G'day folkses,
Before I begin, let me say that I know very little about Oprah. I don't watch her show, I don't keep tabs on what she's doing, what she's eating, what clothes she wears. If I say something ill-informed, by all means let me know.
I was browsing through a magazine at work yesterday when I came across an article about Oprah. In it, someone said of Oprah that she views her tv-show as an opportunity to "preach", and views her audience "as her flock" (quotes from NW magazine, not certain of the date of issue). Later in the article, another person mentioned that she believed she had "the Truth" and believed it was her duty to spread this message over the airways to the uninformed.
Now, assuming Oprah thinks this way, we could maybe assume that it is just a form of delusion on her part. But how many people try to emulate Oprah? If two people meet at a coffee shop and discuss a new diet they are on, might one say "Well, Oprah says that this diet is the best and works....". Or if they meet up to discuss relationship problems, does one say to the other "Oprah suggests that I should take some "me time"". By all accounts, Oprah not only sees herself as a spiritual leader, but obviously so do many of her viewers.
Is Oprah-ism the new religion of our modern society?
Regards, PA
Full Version: The gospel according to Oprah
I never recalled hearing Oprah saying that she has what she think is truth, and feels it is her responsibility to tell it on her show; but then again I never really watched Oprah. Maybe once or twice. If this is true though, I don't thinnk many would take her seriously in a messiah type way, but probably go by her suggestions. Like her book club, and types of good fashion, or weight loss tips.
QUOTE(Paranoid Android @ Mar 25 2007, 08:46 AM) [snapback]1598626[/snapback]
G'day folkses,
Before I begin, let me say that I know very little about Oprah. I don't watch her show, I don't keep tabs on what she's doing, what she's eating, what clothes she wears. If I say something ill-informed, by all means let me know.
I was browsing through a magazine at work yesterday when I came across an article about Oprah. In it, someone said of Oprah that she views her tv-show as an opportunity to "preach", and views her audience "as her flock" (quotes from NW magazine, not certain of the date of issue). Later in the article, another person mentioned that she believed she had "the Truth" and believed it was her duty to spread this message over the airways to the uninformed.
Now, assuming Oprah thinks this way, we could maybe assume that it is just a form of delusion on her part. But how many people try to emulate Oprah? If two people meet at a coffee shop and discuss a new diet they are on, might one say "Well, Oprah says that this diet is the best and works....". Or if they meet up to discuss relationship problems, does one say to the other "Oprah suggests that I should take some "me time"". By all accounts, Oprah not only sees herself as a spiritual leader, but obviously so do many of her viewers.
Is Oprah-ism the new religion of our modern society?
Regards, PA
Before I begin, let me say that I know very little about Oprah. I don't watch her show, I don't keep tabs on what she's doing, what she's eating, what clothes she wears. If I say something ill-informed, by all means let me know.
I was browsing through a magazine at work yesterday when I came across an article about Oprah. In it, someone said of Oprah that she views her tv-show as an opportunity to "preach", and views her audience "as her flock" (quotes from NW magazine, not certain of the date of issue). Later in the article, another person mentioned that she believed she had "the Truth" and believed it was her duty to spread this message over the airways to the uninformed.
Now, assuming Oprah thinks this way, we could maybe assume that it is just a form of delusion on her part. But how many people try to emulate Oprah? If two people meet at a coffee shop and discuss a new diet they are on, might one say "Well, Oprah says that this diet is the best and works....". Or if they meet up to discuss relationship problems, does one say to the other "Oprah suggests that I should take some "me time"". By all accounts, Oprah not only sees herself as a spiritual leader, but obviously so do many of her viewers.
Is Oprah-ism the new religion of our modern society?
Regards, PA
It is just celebrity worship. They have faith in her while others have faith in the gospels.
I'd actually have to have something substantial, like a link to an article wherein Oprah did say these things, before commenting on hypothetical.
Do you remember the magazine you were browsing!? Maybe the article is available on-line or at the stands, now.
I did find this in a Yahoo search re: Oprah, faith, flock. (keywords)
Oprah ducks faith labels
By Terry Mattingly
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Faithful members of Oprah Winfrey’s TV flock know what’s happening when guests start talking and their leader keeps interjecting the occasional “Amen,” “Preach it” or even, “Sister, I understand the whole God connection!”
The host wants the guest to start “testifying,” a confessional process in which believers look for God’s healing hand in life’s hard lessons. Winfrey learned all about this process as a girl back in the Faith United Mississippi Baptist Church, where jealous peers often called her “Miss Jesus.”
