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Abanes: No, absolutely not. And that is one of the things about New Agers—and especially Tolle—that they speak in terms that are contradictory. For example, he basically says there is no God out there, no personal entity to whom we can pray, who can lead us and guide us, there is just this impersonal life force essence that is god. Yet, he will at some times switch from talking about an impersonal god to talking about a personal entity that he prays to and asks for direction. So, many of these people want to have a personal God but not the accountability that goes along with it.
Pastore: I think a lot of people in a common sense way realize you can’t pray to electricity, you can’t pray to gravity, or a tree, or a rock. And so if it is impersonal, I mean I’ve got the question: How does something impersonal create the personal?
Abanes: Well that’s a great question. The only problem is the use of that word common sense and you’re thinking about this too hard. And that’s what’s fascinating about Tolle. He always tells his followers and the people who he’s speaking to, especially Oprah, “Don’t think too much about what I’m saying. Just listen to my words and let it resonate within you. That’s the truth.”
Pastore: So you’ve written this book, “A New Earth, an Old Deception,” what is the old deception?
Abanes: Well, the old deception is the oldest deception—that we are God. Basically, go back to Genesis 3 and that was the original lie, and you see it perpetrated again and again and again in all these false religious belief systems. |