The Dangerous Duo: Oprah and Shirley Maclaine

I was making dinner the other day. There is a TV in our kitchen which is expanded by a connected bonus room. The normal TV watching schedule was in place, i.e., the one which does not factor me in (because I am usually at work at this time). So Oprah was on.

For much of the time I was focused on peppers, potatos and sausage. Even so, I could take in much of what Oprah and her guest, Shirley Maclaine, were discussing. It seems that Shirley, the celebrity front woman of the new age thinkers, wrote a book that changed Oprah's life. Oprah took God "out of the box" and expanded her understanding of spirituality. Spirituality, Oprah explained repeatedly, means "an openness" to reality and, she gently reminded her audience, was in no way against anyone's religion.

Shirley then proceeded to espouse basic pantheism, to the apparent delight of the studio audience. I would have preferred that the two ladies were more argumentative. I would have preferred that Oprah attacked Christian faith or Shirley had mocked the Lord Jesus. I would have preferred that everyone knew exactly what these two media giants were actually saying.

Instead, we heard about meditation and the value of non-violence. We heard about reincarnation and the 'reality' that no one dies. The soul lives on. We heard that the problem with people today is no one teaches 'spirituality' in the schools so people grow up ignorant of the (panthesistic) truth. And, of course, we were assured that none of this was intended to undermine "your religion whatever it is." Even as the two of them dissembled the Christian faith and denied not only its central tenants but its core: Jesus.

On the surface, and even a bit below, the conversation was pleasant. It is a lovely picture they painted of life. No one dies, our souls go on and on, learning and loving. There was a non-violent component (war/killing is bad). There was also no morality baggage. Like some versions of the Gospel of Grace I have heard, human activity was pretty much free of the troubling struggles of becoming holy. We just are, so enjoy it.

One striking feature was Shirley Maclaine's memories of past lovers. It appears she has had many, quite a few of which were not very good, she humorously quipped to the delight of the women in the audience. She admitted to having had three different men in one day. More startled delight from Oprah and her followers! Ms. Maclaine was on the campaign trail and, she shared, everyone else was doing it... Oprah, the wise, explained "you didn't want to be left out?!" "Yes!" Shirley admitted. We then learned that three different men were chosen. Oprah asked about the process. The audienced laughed and clapped. It wasn't very good, we were told, Shirley prefers some level of emotional bonding first. No life lessons here. Apparently spirituality of this sort is promiscuous (if you want it to be).

I have lived too long to be shocked or disgusted by all this. I have heard too much over the years. It is all too familiar. My innoncence is gone. I wish I could be surprised. I wish I could be shocked. I think Oprah is incredibly dangerous to the Christian faith. Not because she is evil, but because she is silly. Silly, and incredibly powerful. Woman are influenced by her. I can only wonder how many other woman are now "freed" by the "Maclaine (pseudo) gospel." I wonder how many are sitting in church pews. Like I said, I prefer an actual frontal assault on the faith. And a genuine discussion of the repurcussions of the beliefs being espoused. We live in an age of paganization. It is sad and scary. It is the work of spirit, but not THE Holy Spirit. It comes packaged in Hollywood glamor and our 'BFF" Oprah's gracious style. It is seductive. It is deadly. And it is hard to combat because, after all, who wants to say something mean about Oprah when there is so much evil in the world? And so a seductive, more photogenic, dangerous belief system continues to permeate our culture.