Here’s the irony, noted journalist Marcia Nelson, author of “The Gospel According to Oprah.”
Winfrey has become a billionaire and one of the world’s most powerful women by baring her soul and urging millions of others to follow her example, resulting in what some critics call the “Oprahfication” of America. However, it’s almost impossible to answer this simple question: What does Oprah believe?
“She sounds like a person who was raised in a Baptist church,” said Nelson, who spent months digging into Winfrey’s beliefs on suffering, gratitude, generosity, forgiveness and other spiritual topics.
“Still, it’s hard to put a label on Oprah because she refuses to let people do that to her. ... You’d have to say that she looks a lot more like a Protestant than she does a Catholic, but what does that mean? It’s hard to say what a person needs to believe these days to be called a ‘Protestant.’ ”
Winfrey retains the ability to slip smoothly into the “mother tongue” she learned as a child in black churches, noted Nelson. For a few years as an adult, she attended the Trinity United Church of Christ, a progressive congregation in Chicago known as Sen. Barack Obama’s home church. Then, during her “Remember Your Spirit” period in the 1990s, conservatives criticized her ties to Marianne Williamson (“A Return to Love”) and other New Age writers who blurred the lines between Christianity and other faiths.
The key is that Winfrey has been a trailblazer who symbolizes many contemporary religious trends.
Many Americans, said Nelson, are drawn to a “practical, how-to, self-help, just-do-it” approach to faith and personal growth that meshes smoothly with the parade of counselors, doctors, writers and ministers — of every conceivable faith — featured on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” It’s crucial that the host looks straight into the camera and says: “This works.”
Thus, noted Nelson, Winfrey has “been roundly criticized for making the spiritual too psychological, too therapeutic, too soft, too easy, too self-centered. The gospel according to Oprah doesn’t appear to require some kind of doctrinal commitment or a community to ensure that the life-changing ‘Aha!’ moment of decision is more than a new year’s resolution that is quickly made in isolation and broken two weeks later.”
The public loves complex, conflicted celebrities and Winfrey is the spiritual superstar. She quietly supports humble projects near home, yet courts publicity by flying off to start gigantic projects around the world — such as the new $40-million Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy near Johannesburg.
She tells women to love themselves the way they are, but keeps offering weight-loss tips. She urges viewers to give to others, but also to pamper themselves. Winfrey says women should embrace their maturity, but shows them how to look 10 years younger. She advises women on private moral dilemmas, but fiercely guards her own privacy.
One of the fastest growing segments of the population comprises people who call themselves “spiritual” but not “religious,” noted Nelson. Winfrey clicks with media-driven, postmodern believers who stress the importance of personal experience and storytelling over the authority of religious institutions and doctrines. Meanwhile, many churches are trying to shed old names and labels, calling themselves “community churches” and adopting other post-denominational names.
The bottom line, said Nelson, is that for generations Americans were able to rally around a kind of tame, “nominal” Judeo-Christian faith that lets them affirm a few common traditions and many old-fashioned values. This has become harder after waves of immigration from the Middle East, Asia, Africa and elsewhere.
American is becoming more pluralistic on faith issues, and that has always been just fine with Winfrey. She is all about spirituality, not doctrine.
If she has a creed she keeps it hidden.
“Oprah’s clothes may bear labels, but her faith does not,” noted Nelson.
“I don’t know what her personal beliefs are.”
Terry Mattingly (tmatt.net) directs the Washington Journalism Center at the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities.
(Article Source)
Do you remember the magazine you were browsing!? Maybe the article is available on-line or at the stands, now.
I did find this in a Yahoo search re: Oprah, faith, flock. (keywords)
Oprah ducks faith labels
By Terry Mattingly
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Faithful members of Oprah Winfrey’s TV flock know what’s happening when guests start talking and their leader keeps interjecting the occasional “Amen,” “Preach it” or even, “Sister, I understand the whole God connection!”
The host wants the guest to start “testifying,” a confessional process in which believers look for God’s healing hand in life’s hard lessons. Winfrey learned all about this process as a girl back in the Faith United Mississippi Baptist Church, where jealous peers often called her “Miss Jesus.”
Here’s the irony, noted journalist Marcia Nelson, author of “The Gospel According to Oprah.”
Winfrey has become a billionaire and one of the world’s most powerful women by baring her soul and urging millions of others to follow her example, resulting in what some critics call the “Oprahfication” of America. However, it’s almost impossible to answer this simple question: What does Oprah believe?
