The viral marketing phenomenon called “The Secret” has taken the world by storm. But there is a deceptive teaching in the movie that needs to be addressed.
May 7, 2007 (Press Release) --
The viral marketing phenomenon called “The Secret” has taken the world by storm. No other movie has done what this has done. It has reached millions in a very short time and in most ways benefited millions of people.
It has a message of hope and faith and is for the most part, a good movie to watch and believe in.
But there is also a terrible and deceptive untruth throughout that can have dangerous consequences on the gullible and uninformed. Although I recommend people watch this movie, I also suggest they understand that there are some “relative” truths that can be harmful if followed incorrectly.
An “absolute” truth is one that is true under any circumstance or condition of time and space. Most philosophy courses and religions don't believe in absolute truths yet they are constantly responding to questions or beliefs by saying “absolutely”.
I do believe in some absolute truths such as the reality and eternal existence of God.
But when it comes to “The Secret” the teachers, almost without exception promulgate a teaching of absoluteness in regards to the power of our thoughts and the supposed absolute control we therefore have over our lives.
They suggest in the movie that when people are in an automobile accident, they supposedly “attracted” that to them and therefore are at fault for it happening. I even saw one of the teachers on Larry King, who when asked about this question and was posed the scenario of a young child who was abused by a predator, said something to the effect of, “although it seems harsh, and it may not have been a conscious choice, but subconsciously she did attract that action.”
This, my friends, is dangerous doctrine.
Are we supposed to believe that we attract EVERYTHING that happens to us? Is a child who is born with cancer, or who soon develops a cancer at a young age, also to blame? Is a meteor hitting a home whose descent was started millions of years ago, far before the person who “attracted” it was born, the cause of it hitting his home? Did the millions of people in December 2004 “attract” the devastating tsunami? If they did, when did they get together to decide this? Did the Jews in the holocaust “attract” a monster such as Hitler to decimate their lives? How about any of the millions of people throughout the world who have fallen under the various dictators? Did those 30+ students recently killed in West Virginia “attract” such a demented person and that that is the reason he was demented and did this terrible thing?
Are we also to blame everyone we see for causing EVERYTHING that comes to them? Should we look down our noses at their condition and do nothing to help them because, “It’s their fault. They have done this to themselves so I will stay my hand, keep my money and let him suffer.”?
My answer is an emphatic NO!
So how are we to view “The Secret”? Are we to throw it out with the proverbial bathwater? Is it a wholesale mess that should be avoided and lumped in with a cult or satanic group?
Well I also say “No” because there is much good in the movie. The methods taught in it about keeping your thoughts on what you desire is a good one. Keeping your thoughts focused is a worthwhile goal because it is only through controlling our thoughts that we can make anything of ourselves.
Learning to control our thoughts is a lifelong process and one that I feel God would hold us accountable for how we did. Everything we do begins with thought. If we allow the dark side of our natures to run rampant and uncontrolled, we risk losing everything. Our natures must be changed and become more like God.
So is the “Law of Attraction” real or not? Let’s take a look at it. If you spent all of your days thinking about getting a disease would you get it? Would that produce the results you are thinking about? Most people would agree that it would not be a good idea to worry about things like this and attract such a condition to you.
Would the opposite also happen? If you spent your days imagining good health would you also have that desired result? Would it be easier to believe in the negative effects coming to you or the positive ones?
What is the real answer here?
If scripture tells us to “Ask and it shall be given you, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you” then it only follows that the real answer is to have faith. Faith is in reality “mental exertion”. It is thinking in a controlled manner on a desired outcome. It is ignoring the current results in our lives and focusing on what we want to happen. It is asking, seeking and knocking.
You see the reason they stress the issue so much about accepting responsibility for our condition is that there are those who are always blaming others or circumstances for their problems. They blame everyone and everything and yet the truly successful people in history are the ones who embrace the fact that unless they accept responsibility for getting OUT of their current situation by exercising faith in themselves and a higher power, they will never get out.
This I believe is a true principle and although it is taught in “The Secret” it is not clearly understood. I have even heard them go so far as to claim to know why the person Job in the Bible was afflicted with his infirmities: he said, “For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me.” (Job 3:25) They then use this as “evidence” that he was the cause of his own problems.
