheers.

free_thought181 February 19 2007, 07:32:51 UTC

I haven't read The Alchemist, so I can't say for sure, but I wasn't under the impression that The Alchemist was a self help book that told you that anything you wish for hard enough will literally materialize on your doorstep courtesy of the universe. I mean, The Alchemist is fiction, right? Sure, maybe fiction that people take some sort of spiritual meaning from, but nonetheless not something being touted as an actual method for material gain.

thaumaturge February 20 2007, 10:20:15 UTC

The religious part is irrelevant, it's the entire attitude that's a load of shit. Prayer is damaging for the same reason. It pacifies the populace so that they just sit around wishing for something good to happen instead of figuring out how to make that happen and DOING it. It takes a lot of effort to organize and execute a plan to make any real change. Prayer and "positive thinking" has nothing to do with it.

valarmorghulis February 18 2007, 23:27:15 UTC

Hah. The Secret is also a MOVIE that you can watch online for $5. My friends paid for it and I was like, "What the hell is this crap?" Sure, thinking positively will never be a bad idea, but that should fall under good common sense, anyway.

I don't remember the Jesus stuff, though... hmmm...

elusive_fish February 19 2007, 03:58:55 UTC

But she is strong, black, and she has the 'tude.

isotripy February 19 2007, 05:11:26 UTC

Yeah, I'm kind of with you on that one.
I'd really like to assume that people would still use their common sense if they read or believed that when it comes to disadvantaged people - but unfortunatley alot of people still view their predicament as somehow their fault (ie homelessness).

thaumaturge February 20 2007, 10:21:53 UTC

I hate all popular celebrities, so this is not surprising to me at all. Oprah and all of her hapless followers make me sick. Although there are worse characters.

free_thought181 February 20 2007, 18:56:48 UTC

Well, yes, Sylvia Browne does deserve to rot in the worst hell ever conceived of my man, but sadly she'll just continue to make money hand over fist as long as people are willing to buy her books and pay her $700 an hour for phone consultations.

If James Randi hasn't been able to stop her by now, no one can.