Is "the Secret" becoming a new religion?

I believe it is. And that has been my concern. It may be a fine religion for people who did not have one but for those of us who do, it’s contrary to the beliefs we already hold and I think a lot of people are getting sucked into it.

And you know, actually, even if one didn't previously have a religion I don't think "The Law of Attraction" is a good one anyway. It's so focused on gaining of worldly things. So self-centered and greedy.

I don't like that. Most people believe Oprah when she says she is a Christian but if you look at her beliefs, she really is not. For your average housewife, Oprah is a role model and you don’t expect to be deceived by her.

But she endorsed this whole "secret" thing - and I think the people who created the book/DVD, etc are very deceptive. If you haven’t seen the DVD, I don’t really recommending watching it. I felt as if I was being brain washed.(If you must watch out of curiosity - don't give these scam artists anymore money.It's free to watch several places on the internet.

Here's one: universallawstoday.com/secret.html ) The DVD also seemed to touch on the idea that all human beings are like little gods - that we have this power - I do not believe we are equals to God in any way. That is heresy and Christians especially should beware "The Secret". Sources: my opinion .

It is just a case of a very aggressive marketing campaign. The movie has onlyy been out for a year. Secret' attracts plenty of attentionPosted 2/14/2007 10:36 PM ETBy Carol Memmott, USA TODAYWhat's The Secret?

It's a controversial self-help book (and DVD) that has reached phenomenon status — by purporting to know "the secret" to happiness. Today the book (Atria/Beyond Words, $23.99) hits No. 1 on USA TODAY'S Best-Selling Books list.

Want a new job, a million dollars or a gorgeous girlfriend? Author Rhonda Byrne says the secret is the law of attraction: If you think positively, you become a magnet that pulls everything you want toward you. The book has been touted on TV by Oprah Winfrey (just last week), Larry King and Ellen DeGeneres.

Word-of-mouth is helping sales as well. "People are finding out about it from other people," says Beyond Words editor in chief Cynthia Black, who heard about The Secret DVD from a friend and then signed Byrne to a book contract. The DVD ($29.95) was released last March and has sold 1.1 million copies.

The book was published in November with a first printing of 200,000. There are now 1.2 million copies in print. Byrne, an Australian reality-TV producer, says she discovered the ancient secret to getting everything you want through her study of religious and philosophical texts."Everyone has to have their own experience to believe," says Byrne, 55.

"People should start with little things like deciding a cup of coffee will come to you or that you'll see a feather. There's no difference between attracting a feather and anything else you want.It's as easy to attract one dollar as it is $10,000. "It's no secret that Byrne has supporters and detractors.

Robert Thompson, a professor of media and popular culture at Syracuse University, has seen the DVD and calls it "at best, silliness." It's "good old American snake-oil salesmanship," he says. But Arlene Shapiro of Pacific Palisades, Calif.

, says she has used the tenets of The Secret to control her panic attacks and to double her acupuncture business. Byrne and her supporters claim all kinds of rewards from the law of attraction, from finding prime parking spots to curing cancer and kidney disease. Byrne says that she used it to improve her eyesight and no longer needs glasses.

Susan Folkman, a psychologist at the University of California, San Francisco, says she worries about The Secret's suggestion that "people can cure themselves and that if they don't, they are somehow to blame."Byrne has attracted numerous celebrities to her cause. In the book and on the DVD, the law of attraction is touted by such self-help luminaries as Jack Canfield, co-creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series; John Gray, author of Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus; and financial and spiritual gurus. As for skeptics, Byrne says: "I wanted to share this gift with every person.It's up to them to choose to believe.

"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_%282006_film%29Marketing campaignThe movie is advertised on the Internet using tease advertising and viral marketing techniques in which The Secret and the specific details of the film were not revealed. Citation needed Additionally, Prime Time Productions grants written permission to individuals or companies, via application at the official site, to provide free screenings of the film to public audiences. Optionally, the DVD may be sold at these screenings.

The Secret was one of the top five DVDs sold at Amazon during Christmas week, 2006. In February, it topped the Amazon DVD chart. A book version, also called The Secret reached number one on The New York Times bestseller list.