“She sounds like a person who was raised in a Baptist church,” said Nelson, who spent months digging into Winfrey’s beliefs on suffering, gratitude, generosity, forgiveness and other spiritual topics.
“Still, it’s hard to put a label on Oprah because she refuses to let people do that to her. ... You’d have to say that she looks a lot more like a Protestant than she does a Catholic, but what does that mean? It’s hard to say what a person needs to believe these days to be called a ‘Protestant.’ ”
Winfrey retains the ability to slip smoothly into the “mother tongue” she learned as a child in black churches, noted Nelson. For a few years as an adult, she attended the Trinity United Church of Christ, a progressive congregation in Chicago known as Sen. Barack Obama’s home church. Then, during her “Remember Your Spirit” period in the 1990s, conservatives criticized her ties to Marianne Williamson (“A Return to Love”) and other New Age writers who blurred the lines between Christianity and other faiths.
The key is that Winfrey has been a trailblazer who symbolizes many contemporary religious trends.
Many Americans, said Nelson, are drawn to a “practical, how-to, self-help, just-do-it” approach to faith and personal growth that meshes smoothly with the parade of counselors, doctors, writers and ministers — of every conceivable faith — featured on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” It’s crucial that the host looks straight into the camera and says: “This works.”
Thus, noted Nelson, Winfrey has “been roundly criticized for making the spiritual too psychological, too therapeutic, too soft, too easy, too self-centered. The gospel according to Oprah doesn’t appear to require some kind of doctrinal commitment or a community to ensure that the life-changing ‘Aha!’ moment of decision is more than a new year’s resolution that is quickly made in isolation and broken two weeks later.”
The public loves complex, conflicted celebrities and Winfrey is the spiritual superstar. She quietly supports humble projects near home, yet courts publicity by flying off to start gigantic projects around the world — such as the new $40-million Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy near Johannesburg.
She tells women to love themselves the way they are, but keeps offering weight-loss tips. She urges viewers to give to others, but also to pamper themselves. Winfrey says women should embrace their maturity, but shows them how to look 10 years younger. She advises women on private moral dilemmas, but fiercely guards her own privacy.
One of the fastest growing segments of the population comprises people who call themselves “spiritual” but not “religious,” noted Nelson. Winfrey clicks with media-driven, postmodern believers who stress the importance of personal experience and storytelling over the authority of religious institutions and doctrines. Meanwhile, many churches are trying to shed old names and labels, calling themselves “community churches” and adopting other post-denominational names.
The bottom line, said Nelson, is that for generations Americans were able to rally around a kind of tame, “nominal” Judeo-Christian faith that lets them affirm a few common traditions and many old-fashioned values. This has become harder after waves of immigration from the Middle East, Asia, Africa and elsewhere.
American is becoming more pluralistic on faith issues, and that has always been just fine with Winfrey. She is all about spirituality, not doctrine.
If she has a creed she keeps it hidden.
“Oprah’s clothes may bear labels, but her faith does not,” noted Nelson.
“I don’t know what her personal beliefs are.”
Terry Mattingly (tmatt.net) directs the Washington Journalism Center at the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities.
(Article Source)
I think Paranoid Android is too much of an orthodox Christian but I have faith in his integrity when he puts up a post like this.
The quotes were from "NW magazine" - I wrote that in my original post. Unfortuntely, I don't remember the exact date of the issue, but the article was dealing with some Stedman guy who supposedly has dated/lived with Oprah for the past 20 years and is now betraying her by writing a book about her.
I did a quick check online though for Oprah regarding spirituality, and after noticing THIS in wikipedia, I googled further for this link to a book titled (strangely enough - I guess I'm not as witty and original as I'd hoped
) - the Gospel according to Oprah (link).
Review of "The Gospel according to Oprah" (select quotes):
Unlike some other "gospel according to" books on pop-cultural figures, this one doesn't much relate its subject to Jesus Christ. Although she has strong roots in the Baptist church of her childhood, Oprah Winfrey, Nelson says, steers clear of formal religious language on her long-running TV show and her Web site and in the magazine O. Yet like a good pastor, she tells stories and does deeds that encourage good actions by others. Drawing on the Web site and magazine as well as the show, Nelson expands on 10 reasons for Oprah's pastoral effectiveness. Oprah "is very human"; acknowledges and tries to relieve suffering; provides a community for her audience; encourages self-scrutiny; teaches gratitude; communicates simply; listens well; teaches generosity; fosters forgiveness; and reminds viewers of the good they can do. Nelson must be one of the most sympathetic, least defensive apologists Oprah has ever had, one who gently suggests that Oprah's harshest critics are more ignorant of her work and temperamentally resistant to her manner than they are substantive or merely cynical.
