Thursday, November 05, 2009
Naked launch
Put this one in your “People This Lacking in Self-Awareness Really Shouldn't Be Allowed to Publish Ever Again” file. Franciscan new age guru Richard Rohr, known to lead retreats in which full-grown men jump over campfires in the nude, has released a new book with the fetching title The Naked Now. Choice promotional non sequitur: "When you can be present, you can know the Real Presence. I promise this is true. And it is almost that simple."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
14 comments:
In some quarters, that title would be known as "trolling."
Of course it is worth noting that the book has nothing to do with bodily nakedness - but does have to do with mysticism.
Last I checked Fr. Richard Rohr was a devoted Catholic priest - not a new age guru - and due some respect as an ordained man of God
From the very site you give in your posting, it says that Rohr, in this book draws: "from the Gospels and the greatest Christian contemplatives, he shows us what it means to be spiritually awake. We will learn how to:
Awaken our desire for God
Free ourselves from the fears that cripple us
Connect to the joy already within us
Transform ourselves and inspire others
See as the mystics see
Live in full awareness of the naked now"
I really don't see anything new age or wrong with any of the above. I really don't understand your attack on him. I viewed/listened to the video on the site. It seems he is drawing from the mystics and the scriptures to address some very important issues. You may not agree with someone, but that does not mean you should belittle them or mock them. As Christians, shouldn't we take the higher road with each other, with every one?
Fr. Rohr's website also says he is part of a program called "Oprah and Friends." That alone is all the proof one needs that he's "new age."
Using proper labels for things is not mockery.
An orthodox book about mysticism and contemplation is: Fulfilment of All Desire by Ralph Martin
Have to laugh at this post..
"Last I checked Fr. Richard Rohr was a devoted Catholic priest - not a new age guru - and due some respect as an ordained man of God:
I think that is the issue. Those who do not agree with non negotiable issues of Church teaching should not be publishing their idiotic beliefs using the title of Father within the Catholic Church. As a person he is free to publish or teach whatever he desires, but as a Catholic Priest he should teach what the Church actually teaches which is where he earns respect. Should we respect a police officer? Most would say yes. Should we respect a police officer who rights books teaching preditors how to rape women or to molest children and get away with it? We all earn respect and the right to that respect comes from doing that which we are supposed to do. Those that do it above all others such as Mother Theresa or John Paul II earn a lot more respect than the rest of us. And talk about getting trashed, some of the darts thrown at JPII, Mother Theresa, and now Benedict by the left are beyond understanding. They have earned respect. Rohr has earned disdain for his leading Catholics from the solid teaching of the Church I am sure he vowed to obey.
There was an episode of Star Trek called "The Naked Time", in which everybody basically got exposed emotionally. The Next Gen version was called "The Naked Now".
I hope his book title is riffing off that, or wherever the original titles came from. A bit less creepy. :)
Re: New Age credentials
He's still okay with the enneagram. That's pretty New Agey.
Re: his website
He calls himself "a global leader in spiritual awakening"?
If I said that about myself on my webside, even as a joke, I'd wake up in a cold sweat to scrabble it off. St. John of the Cross wouldn't have said that! St. John Climacus wouldn't have said that!
What kind of creepy presumptuous do you have to be, to even think about claiming that kind of thing?!
Wow. I never knew that nude fire-jumping was an integral part of knowing Jesus Christ. Thanks, Rich. You've saved my soul.
Since he doesn't list who he considers "the greatest Christian contemplatives", I am guessing his list is different than mine.
The idea of "spiritual nakedness" is troubling also. It's hard to criticize from just the website info, but I hope spiritually clothing oneself in something appropriate would be part of this book.
Rohr seems to make the same mistake spiritually that Christopher West makes physically. "If we can just dispense with prudishness and self-induced guilt , we can really make some progress"
That is a distorted idea of true Catholic Theology.
Don't get me wrong. I think Chris West truelly wants to be orthodox and follow Church teaching whereas I think Rohr wants to "move beyond either-or to both-and thinking." He seems to want to integrate Catholocism into a greater religious experience, not work within the boundries of Christ's Church.
Also, I highly suspect people that use the phrase "I promise you" or "believe me" when trying to convince people of their arguements. It sends up red flags of insincerety in my mind.
Keep up the good work Rich.
He seems to want to integrate Catholocism into a greater religious experience, not work within the boundries of Christ's Church.
Teilhard lives!!!
It's "THE Naked Now," not "Naked Now." They aren't quite the same thing...
I read a couple of his books years ago and thought they were pretty good. But I think that was when he was writing more normal Catholic books than he writes now. And maybe I would not have the same opinion of them today, I don't even remember what htey were about.
He used to have a pretty devoted following not far from where I live, but it fell apart after he left. Very sad.
Funny you should mention this...I received a promotional postcard today. Rohr wants to help us find what is usefull in the "law of attraction" and enhance our spiritual awareness with sacrificing reason...The card also invites me to check out The Naked Now Official Webcast...an image of which is just, well, creepy.
Post a Comment