Subject: Is Oprah a cult leader?

Step One: Watch the video in question
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW4LLwkgmqA

Step Two: Watch the commentary on CNN
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/showbiz/2008/04/22/sbt.viral.video.cnn

Step Three: Analysis of the commentary

The host begins by implying that the claim, “Oprah is against Christianity because she is promoting a different perspective on spirituality” is false/over the top. This is evidence of our culture’s relativism in the view that all spirituality is equally good and true (inclusive) — until you start making exclusive truth claims, of course.

Let’s apply that way of thinking to something else. Would you say that the claim “Osama Bin Laden is against a Constitutional Republic because he is promoting a different perspective on government (Islamic Theocracy)” is false and over the top?

The first commentator (clearly an expert in theology and religious studies) then claims Oprah IS promoting Christianity because “[Oprah] was brought up Baptist” — not by looking at the basic creeds of the faith and comparing them to what Oprah is teaching now.

The second commentator then throws out a red herring, pointing out that the video is selling a book. While true, it doesn’t discount the fact that what Oprah is teaching is directly opposed to the teachings of Christ.

The third commentator points out that “no one is going to stop being a Christian because of what Oprah says.” But how true can this be when you consider the first commentator’s statements, and even Oprah herself, in that they see no distinction between the foundational truth-claims of the Bible and the world-view that is being taught by Tolle?

All this and Christianity was never even defined.

My Conclusion: Oprah is not technically a cult leader in that she doesn’t claim to be the exclusive source of divine revelation, but what she is teaching is not compatible with Christianity.