This is ridiculous. If he spent all of his time greatly fearing, how did he receive such great abundance in the first place? And when his abundance was returned, in a rather quick manner I presume, where is the evidence that he changed his thinking? There is none. He passed the test and remained faithful and his wealth was returned.
Some of the teachers of “The Secret” could also be lumped in with Job’s friends because they also make similar claims. They accuse him of doing something wrong or not doing something right and therefore God is punishing him for his actions, inactions and thoughts.
Sound familiar?
Job claimed, “Miserable comforters are ye all.” (Job 16:2) This life is a time of testing and in order to face tests there must be opposition. How can someone grow without facing a difficult trial? Where would the heroes be if there were no evil to conquer. Where would the great breakthroughs come in technology, science, medicine or a host of other areas if there were no reason to discover them? How many people devoted their lives to great causes because of a problem they faced as a child?
Opposition is good. Trials build our character. How many spoiled rich kids have we seen who, because they never had to grow up, became monsters and ruined many peoples lives. They spend their time in riotous living and accomplish nothing in life, yet we hold their lives up as something to worship and emulate as we constantly read about their exploits in tabloid magazines.
Yet other children who are raised in poverty and face incredible odds become the great doctors and entrepreneurs. They worked their way out of the conditions they faced and made something of themselves. Rarely are their lives the subject of the magazines that are sold to the masses.
The rewards for passing the test may not come in this life and they aren’t always measured in monetary terms. The only way back is to follow the path that leads us back to Him and part of that path is to monitor and control our thoughts. It will never happen if we let them run wild and uncontrolled.
So while I recommend people watch “The Secret” I also recommend that they recognize the truth regarding this issue.
Also recognize that the Free Agency (freedom of choice) of others may interfere with our lives, but we didn't necessarily "attract" that to us. It's part of our mortal existence and the opposition we must face so we can grow.
Take control over the situation you are in and exercise your faith that things will be better, that you can change your circumstances and achieve your goals. Look to God for assistance and exercise Faith in Him to get you out, through or over the problems you face. Keep your thoughts on your desires and help another to reach their goals and in the process you might find a purpose to your life.
And that my friends, is the real “Secret” that we should discover for ourselves. In giving of ourselves and losing our lives in service to others, we will find ourselves and achieve true happiness.
It has a message of hope and faith and is for the most part, a good movie to watch and believe in.
But there is also a terrible and deceptive untruth throughout that can have dangerous consequences on the gullible and uninformed. Although I recommend people watch this movie, I also suggest they understand that there are some “relative” truths that can be harmful if followed incorrectly.
An “absolute” truth is one that is true under any circumstance or condition of time and space. Most philosophy courses and religions don't believe in absolute truths yet they are constantly responding to questions or beliefs by saying “absolutely”.
I do believe in some absolute truths such as the reality and eternal existence of God.
But when it comes to “The Secret” the teachers, almost without exception promulgate a teaching of absoluteness in regards to the power of our thoughts and the supposed absolute control we therefore have over our lives.
They suggest in the movie that when people are in an automobile accident, they supposedly “attracted” that to them and therefore are at fault for it happening. I even saw one of the teachers on Larry King, who when asked about this question and was posed the scenario of a young child who was abused by a predator, said something to the effect of, “although it seems harsh, and it may not have been a conscious choice, but subconsciously she did attract that action.”
This, my friends, is dangerous doctrine.
Are we supposed to believe that we attract EVERYTHING that happens to us? Is a child who is born with cancer, or who soon develops a cancer at a young age, also to blame? Is a meteor hitting a home whose descent was started millions of years ago, far before the person who “attracted” it was born, the cause of it hitting his home? Did the millions of people in December 2004 “attract” the devastating tsunami? If they did, when did they get together to decide this? Did the Jews in the holocaust “attract” a monster such as Hitler to decimate their lives? How about any of the millions of people throughout the world who have fallen under the various dictators? Did those 30+ students recently killed in West Virginia “attract” such a demented person and that that is the reason he was demented and did this terrible thing?
Are we also to blame everyone we see for causing EVERYTHING that comes to them? Should we look down our noses at their condition and do nothing to help them because, “It’s their fault. They have done this to themselves so I will stay my hand, keep my money and let him suffer.”?
