OUR SPIRITUALITY IS FOUND IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST NO OPRAH,

SORRY ABOUT THAT!

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I started this article here. This MONDAY Opray is having her 4th session on the "NEW EARTH>"

Anytime 1.8 million people converge for any objective on a regular basis, there’s a story. Have you really taken the time to take a look at what this new spiritual enlightenment is all about? Have any of the readers of this blog really though there might be something good about what Opraha is saying? What ever you faith or belief, any new movement such as this with so many members so rapidly increasing warrants analysis. If you know me, I have never taken any book or person at face value, I will always analize what they are saying and why they are staying what they are writing.

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During the month of February, you heard on The Oprah Winfrey Show, you heard them ask, "Are You Ready to Be Awakened?" They began an interactive class on the interent. I was beginning to think could this be another cult? So I looked up the word cult. Wikipedia says, the word cult "typically refers to a cohesive social group devoted teo beliefs or practices that the surrounding culture considers outside the mainstream, with a notable postive or negative popular perception." My understanding of the book "New Earth," is clearly the views are not typical mainstream views. My understanding of the material has the concepts presentsed require you to suspend critical thinking and say there is only "the Now." They give such phrases like, "If you are aware, you cannot be totally possessed by the ego, by the thought form or the emotional form."

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A seed is planted in your mind, that is very small, and then they seed is watered little at a time, and before you know it, the seed has sprouted up in your mind, and before long it’s a full grown concept that you know believe.
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In the book Tolle says, "this book itself is a transformation device that has come out of the arising new conscious. The ideas and concepts presented here may be important, but they are secondary. They are more than signposts pointing toward awakening. As you read, a shift takes place within you."

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ROBERT J. LIFTON

• In 1961, Robert J. Lifton wrote the definitive book on the subject "THOUGHT REFORM, and the Psychology of Totalism after studying the effects of mind control on American prisoners of war under the Communist Chinese.
• One of the factors Robert Lifton describes is the concept of ‘LOADING THE lNGUAGUE." He said: "The group interprets or uses words and phrases in nenew ways so that often the outside world does not understand. This jargon consists of thought-terminating clicki’s which serve to alter members’s thought process to conform to the group’s way of thinking."

JAY LIFTON

Jay Lifton (born May 16, 1926) is an American psychiatrist and author, chiefly known for his studies of the psychological causes and effects of war and political violence and for his theory of thought reform. He was an early proponent of the techniques of psychohistory.

• Lifton's 1961 book Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of "Brainwashing" in China was a study of coercive techniques that he labelled thought reform or "brainwashing", though he preferred the former term. Othes have labelled it also as "mind control". Lifton describes in detail eight methods which he says are used to change people's minds without their agreement:

• Milieu Control -- The control of information and communication.
• Mystical Manipulation -- The manipulation of experiences that appear spontaneous but in fact were planned and orchestrated.
• Demand for Purity -- The world is viewed as black and white and the members are constantly exhorted to conform to the ideology of the group and strive for perfection.
• Confession -- Sins, as defined by the group, are to be confessed either to a personal monitor or publicly to the group.
• Sacred Science -- The group's doctrine or ideology is considered to be the ultimate Truth, beyond all questioning or dispute.
• Loading the Language -- The group interprets or uses words and phrases in new ways so that often the outside world does not understand.
• Doctrine over person -- The member's personal experiences are subordinated to the sacred science and any contrary experiences must be denied or reinterpreted to fit the ideology of the group.
• Dispensing of existence -- The group has the prerogative to decide who has the right to exist and who does not.

Contrary to popular notions of "brainwashing", Lifton always maintained that such coercion could only influence short-term behavior or produce general neuroses, not permanently change beliefs or personality. Psychologists like Margaret Singer and Steven Hassan (author of the book Combatting Cult Mind Control), later loosely adapted his theories and applied his terms "totalism" and "thought reform" to the practices of certain religious and other types of groups

TOTALISM: THOUGHT REFORM

• Totalism, a word first used in Thought Reform, is Lifton's term for the characteristics of ideological movements and organizations that desire total control over human behavior and thought. (Lifton's usage differs from theories of totalitarianism in that it can be applied to the ideology of groups that do not wield governmental power.) In Lifton's opinion, though such attempts always fail, they follow a common pattern and cause predictable types of psychological damage in individuals and societies. He finds two common motives in totalistic movements: the fear and denial of death, channeled into violence against scapegoat groups that are made to represent a metaphorical threat to survival, and a reactionary fear of social change.

