In Winfrey's view, Buddhism isn't about meditation and renunciation, it's about beaded bracelets and fragrant incense. Thus, the turn to 'spirituality' - the non-dogmatic dogma that encourages an ambiguous theism alongside an exuberant consumerism," Lofton said. The only way religion or religious belief works for Oprah is if it is carefully coordinated with capitalist pleasure. For her, religion implies control and oppression and the inability to catalog shop. "She endorses some modes of theological existence, but dislikes many more.
On the other hand, spirituality refers to devotion to metaphysical matters rather than worldly things.įor Lofton, however, Winfrey's disavowal of religion and religious doctrine is a sleight of hand. Religion usually involves institutions that organize individuals into communities ordered by a code of behavior, a creedal relationship to a divine authority, and a set of ritual practices. Spirituality can indeed be contrasted with religion. But talk of spirituality is often a means to whitewash dogma," Lofton said. "She eschews the label constantly, saying that she believes in a 'spiritual' path, not religious doctrine. Winfrey herself rejects the idea that what she advocates is a religion. Winfrey's topics and language place her activities well within the scope of religious and cultural studies, Lofton added, but no study of her movement has been published.
"I approach Oprah as a potentially religious subject, as someone committed primarily to spiritual change through material means," Lofton said.
In discussing how Oprah Winfrey has influenced so many people, Kathryn Lofton, an assistant professor in the Indiana University Department of Religious Studies, considers that an important distinction.
Newswise - The question from one of her students is familiar - "Is Oprah a religion?" - and the professor is ready with a reply: "Oprah does things in a religious manner, but she is not a religion."
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