Beware of Oprah!

Wow, it seems Oprah is dangerous to true Christians! She's one of those sneaky types who uses Christian terminology and ideas, and makes seductive claims that lure innocent Christians into paganism! Pantheism!

Worse, Oprah teaches a "hodgepodge of personalized faith," emphasizing the spirit within us all, urging us to listen to our conscience. And (*gasp*) there are many paths to God, not just the Christian path!

Can you imagine? What's Oprah thinking? We all know that thinking for ourselves leads to sin. And the Christians' God is the only god who has this Absolute Truth.

This would be funny if it were from the 1950s, but sadly, it was from a lecture given to 1,500 people at McLean Bible Church near Washington, D.C. last week. Christian apologists Josh McDowell and Dave Sterrett gave a lecture blasting Oprah's teachings, and "correcting" any incorrect theology she might have taught her listeners.

To an outsider, one of the most fascinating things about various religions is how you have to do things exactly their way, or you're out, going to Hell, damned forever. The sheer arrogance is stunning, and would be funny, except that these people aren't kidding, and they're not a minority.

I admire Oprah's philosophy even though I'm not a religious person. Many of my close friends and family share her views on spirituality and religion, and strange though it might sound, I think Oprah's view is very close to what atheists, agnostics and deists think, too. We all need to look inside to find the truth, to find our moral/ethical core, and to do what we know is right. Some look to a core essence that's larger than their physical existence, and some don't, but we all know that morality comes from within.

The arrogance, the sheer hubris, of these ultra-religious people, is offensive on the face of it. They are hugely and glaringly wrong, yet not only can they not see it, but they don't even know how foolish their claims look to most people. The idea that their particular brand of religion, among all the many thousands that people have invented around the world and down through the ages, is the only correct one, is so silly. How can they take themselves seriously?