Just recently, I saw one post on Oprah Winfrey on his blog. The post goes like this:
PERSON A SENT:
Do you know about Oprah Winfrey's concept on Jesus and God? If you are a fan of Oprah, you are in for a disturbing shock. She claims that Jesus is'nt the only way to God, and that we are our own God. Take time to view these videos and pray for the millions who are falling into her trap.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwGLNbiw1gk&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDtRIj3w_EU&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQFHyd7ijNI&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW4LLwkgmqA&feature=related
2 Corinthians 11:3 (New International Version)
3But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
PERSON B REPLIED:
Yea, I heard about this a while ago.
But personally, I would find it disappointing if Christians continues to condemn Oprah Winfrey, who is indeed promoting New Age belief. On another hand, Christians should rejoice because Oprah is a good person, she is helping the needy. We should not condemn her, not quick to judge her even though she is non-believer. We should be like Jesus, who never condemn non-believers but don't like the religious person, The Pharisees - who quick to condemn non-believers.
I've heard about "Pharisees-like Christians" telling non-believers and the unchurched that Oprah Winfrey shows are demonic. And they warn them to never watch them, or the non-believers and the unchurched would be demonized and burn in hell! Like this, how would non-believers convert? They would feel that Christians are quick to judge and condemn. I have a friend who refuses to come to Christ, the reason is simply because some "Pharisees-like Christians" visited his house and condemn his religious practices.
According to research in the US,
87% of the unchurched don't want to go to church because they find church people judgemental.
So, in order to make the unchurched come to church, we got to stop judging and condemning, especially non-believers.
Yes, Oprah is promoting New Age belief, but we need not necessarily broadcast our views. (:
Aaron gave his view on Oprah's actions as a prominent person in the media and her influence. But that's not what I wanted to talk about. You can go to his blog to read his p.o.v. (I'm not undermining it, just saving space so you have the attention span for mine. hehe.) I have mine, and it's this:
When I read this post, it reminded me of my former guardians. My 'aunt', especially. She was a Buddhist, and she's quite "against" Christians (not Catholics, though. Read on to find out why.) because she said this one thing that I found very difficult to swallow: "Some Christians are so quick to 'condemn' other people's faith, and even say that we'll burn in hell unless we join Christianity." She went on to say "You guys are good at grabbing people over from other religions by using this fear tactic. I'm not so gullible.".
To be honest, I think she's right. Only a portion of Christians are like that, but that also equates to "some", as she said. She said some, because she also sees some goodness in believers. She grew up educated in a Catholic primary school, where she said she saw care and compassion. But she doesn't think Christians (she views Catholics and non-Catholic Christians as separate) show care, especially when they condemn and criticize other people's actions. Person A in the email above is one such example.
True, Oprah is pretty much undermining one entire faith by her statement (that's my faith she's talking down.). She, being the literary royalty she is with her book club and prowess in the English language as a talk show host, should be able to come up with some better, less 'anti-religion' way of saying we can manage our lives. Fair enough. And she is influential, no doubt about that. So influential, a statement like that has caused SOME Christians to condemn her and her show.
Before I continue, let's draw a parallel. Remember the "Danish cartoon depicting muslims as terrorist" incident from several years ago? The reaction that it drew was quite chaotic, wasn't it?
My point is that you don't solve a spark (an insensetive statement from Oprah or that Danish cartoon) with oil (condemnation, death threats. whatever). You'll start a fire (backlash from both sides. Apparently, the Danish newspaper re-circulated the cartoon just to say they stand for freedom of speech, provoking Muslims worldwide and causing more violent retaliation.). You solve a spark with some patience (restraint) and fixing the error with tape (filling the need for love and care of the person in question).
Well, that's what I think. Aaron thinks a bit differently, and so do I. So you probably have a different thought, too. What's your view? This is not CNN iReport, but please post on my tagboard, or if your response is multi-paragraph, post on your blog and say on my tagboard! I want to know what you think, really, even though sometimes I don't show I do ('cause you can't see me, duh. I really read what you say.)
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