Sounds like the hallmarks of a spiritual leader to me.
I did a quick check online though for Oprah regarding spirituality, and after noticing THIS in wikipedia, I googled further for this link to a book titled (strangely enough - I guess I'm not as witty and original as I'd hoped
) - the Gospel according to Oprah (link).Review of "The Gospel according to Oprah" (select quotes):
Unlike some other "gospel according to" books on pop-cultural figures, this one doesn't much relate its subject to Jesus Christ. Although she has strong roots in the Baptist church of her childhood, Oprah Winfrey, Nelson says, steers clear of formal religious language on her long-running TV show and her Web site and in the magazine O. Yet like a good pastor, she tells stories and does deeds that encourage good actions by others. Drawing on the Web site and magazine as well as the show, Nelson expands on 10 reasons for Oprah's pastoral effectiveness. Oprah "is very human"; acknowledges and tries to relieve suffering; provides a community for her audience; encourages self-scrutiny; teaches gratitude; communicates simply; listens well; teaches generosity; fosters forgiveness; and reminds viewers of the good they can do. Nelson must be one of the most sympathetic, least defensive apologists Oprah has ever had, one who gently suggests that Oprah's harshest critics are more ignorant of her work and temperamentally resistant to her manner than they are substantive or merely cynical.
Sounds like the hallmarks of a spiritual leader to me.
Oprah has a lot of power over pop culture here in the states. Definitely a cult of personality going on there.
I agree with rev, Oprah has a large following and a lot of power here. She is also extremely wealthy, which actually confuses me. I saw on the news that she had opened up some schools in Africa and it cost her a lot of money. It's great that she opened these schools up, but I don't think that's a reason to worship her. When talking income to donation ratio, for me to donate $5 is probably equivalent to her donating $500,000 (just guessing!!!)
I love Oprah......Most stay-at-home mums do.....She tells us what to wear, what to eat, how to clean our houses and how to have 'good sex'....... 
She knows all the great books to read and also a little bit about 'soul searching' and 'your true self'......
BTW She 'discovered' Dr Phil, whose another leader in today's world.....
OPRAH IS A GODDESS !!! Yep, I'm a follower.....
She knows all the great books to read and also a little bit about 'soul searching' and 'your true self'......
BTW She 'discovered' Dr Phil, whose another leader in today's world.....
OPRAH IS A GODDESS !!! Yep, I'm a follower.....
QUOTE(MUM24/7 @ Mar 24 2007, 11:37 PM) [snapback]1598768[/snapback]
BTW She 'discovered' Dr Phil, whose another leader in today's world.....
There are very few people in this world that I would like to beat to a pulp, but Dr. Phil is one of them. He grates on my nerves.
QUOTE(rev r @ Mar 24 2007, 08:47 PM) [snapback]1598783[/snapback]
There are very few people in this world that I would like to beat to a pulp, but Dr. Phil is one of them. He grates on my nerves.
LOL!
My dad loves Dr. Phil. He watches him everyday and loves to tell me about it. I have to admit, I get sick of Dr. Phil-isms like "I didn't just fall off the turnip truck yesterday". He's still better than the Jerry Springer show.
Role models are not are bad thing. From what I have seen of Oprah, she seema appears to be a good person with good intentions. What kills me is when people worship the likes of Paris Hilton.
What you all don't know is just how many times in one month there is some sort of formal protest outside of HARPO studios...I see it because I drive by that west loop adress often...its just NEVER makes the news...what the protests are about ...I seldom get close enough to ever really find out.......B
I see her as a Tom Cruise worshiper LOL i wouldnt be surprized if she was into that wacked out scientology too
QUOTE(Paranoid Android @ Mar 25 2007, 01:28 AM) [snapback]1598664[/snapback]
Sounds like the hallmarks of a spiritual leader to me.
I get the impression Oprah encourages self empowerment. So she strikes me as a person (spiritual leader ?) who motivates others to become responsable their own actions. She was discussed on Nightline last night, a late night tv show, in reguards to the book/movie "The Secret". That's about those law of attraction concepts. She was mentioned on that show as a good example of the power of posative thinking.
