Controversy Swirls Around The Secret

Well, the movie The Secret has caused quite a stir.  People seem to be lining up on both sides of the fence on both the DVD and the book - one side says it's great and the other side says it's a scam. 

The Secret Is a Scam

Here are a few of the things I've noticed about the people coming down on the scam side of the commentary:

• The ideas in The Secret have been around for a long time and aren't a secret.
• Thinking happy thoughts won't make you rich.
• Metaphysicians and feng shui experts don't have real credentials.
• It's dangerous to believe that you can think something away or believe something into existence. 
• Hard work is what creates success.
• The people who created The Secret are making a ton of money on other people's gullibility.  
• The message is Satanic.
• The "Secret Seminar" now called 'The Science of Getting Rich Seminar' is just a pyramid scheme and everyone is getting scammed.
• They bring up the question, if the victims of the tsunami in Indonesia or the people in the Twin Towers on 9/11 had only know The Secret, would they be alive today.
• The Secret is flashy Hollywood PR and has no substance.
• Faith without action creates nothing.

 

The Secret Is Right On 

On the positive side of the equation:

• The Secret isn't a secret, has been around for millennia and it works.
• People who have used 'positive thinking' with success point to their own successes.
• People who have experienced success point out that most everyone who succeeds thinks positively. and then works hard to achieve their goals.
• Hard work doesn't negate the idea that thinking positive thoughts is bad.
• The book, The Power of Positive Thinking, was written by the Dr.Norman Vincent Peal, a Christian pastor, and he hasn't been accused of promoting satanic ideas very often.
• I'll talk about The Science of Getting Rich Seminar in a separate post. It is billed as a two tier affiliate program.  People who work on the internet are familiar with this sort of program, which, depending upon the people administering it, can be quite legitimate.
• Faith with action creates results.
• The 'teachers' on The Secret didn't get where they are merely by thinking positive thoughts, they followed them up with lots of hard work.
• The people online who are causing a great negative stir about The Secret are personally benefiting because they are getting people to pay attention to them and their websites.

I haven't tried to balance out the number of positive and negative statements here, mainly because I'm getting tired of listing stuff.  There are people who think The Secret is terrible and there are people who think it will save the world.

The Secret Is in the Middle

As I see it, the main problem with The Secret is that it is meant to inspire people with possibilities but, by presenting mainly the first step, it is overly simplistic and doesn't emphasize what to do after you change your attitude and your thinking.  And, yes, unlike some people reviewing The Secret, we have a copy of the original Secret with Esther Hicks, a copy of the second Secret, and a copy of the book, and we've watched both movies and also read the book.

Notice that both sides of the debate are in agreement with the point that work will create results.  What the nay-sayers are emphasizing is that positive thinking won't substitute for hard work.  What they miss is that without having a belief in yourself and in your dreams, you won't shoot for your goals, nor will you have the internal emotional support, drive, and belief to get through those rough spots that invariably turn up when you are pursuing a worthy goal.  If you don't have belief, you will see obstacles as insurmountable.  If you believe that your goal can be reached and it is of importance to you, you'll see bumps in the road as learning experiences rather than roadblocks. 

I haven't even addressed the real need in our world for messages of encouragement, reminders to be grateful, and people who will get us back to dreaming and setting goals for ourselves.  More on that another day.