I saw this today on Fox while I was at the gym and started to laugh at the ridiculousness of it all. You have to just laugh. You and I have a lot in common. Heaven is here. Now. It's nice to see you. Thanks for sharing.

I don't even like to refer to myself as a "christian" but I do like to refer to myself as a "believer". I too have had bad experiences in church settings and if anything it has taught me what I don't want. I love the section in the book on Spirituality and Religion (p.17)
It has never been okay for people to try to control others. Keep in mind also, religious people don't like the things of the Spirit. Spiritual brings life and religion brings death.

(p.196) "The wisdom of this world is folly with God," says the Bible. What is the wisdom of this world? The movement of thought, and meaning that is defined exclusively by thought.
Thinking isolates a situation or event and calls it good or bad, as if it had a separate existence.

I couldn't agree more. I am so grateful for the spiritual shift that has finally begun.

Many years ago I felt guilty about not being religious. After all, the world wants to label us as a Christians, Jews, Islamics, Hindus, Buddhist, etc. In 1999,I was at my mother's bedside as she was dying and a minister asked me what church I belonged to, I fumbled for an answer, since I thought I had to have one, but I hadn't been to church in years. I gave a lame almost apologetic answer. I then knew I had to define myself for society, because "they" need an answer! As I thought about it, "Spiritual" came to mind, not religious. I had determined many years ago, organized religion had divided people, not brought them together. So I agree to be Spiritual with you and connected to others on a higher level than with religion. I wonder if we could ever elect a President who was Spiritual and not religious? I doubt it!

I was in the Astrodome in 1979 at a huge spiritual capacity gathering for a young guru from India. Outside the stadium were Christians, Krishnans, and any other group that could gather to announce the arrival of the antichrist. The next morning our 'guru' invited the christians to attend our gathering and remember the words 'love thy neighbor as thyself', and quoted Krishna and his wisdom about loving etc. He spoke to the fragmentation of humanity even then...sadly it hasn't gotten much more coherent in the last 20 years. It was a great gathering to have 100,000 spirits in one place encouraging others to join in the feeling of oneness. Now Oprah is using a new astrodome of the internet...wow 500,000 and growing.

The message has always been there, ancient words that encourage us to enjoy life, become one spirit, rise above the mud of life like a lotus, and on and on. Old wine being poured into new bottles so more people can get the shift. awesome.

How one group of people got a hold of it and decided that it was only for 'them' has always been beyond me.

I hope the people who read NEW EARTH don't do the same thing. This isnt a new religion, after all. It's a way to become whole once and for all.


Peace.

I understand exactly how you feel. I am a Sunday school teacher and was once a leader of a woman's group and it saddens me to see people so closed minded; however, I used to be just like that based on my upbringing and the inability to get out of my ego. My life has been transformed in the last year or two and now I have a deeper level of understanding and a much higher level of consciousness. I believe the issue lies within our inability to listen to one another's hearts without judgment and labels because often times we only hear the words that people use and form opinions quickly based on our belief system that we were taught. I was hurt badly in my church by my pastor when I left an abusive marriage and God lead me into the arms of a gentleman that I sang in the praise team with. I was told I was following Satan rather than God, but I knew better. God and my angels spoke clearly to me, and I believed! I responded back with anger but have since learned a loving way to communicate with Non-Violent Communication by Marshall Rosenerg, Ph.D.. I had to first discover who I was in God's eyes and receive his grace. Another way to describe it is, I had gained a higher level of consciousness and had become empowered by becoming more aware of the control my ego once had over me. I ended up staying at the church with the encouragement of friends and am now married to my soul mate. My pastor retired shortly before our wedding. We now have a wonderful new pastor who is very open minded or should I say open to a higher guidance and full of compassion. I thought I had dealt with my frustration and had forgiven the previous pastor whose words I perceived as condemning but it came back up 6 months later with bad feelings towards churches. I made an appointment with my pastor to see if I could resolve this resentment within me and rather than taking 30 minutes of his time he listened for 2 hours with great compassion and helped me release my perception or judgment that I had towards churches. Everyone in the church are simply humans who have or have not came into a higher level of consciousness or fully comprehended what God's grace is. The world is evolving and I see great potential in the churches that are getting pastors who listen with a higher level of consciousness or who are guided by the Holy Spirit rather than their ego. They are reaching out with compassion rather than authority over their congregation and it is making a difference. I'm intrigued with the many words we use to describe what it feels like to be spiritual. There are so many different words used to describe the spiritual awakening that is happening. If we could all see that we a speaking the same things but just using different words to explain it, what a transformed world we would live in. Kind words bring forth love while criticizing words divide our nation. In God's grace. Amy (Mind, Body & Spirit Life Coach)

