2,365 words
Shiva Naipaul
Journey to Nowhere: A New World Tragedy
New York: Penguin, 1982
In 1997, thirty-nine members of the Heaven’s Gate cult committed mass suicide. A joke at the time went like this: “Why did Heaven’s Gate kill themselves? They had to keep up with the Joneses.” (more…)
5,376 words 
“If you’re committed enough, you can make any story work. I once told a woman I was Kevin Costner, and it worked because I believed it.” — Saul Goodman
“Jerry, just remember . . . it’s not a lie if you believe it.” — George Costanza (more…)
905 words
I recently went with a friend to deliver some groceries to a guy who had a medical problem and couldn’t get to the store. We went to this person’s house and found him on his couch, watching The Breakfast Club on video. (more…)
Eckhart Tolle
4,752 words
It would be no exaggeration to say that Eckhart Tolle is now the most popular “spiritual teacher” in the United States – and possibly the world. The New York Times and The Watkins Review have declared as such. And he has been heavily promoted by Oprah Winfrey. The actor Jim Carrey is also a big fan. Normally, this would be enough for me to completely dismiss someone, but in this case I cannot. (more…)
9,927 words
Part 2 of 2. Part 1 here.
Partings II – Watts and The Church Today: Real Presence or Real Estate?
Watts was quite successful in his attempt to express the religio perennis in the language of Christian theology; not just in my opinion today, but among his Episcopal peers at the time (one bishop even called it “the most important book on religion in this century”[1]), (more…)
9,403 words
Part 1 of 2
Alan W. Watts
Behold the Spirit: A Study in the Necessity of Mystical Religion
New York: Pantheon, 1947; reissued with a new Preface, 1971
Kindle, 2016
“For God is not niggardly in his self-revelation; he exposes himself right before our eyes.” — Alan Watts (more…)
2,791 words
Caroline Fraser
God’s Perfect Child: Living and Dying in the Christian Science Church
New York: Henry Holt, 1999
Christian Science (not to be confused with science fiction writer and religious guru L. Ron Hubbard’s Scientology, whose celebrity adherents include Hollywood stars John Travolta, Tom Cruise, and Kirstie Alley), a metaphysical religion that rejects most medical treatment, is probably a black box to most people. (more…)
1,989 words
Rhonda Byrne
The Secret
New York: Atria Books/Hillsboro, Oregon: Beyond Words Publishing, 2006
DVD:
The Secret (Extended Edition)
TS Productions, 2006
Many whites embrace New Age beliefs; sometimes the beliefs have venerable roots.
