Religious Criticism
Mark Earley—president of Prison Fellowship, a group of ministries founded by Charles Colson — in a commentary titled "New Book, Old Lie", claims "Byrne's hot new trend" repeats "the oldest lie there is — 'You shall be like God'." Earley says this is a prescription for "misery".
USA Today reported on the impact The Secret has had on New Thought churches, such as First Unity Church of St. Petersburg, Florida, led by Rev. Temple Hayes. The church uses the film and book as a teaching tool. James Trapp, CEO of the Association of Unity Churches, calls The Secret "superficial" and Ms. Hayes amends The Secret's promise of everything-is-yours-to-have with "...you may face some pain along the way. Nothing comes easy."
Prof. John G. Stackhouse, Jr., Professor of Theology and Culture at Regent College in Vancouver, Canada, in a commentary at his blog, calls the film "the newest packaging for gnosticism". He portrays the film's message as just another choice among many religions to choose from, not the "Lowest Common Denominator of all religions" and notes:
- is wishful thinking that does not correspond to the way things are. Some of it does, yes, which is why people can honestly testify to good things resulting from it. But some of it does not...
Stackhouse finds the good in the film "genuinely nourishing" and the bad "genuinely toxic". He makes it clear he is "...all for proper positive thinking" — the alleged good aspect of the film — and finds fault with Christian culture for not being better at it:
- By God's grace to us, we know better, we know Christ and his Gospel of new life, and yet often we have failed to speak to the spiritual realities so skillfully addressed by proponents of The Secret.
The toxins are, in Stackhouse's eyes, a spiritually lethal concoction. The identified "poisons" include:
- "Victim blaming"
- "refusal to admit" that life has worthwhile "trade-offs ... sacrifices"
- "It's all about me and it's all up to me"
Read more about this topic: The Secret (2006 Film), Criticism
Famous quotes containing the words religious and/or criticism:
“Better risk loss of truth than chance of error—that is your faith-vetoer’s exact position. He is actively playing his stake as much as the believer is; he is backing the field against the religious hypothesis, just as the believer is backing the religious hypothesis against the field.”
—William James (1842–1910)
“I, with other Americans, have perhaps unduly resented the stream of criticism of American life ... more particularly have I resented the sneers at Main Street. For I have known that in the cottages that lay behind the street rested the strength of our national character.”
—Herbert Hoover (1874–1964)