Currently both the book and DVD versions are #1 or #2 at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Borders. Time Magazine reports brisk sales of the DVD through New Age bookstores, and New Thought churches like Unity and Agape. Criticismedit Editorial coverageKarin Klein, editorial writer for the LA Times, called The Secret "just a new spin on the very old (and decidedly not secret) The Power of Positive Thinking wedded to 'ask and you shall receive.

'" The editorial pointed out a few of the common criticisms of The Secret, characterizing the film as "another get-rich-quick chimera" and a recycling of "well-worn ideas of some self-help gurus" customized for "the profoundly lazy" and repackaged with "a veneer of mysticism. " The editorial also gives voice to the common criticism that the film provides a dubious recipe for material greed, social apathy, and blaming the victim.2Journalist Jeffrey Ressner, reporting in Time magazine, writes that some critics are concerned with the film’s attitude toward "using ancient wisdom to acquire material goods." In one example in the film, "a kid who wants a red BMX bicycle cuts out a picture in a catalog, concentrates real hard, and is rewarded with the spiffy two-wheeler.

"6Jerry Adler of Newsweek notes that despite the film's allusions to conspiratorially suppressed ancient wisdom, the notions presented by the motivational speakers who make up the film's cast have been commonplace for decades. Adler notes that the film is ethically "deplorable," fixating on "a narrow range of middle-class concerns — houses, cars, vacations, followed by health and relationships, with the rest of humanity a very distant sixth." Noting that the scientific foundations of the movie are clearly dubious, the Newsweek article quotes psychologist John Norcross, characterizing it as "pseudoscientific, psychospiritual babble.

" 3Post-film interviews (of "teachers")Contributors featured in the film have been interviewed on various TV shows. These comments have been made by them: * James Ray, interviewed by Harry Smith on The Early Show (CBS), aired Feb.1, 2007: SMITH: If I get this straight, the secret of The Secret is, "ask — believe — receive". Is it as simple as that?

RAY: Well that's one of the author's interputations. I believe that you have to think, feel, and act... * Joe Vitale, on Larry King Live (CNN), "The Secret" episode aired Feb.8th, 2007: CALLER: I'm just curious, where does God come into the whole "Secrets". VITALE: God is all of us.

God is the secret and everything about it. This is a law from God. Aggressive marketingSince the first release of the DVD, Esther cks declined to continue with the project, mentioning contractual issues in a letter to friends.

While continuing to speak highly of the film, she acknowledges that "we have been very well paid for our participation with this project... which has amounted to a staggering amount of money". She goes on to say "Jerry and I were uncomfortable with what felt to us like a rather aggressive marketing campaign (just not our style, nothing wrong with it)... allowing them to edit us out was the path of least resistance."9 As a result of this, scenes which Esther cks originally narrated are instead narrated by Lisa Nichols. Health claimsABC news referred to claims that the mind has power over our health as "perhaps the most controversial" in The Secret.

They quote Michael Bernard Beckwith, founder of Agape International Spiritual Center, as saying: "I've seen kidneys regenerated. I've seen cancer dissolved. " Sources: http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2007-02-14-the-secret_x.htm .

No! Religions have an element of faith. The Secret purports to work scientifically according to natural law.

The Secret therefore claims to be a science not a religion. The question of whether it is good science is another question altogether. Sources: research/training .

" "How many of you like Religion and why" (11 answers) "Religion is for people who fear hell; Spirituality is for people who've been to hell. What does this mean?" "I am taking a poll on this question, "What is the difference between spirituality and religion? "" (10 answers) "why do you need religion?

" (14 answers) "Is religion for everyone?" "Religion & Spirituality" "Is this by Walt Whitman? Note the bearing on the current threads re 'organized religion' as contrasted w/ spirituality. " "Why are you what ever religion you are?" "Your 'Change category' does not work.

You put my 'computer' question into 'Religion & Spirituality.

How many of you like Religion and why" (11 answers).

Religion is for people who fear hell; Spirituality is for people who've been to hell. What does this mean?

Note the bearing on the current threads re 'organized religion' as contrasted w/ spirituality.

Your 'Change category' does not work. You put my 'computer' question into 'Religion & Spirituality.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.