I would say she is open minded and there is room for this kind of thinking in every religion. I would like to think love is ever expanding.
QUOTE(Paranoid Android @ Mar 25 2007, 07:28 AM) [snapback]1598664[/snapback]
The quotes were from "NW magazine" - I wrote that in my original post. Unfortunately, I don't remember the exact date of the issue, but the article was dealing with some Stedman guy who supposedly has dated/lived with Oprah for the past 20 years and is now betraying her by writing a book about her.
National Enquirer
Oprah's Harpo contract with her employee's includes a confidentiality clause that extends even after her death. The source is incredible, however if the Enquirers story is at all a touch of the truth, I wonder how she didn't get her business adviser/lover, to sign one of those contracts to!? Oh Oprah, is guru status looming to go down the tubes!? Is Narcissism about to get owned!? Stay tuned to the national tattler, for updates on this whats none OV my binness.
QUOTE(brave_new_world @ Mar 24 2007, 06:16 PM) [snapback]1598653[/snapback]
I think Paranoid Android is too much of an orthodox Christian but I have faith in his integrity when he puts up a post like this.
Oprah I sense is more spiritual than religious. She brings new information to the masses. Humanity is no ready to hear and understand what she is saying. I know that consciousness has risen since 1987 and more and more people are seeking spirituality, A personal relationship with Creator, The Divine, The universe etc. Religion has a tendency to seperate people from the divinity within.
I would not question anothers ideaology unless asked directly to do so. Who am I, I AM a believer that we all are on our paths back to God. Our lives are a gift and what we do with it is a gift back to Creator. I have been in religion and have sought outside of the dogma and rules a closer more loving relationship with GOD.
I feel Oprah is doing the same in her own way. Her show is a mass enlightment for most with information that as previously only been understood by scholars. She serves the publice. I also believe I remember Oprah being asked if she was religious and she stated no spiritual and that is not a religion just an easy explaination for a relationship with the Divine. Evvia
I would not question anothers ideaology unless asked directly to do so. Who am I, I AM a believer that we all are on our paths back to God. Our lives are a gift and what we do with it is a gift back to Creator. I have been in religion and have sought outside of the dogma and rules a closer more loving relationship with GOD.
I feel Oprah is doing the same in her own way. Her show is a mass enlightment for most with information that as previously only been understood by scholars. She serves the publice. I also believe I remember Oprah being asked if she was religious and she stated no spiritual and that is not a religion just an easy explaination for a relationship with the Divine. Evvia
can't stand Opra or Dr. Phill...
even as a semi stay at home person... I would rather gnaw my own leg off then watch them.
even as a semi stay at home person... I would rather gnaw my own leg off then watch them.
QUOTE(Paranoid Android @ Mar 24 2007, 08:46 PM) [snapback]1598626[/snapback]
If two people meet at a coffee shop and discuss a new diet they are on, might one say "Well, Oprah says that this diet is the best and works....". Or if they meet up to discuss relationship problems, does one say to the other "Oprah suggests that I should take some "me time"".
No insult to Oprah intended, but if someone's crazy enough to try Oprah's diet ideas (the word yo-yo comes to mind) then maybe that person is bat-sh**-crazy enough to follow her spritually. I wonder if they'll be in the presence of God for six weeks and spend the next eight in Hell.
Yeah, I said it!
I'm sure Oprah's a wonderful person, I just don't know if she's the type that should be eating a flock.
Leading, I meant leading!
Hey, she starred in The Color Purple, so, no doubt she's got it all figured out.
Anyone getting Futurama vibes from this whole thing?
QUOTE(Dr. Strangelove @ Mar 26 2007, 10:12 AM) [snapback]1599977[/snapback]
Anyone getting Futurama vibes from this whole thing?
Oprah Parody by Robot Chicken (Only because futurama wasn't on You Tube. Yet)
QUOTE(GoddessWhispers @ Mar 26 2007, 10:42 PM) [snapback]1600295[/snapback]
Oprah Parody by Robot Chicken (Only because futurama wasn't on You Tube. Yet)
QUOTE(SilverCougar @ Mar 26 2007, 12:31 PM) [snapback]1599864[/snapback]
can't stand Opra or Dr. Phill...
even as a semi stay at home person... I would rather gnaw my own leg off then watch them.
even as a semi stay at home person... I would rather gnaw my own leg off then watch them.
Sweetie, I hope you picked up on the fact that I was being facetious in my previous post.......
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