{"id":871,"date":"2011-05-25T09:04:27","date_gmt":"2011-05-25T13:04:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/windowsanddoors\/?p=871"},"modified":"2011-05-25T09:04:27","modified_gmt":"2011-05-25T13:04:27","slug":"oprah-winfrey-shows-final-episode-end-of-a-religion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/windowsanddoors\/2011\/05\/oprah-winfrey-shows-final-episode-end-of-a-religion.html","title":{"rendered":"Oprah Winfrey Show’s Final Episode: End Of A Religion?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wednesday May 25, 2011 the lights will dim in the First Church of Oprah as the Oprah Winfrey Show <\/a>ends a run began in 1986.\u00a0 Surprised by that formulation?\u00a0 Shocked that I would call the show a kind of church?\u00a0 Well, there is no question that Oprah created a kind of religion over the past 25 years.\u00a0 It had Priests and teachers of sacred wisdom such a Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz, Truddi Chase, and Nate Berkus, just to name a few.\u00a0 It even had \u2018fallen angels\u2019 like James Frey.\u00a0<\/p>\n

You may not like what these people taught, and frankly, I think much of it was no better than snake oil, which often did more harm than good, but the same could be said of many religious teachers.\u00a0 And the fact that in many cases, these teachers simply made people feel good about themselves by letting those in the pews hear about and see others who were far worse off, is pretty pathetic.\u00a0 Of course, it\u2019s also a move made by the leaders of more than few religious communities.<\/p>\n

The First Church of Oprah had a shared language and there were appointed times of gathering.\u00a0 There was an overarching narrative and it was reinforced by an evolving canon of literature endorsed by the founder of the church.\u00a0 God was even invoked, but so carefully and infrequently that there was room in this church for theists and atheists alike.<\/p>\n

The fact that Oprah created a kind of church, and could therefore be considered a religious leader, does not mean that what she did was good.\u00a0 In fact, like most religious phenomena, there is evidence of both good and bad.\u00a0 Ironically, or perhaps as proof that it really was a church, both the good and bad are very much like the good and bad created by more traditional churches.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with Oprah herself.\u00a0 Was she high priestess or was she a goddess?\u00a0 Like most charismatic creatives, especially those with a keen sense of marketing, it was never clear if people were meant to worship Oprah or to follow her lead in creating better lives for themselves.\u00a0 If that doesn\u2019t sound like a question with which religious leaders deal all of the time, I don\u2019t know what does.<\/p>\n

How about the relationship between personal salvation and genuine obligation to help others, including those not a part of the \u201choly community\u201d?\u00a0 Again, this is a question for most religious communities, though it seems as if it is one where the Church of Oprah gets especially low marks in terms of the church\u2019s members.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While it may have led to increased personal happiness for its followers, the level of service to others upon which it focused was quite low.\u00a0 To be fair, Oprah herself has tried to set a personal example and has given away more than 10% of her Forbes-estimated 2.5 billion dollar worth.<\/p>\n

I could go on, but you get the point.\u00a0 Some of us may like what this church taught and accomplished, and others of us may not, but if it sounds like a church, practices like a church, inspires like a church, etc. I am pretty sure it\u2019s a church \u2013 for better or for worse.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wednesday May 25, 2011 the lights will dim in the First Church of Oprah as the Oprah Winfrey Show ends a run began in 1986.\u00a0 Surprised by that formulation?\u00a0 Shocked that I would call the show a kind of church?\u00a0 Well, there is no question that Oprah created a kind of religion over the past…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,4,6],"tags":[97,95,96,94,98],"class_list":["post-871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-pop-culture","category-religion","category-spirituality","tag-american-spirituality","tag-oprah-winfrey","tag-oprah-winfrey-shows-final-episode","tag-television","tag-what-defines-a-religion"],"yoast_head":"\nOprah Winfrey Show's Final Episode: End Of A Religion? - Windows and Doors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/windowsanddoors\/2011\/05\/oprah-winfrey-shows-final-episode-end-of-a-religion.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Oprah Winfrey Show's Final Episode: End Of A Religion? 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