My answer is an emphatic NO!
So how are we to view “The Secret”? Are we to throw it out with the proverbial bathwater? Is it a wholesale mess that should be avoided and lumped in with a cult or satanic group?
Well I also say “No” because there is much good in the movie. The methods taught in it about keeping your thoughts on what you desire is a good one. Keeping your thoughts focused is a worthwhile goal because it is only through controlling our thoughts that we can make anything of ourselves.
Learning to control our thoughts is a lifelong process and one that I feel God would hold us accountable for how we did. Everything we do begins with thought. If we allow the dark side of our natures to run rampant and uncontrolled, we risk losing everything. Our natures must be changed and become more like God.
So is the “Law of Attraction” real or not? Let’s take a look at it. If you spent all of your days thinking about getting a disease would you get it? Would that produce the results you are thinking about? Most people would agree that it would not be a good idea to worry about things like this and attract such a condition to you.
Would the opposite also happen? If you spent your days imagining good health would you also have that desired result? Would it be easier to believe in the negative effects coming to you or the positive ones?
What is the real answer here?
If scripture tells us to “Ask and it shall be given you, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you” then it only follows that the real answer is to have faith. Faith is in reality “mental exertion”. It is thinking in a controlled manner on a desired outcome. It is ignoring the current results in our lives and focusing on what we want to happen. It is asking, seeking and knocking.
You see the reason they stress the issue so much about accepting responsibility for our condition is that there are those who are always blaming others or circumstances for their problems. They blame everyone and everything and yet the truly successful people in history are the ones who embrace the fact that unless they accept responsibility for getting OUT of their current situation by exercising faith in themselves and a higher power, they will never get out.
This I believe is a true principle and although it is taught in “The Secret” it is not clearly understood. I have even heard them go so far as to claim to know why the person Job in the Bible was afflicted with his infirmities: he said, “For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me.” (Job 3:25) They then use this as “evidence” that he was the cause of his own problems.
This is ridiculous. If he spent all of his time greatly fearing, how did he receive such great abundance in the first place? And when his abundance was returned, in a rather quick manner I presume, where is the evidence that he changed his thinking? There is none. He passed the test and remained faithful and his wealth was returned.
Some of the teachers of “The Secret” could also be lumped in with Job’s friends because they also make similar claims. They accuse him of doing something wrong or not doing something right and therefore God is punishing him for his actions, inactions and thoughts.
Sound familiar?
Job claimed, “Miserable comforters are ye all.” (Job 16:2) This life is a time of testing and in order to face tests there must be opposition. How can someone grow without facing a difficult trial? Where would the heroes be if there were no evil to conquer. Where would the great breakthroughs come in technology, science, medicine or a host of other areas if there were no reason to discover them? How many people devoted their lives to great causes because of a problem they faced as a child?
Opposition is good. Trials build our character. How many spoiled rich kids have we seen who, because they never had to grow up, became monsters and ruined many peoples lives. They spend their time in riotous living and accomplish nothing in life, yet we hold their lives up as something to worship and emulate as we constantly read about their exploits in tabloid magazines.
Yet other children who are raised in poverty and face incredible odds become the great doctors and entrepreneurs. They worked their way out of the conditions they faced and made something of themselves. Rarely are their lives the subject of the magazines that are sold to the masses.
The rewards for passing the test may not come in this life and they aren’t always measured in monetary terms. The only way back is to follow the path that leads us back to Him and part of that path is to monitor and control our thoughts. It will never happen if we let them run wild and uncontrolled.
So while I recommend people watch “The Secret” I also recommend that they recognize the truth regarding this issue.
Also recognize that the Free Agency (freedom of choice) of others may interfere with our lives, but we didn't necessarily "attract" that to us. It's part of our mortal existence and the opposition we must face so we can grow.
Take control over the situation you are in and exercise your faith that things will be better, that you can change your circumstances and achieve your goals. Look to God for assistance and exercise Faith in Him to get you out, through or over the problems you face. Keep your thoughts on your desires and help another to reach their goals and in the process you might find a purpose to your life.
And that my friends, is the real “Secret” that we should discover for ourselves. In giving of ourselves and losing our lives in service to others, we will find ourselves and achieve true happiness.
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