Oprah’s unorthodox gospel comes under scrutiny
Oprah Winfrey has become a catalyst for a new journalistic project and increasing news coverage by conservative Christians questioning and criticizing her spiritual beliefs.
Across the US, and increasing number of spiritual bookstores cater to people who are starting to question their true purpose in life without the restrictions of a specific religion.
For 20 years, the one-time Baltimore newsreader has colonized an empire of healing and hope that bridges race, age and class In 1984, a 30-year-old local news personality left Baltimore’s WJZ-TV to try her hand at hosting a morning talk show in a bigger market, Chicago. Within a year, A.M. Chicago was renamed for its new host, and by 1986 it had begun national syndication. Today, The Oprah Winfrey Show marks its 20th anniversary, and its star is one of the most powerful women in the world, a 51-year-old media mogul and billionaire whose influence reaches into nearly every nook
Toronto’s Centre for Conscious Living attracts many who call themselves `spiritual but not religious’ Minister says. It’s 11 on a Sunday morning and time for a little boogie-woogie. The pianist, who works both ends of the clock performing live jazz, smiles as people begin to hoot and shout and the mood in the Toronto Truck Theatre becomes downright funky. “You were born perfect, whole, and complete,” Reverend Barbara Schreiner-Trudel tells the congregation. “If you are hiding your greatness, you are not living God’s purpose.” Cafeteria Religion Also known as “Salad-bar Religion.” Denotes the trend where people pick and choose religious
Her sold-out Tampa show promises to help devotees be the best they can be. St. Petersburg Times, June 21, 2003 http://www.sptimes.com/ By ERIC DEGGANS, Times Television Critic Ask Chris Giblin why she’s spending nearly $200 of her own money to bring a homeless woman to Oprah Winfrey‘s “Live Your Best Life Tour” stop today in Tampa and she gives a simple answer. She couldn’t not do it. “If somebody of (Winfrey’s) stature were to recognize her and say, “Glad you’re here,’ what a boost that could be,” said Giblin, 57, of St. Petersburg, who gave one of her $185 tickets
Missionaries: Anti-Islamic statements put us at risk] The Repository, Jan. 19, 2003 http://www.cantonrep.com/ By DAVID LEWELLEN, Repository staff writer Some people, unsatisfied with traditional teachings but needing to express their spirituality, pick elements from different faiths or their own experiences until they have essentially made a customized religion. “My spiritual life is not bound by any sect, denomination, religion or way of thinking,” says Christopher Hewitt of Canton. “My experience of God doesn’t separate me from people.” Hewitt said that “if you go into Borders, I’m under New Age,” although he doesn’t
The most common rituals in the religion of Oprah are reading, writing and buying, said Lofton, who teaches at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.