In his later work, Lifton has focused on defining the type of change to which totalism is opposed, for which he coined the term the protean self. In the book of the same title, he states that the development of a "fluid and many-sided personality" is a positive trend in modern societies, and that mental health now requires "continuous exploration and personal experiment", which reactionary and fundamentalist movements oppose.


According to Penguin Publishers, "A NEW EARTH" will be the biggest selling book of all time.

Those who have researched Oprah Winfrey, and those who have influenced her, say she is the most powerful woman in the world, and she has made it her mission in her own words, "transform the world." Her "spiritual" evolution and the persistent determination of her mission.

• She is trying to change South Africa, in the girls home. Then she backed Obama. Oprah said of Obama, "He has an ear for eloquence and a tongue dipped in the unvarnished truth."
• So when did she cross over from TV personality to spiritual and political advisor to the masses? It all started ever so slowly years ago........ and isn’t that the way all will go.

Charles E. Whisnant

HOW SHOULD CHRSITIANS LISTEN TO OPRAH WINFREY?

Preachers don't want to admit that their Christian membership folks watch Oprah Winfrey. Preachers don't want to admit their members are watching and listening to Binn Hinn, Paula White, Joel Osteen, TNN.

Preachers want you to think few in their churches are watching Talk shows and Religious TV services. But can I say to you, THEY ARE.

Preachers in the circles I know, would rather their membership would not listen to anyone but them. So preachers would be shocked to know just how many of their members are really viewing these programs.


IS IT WRONG FOR CHRISTIANS TO WATCH OPRAH OR BINN HINN, OR THE LATE JERRY FALWELL, OR JOEL OSTEEN?


My personal opinion? No it is not wrong for believers to watch these shows. But watch with discernment! Know the subject before you accept what they are saying. Dr. Oz is good. Bob Greene is good. Bill Cosby is good. Dr. Phil was good.
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BUT A POINT OF CONCERN ABOUT WHAT OPRAH IS DOING WITH THIS ONLINE CLASS ROOM STUDY WITH ECKHART TOLLE.

Monday night's webcast was one of the largest single online events in the history of the Internet. More than 500,000 of you simultaneously logged on to watch live. They watch Oprah and Tolle talk about his new book THE NEW EARTH.

WHO IS THIS ECKHART TOLLE?

• Spiritual Teacher and author was born in Germany and educated at the Universities of London and Cambridge. At the age of twenty-nine a profound inner transformation radically changed the course of his life. The next few years were devoted to understanding, integrating and deepening that transformation, which marked the beginning of an intense inward journey. Later, he began to work in London with individuals and small groups as a counselor and spiritual teacher. Since 1995 he has lived in Vancouver, Canada


• Eckhart’s profound yet simple teachings have already helped countless people throughout the world find inner peace and greater fulfillment in their lives. At the core of the teachings lies the transformation of consciousness, a spiritual awakening that he sees as the next step in human evolution. An essential aspect of this awakening consists in transcending our ego-based state of consciousness. This is a prerequisite not only for personal happiness but also for the ending of violent conflict endemic on our planet.


• This information comes from Eckhart Tolle's own website.

Eckhart Tolle claims to have attained enlightenment at the age of 29 after suffering long periods of depression. Tolle's non-fiction bestseller, The Power of Now, emphasizes the importance of being aware of the present moment as a way of not being lost in thought. In Tolle's view, the present is the gateway to a heightened sense of peace. "Being in the now" also brings about an awareness that is beyond the mind. This awareness helps in transcending "the pain-body" that is created by the identification of the mind and ego with the body. His later book, A New Earth, further claims to explore the structure of the human ego and how this acts to distract people from their present experience of the world. His other works include Stillness Speaks, a book that modernises the ancient sutra form.

The work of Eckhart Teachings is in response to the urgent need of our times: the transformation of consciousness and the arising of a more enlightened humanity. We organize Eckhart Tolle's Talks, Intensives and Retreats throughout the world. We also record, license, publish and distribute CDs and DVDs of his teaching events. In addition to supporting Eckhart Tolle and the dissemination of his teaching, we are committed and dedicated to serving the new consciousness and awakening of all humans on the planet. Behind the external form of what we do, and behind the business structure, lies the company's and our true purpose: the union with the Divine

• Enlightenment may refer to:
  · Enlightenment is a concept in mysticism, philosophy, and psychology.

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Should you enroll in this NEW EARTH program? You decide!
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Now should we stop watching the Oprah show? That is the choice you need to make. But watch with discernment.
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Watching any program, any movie, listening to any preacher on TV, radio or in your own church, be in discernment in your mind.