New age is as old as time!! I, too, found my foundations from the more liberal Christian faiths, but somehow the hypocrisy of the "teaching" and then realizing their "acting" was so far from the "truths of their teachings". Native American faith and belief brought much to my life of straight & narrow white Christian teaching for in all there is glory and peace. So I treasure those of us who have brought this same peace to our children and found true peace in our relationships with them and others. Thanks lots, I like you!

This person who state that we are all being 'led to hell' is a PERFECT opportunity for us to put into practice the ideas in this book. I want to judge this guy. I want to call him an idiot. I want to get angry at how organized religion is dogmatic, shallow, and ultimately divides people and causes fear, hate, and eventually war. BUT...to grow and have awareness, I have to observe my reactions and then separate myself from them. Although my first reaction was negative, I immediately recognized that my feelings and reactions and thoughts are NOT me. I separated myself from those negative feelings, and then tried to let them go quickly. In this guy's mind, he is right and we are wrong. That is ego. Instead of seeing HIM as a tool of negativity and fear and division, I just see his ego and I feel compassion for him that after all of this time supposedly being involved in relgion and connecting to god, he is still where he is. It's a shame. He is locked in his negative patterns and his ego, and instead of following the teachings of Christ, he is just judging. The more people who comment negatively on what we are all doing, the more opportunities we will have to grow. I am also honored to be a part of this hell bound group and thank god that Oprah is using her status, wealth and time for something so important!

I read your post and laughed pretty hard (not laughing at you, but at FOX media) ...

I am not a loyal Oprah person, but I would probably jump on the train with you ...

Hope to see you in class!

Me, too. Take me with you.

I missed the Fox news statements referenced, but that's fine with me.

I truly believe that when someone comes out with something as obnoxious in general, as the statement described, they help us more than harm us.
That's not what I want my sprirituality to look like.

I am truly grateful that I don't think that way....

I am thrilled to hear from like minded people. I have, since a little girl, known a place within me that knew of humanity and the bigness of purpose. I am also a denounced Christian. I tryed to do what was acceptable to gain spiritual growth but really, like you, was not accepted for who I really was or who I really was meant to be. Although I desperately made great attempts to forfill myself and create a place where my children could "become", I was never so relieved when, one day, I let it be O.K. not to be a Christian. The Universe seemed to open up to me and I began feeling my place. I allowed God to be and still find it so real and freeing to allow God out of the box that he is so neatly kept in. I have always searched for "the others" and absolutely know that the time has come.
Although I am originally from Oregon, I have somehow ended up in the "Bible Belt". In a rural area none the less. You know I'm going to hell, sister. They just can't figure out why I have such joy and gratitude. Glad to hear from you. Tamra

I have been reading some of the replies to this message and am honored to be a part of this group.
I, too, was completely abandoned by those in church leadership who were supposed to be teaching
me about ministry. I kept saying, "Aren't we supposed to minister to those who need love and our
help? Aren't we suppose to love each other in spite of our faults? Should we gossip about others
in the faith or should we pray for them?" I was actually ignored and had leaders turn their backs
on me and refuse to speak to me before, during, and after services. So, I left. I could not reconcile
these actions to the Love that God gave us and shows us everyday even when we're going through
our most difficult times. I take on the mantle of "spirituality" and will wear it well!

Amen..!

Oprah is definitely a New Age Believer...