 |
| Deepak Chopra - Oprah Winfrey |
TEXAS FAITH: Are Oprah, Deepak and the "God Within" school good or bad for religion?
In his new book, Bad Religion, author and columnist Ross Douthat argues that since the 1960s, institutional Christianity has sunk to a low place - chock-a-block with heresies. Among them, the "God-within" theology that he ascribes to modern-day practitioners like Oprah Winfrey, Deepak Chopra and Elizabeth Gilbert.
Douthat suggests that bad religion is any religious expression that doesn't go through formalized, orthodox channels. Or as writer Charlie Pierce boils down Douthat's thesis: "Christianity would have been infinitely better off is somebody had stopped the banjo Mass in its tracks." But doesn't Douthat fundamentally have a point?
Aren't the formal channels of church, synagogue or mosque, of Buddhist temples or the Hindu Vedas -- aren't they all supposed to rein in makeshift, even self-indulgent, flights into "bad religion"? Put another way, can you find spiritual enlightenment outside a formalized religious structure and, having found it, still be a good Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist or Jew?
The question this week is this: Have Oprah and Deepak and the proponents of the "God Within" school caused more harm than good? Have they contributed to the deinstitutionalization of religion? And if so, is that okay?
Our Texas Faith panel weigh in with a thoughtful, wide-ranging discussion with some provocative ideas. Here's one: "Ultimately, the difference between an organized Church and a mass of unaffiliated spiritualists is the difference between an army and a bunch of people with guns."
Agree? Disagree? Read on after the jump. Ten Texas Faith Panelists contribute;
MIKE GHOUSE, President, Foundation for
Pluralism, Dallas
Oprah, Deepak and the other proponents of “God within”, perhaps would say in all humility that realizing “God within” is nothing new, they are simply reiterating the idea floated by the great spiritual masters like Zarathustra, Moses, Krishna, Buddha, Mahavira, Jesus, Muhammad, the native American Chiefs, and others.
Their conversation has been a catalyst in knocking the arrogance out of religion, that theirs is the oldest, perfect, wisest, scientific, and the only one that brings salvation. Each religion is valid to the believer and their talk is restoring the pristine humility in each religion. Deepak and Oprah have indeed enriched the institution of religion, rather than de-institutionalize it.
The great spiritual masters have said that the ultimate truth about life is within you, it is your perception and your actions that deliver salvation.
A Muslim Sufi wrote, and I would be surprised, if Deepak Chopra has not quoted it.
Banday ko khuda mat kaho, banda khuda nahin,
Lekin phir bhi juda, banday say khuda nahin.
Don’t call the created a creator, the created is not the creator,
But then, the created is not a separate entity from the creator.
When Hindus greet
each other with a Namaste, they essentially invoke the resident God (good) in
each towards the other. The whole idea is to build the conversation, actions
and thoughts on goodness.
Luke 17:21 “Neither
shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is
within you.” Jesus was clear, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His
righteousness,” he declared, “and all these things shall be added unto you”
(Matthew 6:33). From this interior plane of life, he is saying, we will gain
all that is needful.
Quran, 50:16 “Now, verily, it is we who have created man, and We know what his innermost self whispers within him: for We are closer to him than his Jugular vein.” God knows everything you do, and he must be within you. He places the responsibility on individuals and adds, the best among you is the one who does good to his fellow beings.
“The cliché is that Judaism is about deed, not creed. But there’s a lot of truth in that,” said Jay Michaelson, a prominent Jewish writer and thinker, who says he believes in a Spinozian-type God. The “God does not exist; God is existence itself,” he said, summing it up.
In the Gathas, the Zoroastrian texts, “the One God, Ahura Mazda, is transcendent, but he is in constant relationship with human beings and the world God created through his Attributes. These Attributes are how God reaches the world, and how the world reaches God.”
The teachings are similar in all religions.
Quran, 50:16 “Now, verily, it is we who have created man, and We know what his innermost self whispers within him: for We are closer to him than his Jugular vein.” God knows everything you do, and he must be within you. He places the responsibility on individuals and adds, the best among you is the one who does good to his fellow beings.
“The cliché is that Judaism is about deed, not creed. But there’s a lot of truth in that,” said Jay Michaelson, a prominent Jewish writer and thinker, who says he believes in a Spinozian-type God. The “God does not exist; God is existence itself,” he said, summing it up.
In the Gathas, the Zoroastrian texts, “the One God, Ahura Mazda, is transcendent, but he is in constant relationship with human beings and the world God created through his Attributes. These Attributes are how God reaches the world, and how the world reaches God.”
The teachings are similar in all religions.
About 15 years ago, I
gave a talk to Russians immigrants, I said, religion is an instrument, which
could bring a balance to an individual, and build harmony with what surrounds
him or her.
My host shared one of
the most revelatory ideas about religion. After the breakup of Soviet Union,
they opened the doors to religion, the salesman (clergy) immediately set up
their shops in the convention center, and each one was selling his religion to
the Russians. She said, “the salesman were giving circular logic, based on the
idea that there is a thing called God, which they believed and understood, but
could not prove, it was a strange phenomenon to us.” She said they finally had
to develop criteria to evaluate different religions; one of them was how each
one of them behaved.
When one is at peace with himself or herself, God resides in him/her in full glory. God/Religion in itself is neither good nor bad, it is like the nuclear power, in the right hands it is a blessing and in the wrong ones it will destroy families, communities and nations. God is within us and we can make him a villain or an all loving God through our actions, the choice is ours.
To view all the ten
takes, please visit Dallas Morning News at:
= = =
MikeGhouse is
committed to building a Cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. He is a professional speaker, thinker and a writer on pluralism,
politics, civic affairs, Islam, India, Israel, peace
and justice. Mike is a frequent guest on Sean Hannity show on Fox TV, and a commentator on national radio networks, he
contributes weekly Texas Faith column at Dallas Morning News and regularly at Huffington post, and several other periodicals. www.TheGhousediary.com is his daily blog.
No comments:
Post a Comment