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WHAT MAKES ANYTHING I SAY OF ANY IMPORTANCES AT ALL?

So why would you listen to what I would say versus what Marianne Williamson would say? Or any of the people on the Oprah Winfrey Show?

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The term I looked up this afternoon was "illuminate". Marianne Williamson was on Oprah February 29, 2008. She has written several books. One is ILLUMINATA A RETURN TO PRAYER. And she is renown for her talks on "A Course in Miracles" a step-by-step method for choosing love over fear. As most of the guests on Oprah, she has a humanist approach to the spiritual. After all Oprah audience are made up of women who are a mix of our culture’s women. Her audience is not the First Baptist Church, USA. Williamson was the guest today, and she was addressing how women over fifty could take control over their minds and live and life.
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The need for change as we get older ­an emotional pressure for one phase of our lives to transition into another ­is a human phenomenon, neither male nor female. There simply comes a time in our lives ­not fundamentally different from the way puberty separates childhood from adulthood ­when it’s time for one part of ourselves to die and for something new to be born.

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The purpose of this book by best-selling author and lecturer Marianne Williamson is to psychologically and spiritually reframe this transition so that it leads to a wonderful sense of joy and awakening.In our ability to rethink our lives lies our greatest power to change them.

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What we have called "middle age" need not be seen as a turning point toward death. It can be viewed as a magical turning point toward life as we’ve never known it, if we allow ourselves the power of an independent imagination ­thought-forms that don’t flow in a perfunctory manner from ancient assumptions merely handed down to us, but rather flower into new archetypal images of a humanity just getting started at 45 or 50. What we’ve learned by that time, from both our failures as well as our successes, tends to have humbled us into purity.

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When we were young, we had energy but we were clueless about what to do with it. Today, we have less energy, perhaps, but we have far more understanding of what each breath of life is for. And now at last, we have a destiny to fulfill ­not a destiny of a life that’s simply over, but rather a destiny of a life that is finally truly lived.Midlife is not a crisis; it’s a time of rebirth. It’s not a time to accept your death; it’s a time to accept your life ­and to finally, truly live it, as you and you alone know deep in your heart it was meant to be lived.

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Key words:New books, aging, ageing, longevity, gerontology, gerontological, geriatrics, geriatric, senescence, anti-aging, anti-ageing, rejuvenation, life-extension, immortality,
http://science-library.blogspot.com/2008/02/age-of-miracles-embracing-new-midlife.html

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I like google, don’t you? I googled Marianne Williamson. Who is this lady who we are to listen to about becoming older? Why should we listen to her?
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It’s always been my policy when reading any article or book to check out the author of the book or article. First and foremost before reading and accepting any author is to learn where they are coming from and where they are going to take us. Then I know how to read what they are saying.

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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I like Wikipedia as much as I like GOGGLE SEARCH

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Biography
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• Marianne hails from Houston, Texas, and was raised in a Jewish household. As a rebellious child of the '60s, she has openly admitted to have delved in drugs and alcohol, as well as having a string of broken relationships. She sought spiritual awakening and discovered "A Course in Miracles," a self-study system written by a Columbia University professor who believed Jesus had dictated the words to her. Though initially turned off by the heavy emphasis on Christianity, she was able to reconcile it with her Jewish faith and popularized the course in her 1992 best-seller, A Return to Love.

Williamson served as head pastor of Renaissance Unity Interfaith Spiritual Fellowship before she resigned as a result of a controversial attempt to dissolve the church's formal ties to the Association of Unity Churches.

• The Renaissance was so called because it was a "rebirth" of certain classical ideas that had long been lost to Europe
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• As Randolph Starn has put it,
  "Rather than a period with definitive beginnings and endings and consistent content in between, the Renaissance can be (and occasionally has been) seen as a movement of practices and ideas to which specific groups and identifiable persons variously responded in different times and places. It would be in this sense a network of diverse, sometimes converging, sometimes conflicting cultures, not a single, time-bound culture.


• Williamson describes herself as "a mix" who does not fit a particular mold:
  "I'm a provocateur. I come into a situation where I don't particularly relate to any of the institutionalized boxes. I'm not a minister, I'm not a rabbi, but I'm totally excited by God and Jesus. So you get this Jewish girl talking about Jesus -- it's going to get attention. It's a juxtaposition that is perhaps interesting. It's similar to what I say about politics in The Healing of America. It's the same with religion. One group says it's this way, another group says it's that way, and a lot of people are feeling that, you know, 'deep in my heart I don't feel it's either way.' Well, neither do I."


• She is a former jazz nightclub singer and is a single mother of a daughter.
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  Philosophy


• A minister in the Unity Church, the driving force behind Williamson's philosophy is to offer a New Thought approach to spirituality.


• She addresses both established Christianity and Judaism in statements such as "You've committed no sins, just mistakes." Her earliest renown was for her talks on A Course in Miracles, a step-by-step method for choosing love over fear.

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MARIANNE WILLIAMSON WROTE THIS BOOK:
ILLUMINATA A RETURN TO PRAYER

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As I like to do I looked up "illuminate": Dictionary.com
educate
Synonyms: better, clarify, clear up, construe, define, dramatize, edify, elucidate, enlighten, explain, expound, express, finish, give insight, gloss, illustrate, improve, instruct, interpret, perfect, polish, uplight
verb Definition: explain
Synonyms answer for, clarify, elucidate, explain, illuminate, justify, rationalize, resolve
Antonyms: complicate, confuse, obscure, perplex

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SO I ask again, Do you want to listen to what she has to say from her point of view?
Christian Worldview vs. Worldview

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I BROWSE THE INTERNET WHILE SITTING AT MY DESK AND WATCHING OPARAH WITH CHARITY


After a wonderful supper, Charity has made, after working all day at Unon Mills, and I have put in four hours at Mex-Itali. We sit down and I am on my Gateway. First I review my website http://hstrial-cwhisnant2.homestead.com/ I add some material and do some research for the site. Then I review this blog, this morning I posted part five of the series on Being Born Again. What does it mean to be a Biblical Christian.
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I am browsing and I hit several regular sites. Tonight I hit Jack Hammer. And his post was
"Christian Whirledview: Viewing the World through Wordly Eyes." Dave Mallinak posted this article. He refers to Christopher Hitchens. As I will do, I googled Hitchens. He said that CHRISTIANITY IS BAD FOR THE WORLD.

• Hitchen is an outspoken atheist and antitheist. He has written a book "God is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, a massively best-selling book.

I then went to LAweekly.com/news, and read Dwayne Booth review with Hitchesn on the "Essential Stupiduity of Religion."

• Hitchens describes himself as a believer in the Enlightenment values of secularism, humanism, and reason. Now that lead me to search the difinition of those terms. I will give you later.

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So while I am glancing at Oprah. I am listening to all the different people and subjects she has on the show.
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And I am researching the terms that Christopher Hitchens describes himself.
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HUMANISM: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Hitchens

• Humanism :is a category of ethical philosophies that affirm the dignity and worth of all people, based on the ability to determine right and wrong by appeal to universal human qualities —— particularly rationality.[1][2] It is a component of a variety of more specific philosophical systems and is incorporated into several religious schools of thought.


• Humanism entails a commitment to the search for truth and morality through human means in support of human interests. In focusing on the capacity for self-determination, humanism rejects the validity of transcendental justifications, such as a dependence on belief without reason, the supernatural, or texts of allegedly divine origin. Humanists endorse universal morality based on the commonality of the human condition, suggesting that solutions to human social and cultural problems cannot be parochial
  

SECULARISM

• Secularism is generally the assertion that certain practices or institutions should exist separately from religion or religious belief. Alternatively, it is a principle of promoting secular ideas or values in either public or private settings. It may also be a synonym for "secularist movement". In the extreme, it is an ideology that holds that religion has no place in public life.


• In one sense, secularism may assert the right to be free from religious rule and teachings, and freedom from the government imposition of religion upon the people, within a state that is neutral on matters of belief, and gives no state privileges or subsidies to religions. )


• In another sense, it refers to a belief that human activities and decisions, especially political ones, should be based on evidence and fact rather than religious influence.


• Secularism is not an argument against Christianity, it is one independent of it. It does not question the pretensions of Christianity; it advances others. Secularism does not say there is no light or guidance elsewhere, but maintains that there is light and guidance in secular truth, whose conditions and sanctions exist independently, and act forever. Secular knowledge is manifestly that kind of knowledge which is founded in this life, which relates to the conduct of this life, conduces to the welfare of this life, and is capable of being tested by the experience of this life.
  

The term "secularism" was first used by the British writer George Holyoake in 1846. Although the term was new, the general notions of freethought on which it was based had existed throughout history.

REASON

• In western philosophy, reason has had a twofold history. On the one hand, it has been taken to be objective and so to be fixed and discoverable by dialectic, analysis or study

I watched Kansas U. win tonight, then watched Kentucky Wildcats lose a 23 point lead and finally won.

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Talked to Eric and finally got to bed.

.http://hstrial-cwhisnant2.homestead.com/

Good night