Who Do You Think You're Talking To?

 I think everyone in my generation had their mother or father ask, "Who do you think you're talking to?" when you answered them in a tone of voice they didn't like. That quote came to mind, of all places, during a Continuing Legal Education ("CLE") course I had to take.

The Bar Association offered a class on dealing with frustration when interacting with difficult clients. Rather than the usual classes on legal issues, I decided I'd get the credit while obtaining tips for keeping my anger in check (I've always had anger management issues; thankfully, with prayer and trying hard, I've mellowed considerably). I never snapped at a client, but many times I walked away with elevated blood pressure.

The presenter was not a lawyer. He never said what he did for a living other than giving these talks he called "life changing, dynamic experiences." What qualified him for doing such was never stated, and he never answered questions as to his training in dealing with frustration. He was exactly my age, married with two teenagers (one of whom is developmentally disabled), helped many charitable causes, and was a "lector" at his Vatican II sect parish since 1988. I had a bad feeling about this man, and my hunch was quickly proven correct. The first thing he told us was that we needed to become vulnerable, and not to be afraid to cry. He said he cried frequently and uncontrollably and was proud of his "openness." (During two hours, he needed to stop six times to cry openly in front of us and took several minutes to compose himself each time).

What made him cry? It would be easier if you asked me what didn't make him cry. Every story he told us about his life caused him to cry (both happy and sad events), and the (alleged) secret to conquering your frustration was in following some sappy platitudes that sounded like rejected sayings meant to be printed in a Hallmark Greeting Card. "The mind protects, but the heart connects." "Glorify who you are today, do not condemn who you were yesterday, and dream of who you can be tomorrow." At this point, I felt I was in the wrong profession. Cry, spout mawkish claptrap, and get paid over two grand for two hours of nonsense; God Bless America.

Then, he made a statement that made me bolt upright from my slouching, "half-asleep in the chair" position. "Use God to help you. Not the 'small god' of Christians. Catholics think only they can get to Heaven, and evangelical Christians think only they have the truth. In fact, all of us can be saved, if we are open. I take my teachings from Neale Donald Walsch." I'm quite familiar with the teachings of Walsch. It's no wonder I felt I had heard all this before somehow. Neale Donald Walsch is a New Ager, an anti-Catholic bigot, and an occultist. His garbage is apparently still being peddled by members of the Vatican II sect. Lest you be caught unaware, I'm exposing this man and his evil teachings in this post.

Conversations with "God"

Neale Donald Walsch (b. 1943) was baptized and raised in the One True Church. He claims to have studied comparative religions for years, but was never a devout Catholic. In 1992, Walsch, then 49, was angry and despondent over the course his life had taken. His marriage ended in divorce, a fire then destroyed all his belongings, after which he was in a car accident wherein he suffered a broken neck. After he left the hospital, he was alone, broke, and living in a tent. He picked up aluminum cans for the deposit money in order to eat.
It was then he decided to write an angry letter to God asking why He allowed all this to happen to him. As he finished writing the last question, Walsch claims the pen moved on its own and he found himself writing words as though taking dictation (known as "automatic writing"). Walsch states he knew this was "God" dictating the responses, although he does not explain how he knew God was responsible. Later, he would deny automatic writing, and assert he was writing down what "God" told him.

In an interview with Larry King, Walsch claims he heard a voice saying, "Do you really want an answer to all these questions or are you just venting?" (See http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~zechner/cwg/lkl-ndw.html). He turned around he saw no one there, yet Walsch felt answers to his questions filling his mind and decided to write them down as his pen moved. The resulting "dialogue" became the best selling book Conversations With God in 1995. It spent an incredible 135 weeks on the New York Times Bestsellers List. There were eight other books in the series to follow, and Walsch is worth approximately $81 million dollars today.

Walsch's books suffer from several problems which demonstrate conclusively they do not come from God but from the "father of lies." Endemic among those purporting "new revelations" from God, or declaring themselves "spiritual teachers" (e.g., Marianne Williamson, Eckhart Tolle, etc) these days, are the following tenets: (1) sin is non-existent and morality is subjective; (2) God loves you as you are, there is no need to amend your life; (3) experience and feelings are superior to the intellect; (4) there is no True Religion, salvation comes to all; (5) Christ is not God; (6) Eastern pagan ideas such as pantheism and reincarnation are true. You can see the appeal. They tell people what they want to hear, and not the truth. Don't worry about sin, Hell, amending your life, etc. Just feel good and accept yourself. It is very much like modern psychology with religious verbiage thrown in. That's also the reason for the enthusiasts among the Vatican II sect with Bergoglio proclaiming, "There is no Catholic God," and "Who am I to judge?" The elements set forth above will be examined in Walsch's books. As there are a total of nine (9) books in the series, quotes will be culled from more than just the first book, and citations will be given accordingly (For example 3:27, means book 3 page 27 in the series). I obtained copies of originals years ago and the pages might be different from other editions, or pdf versions.

Demonic Dialogue

1. Sin is non-existent and morality is subjective. In his first book, pg. 152, we are treated to this gem: 

There’s nothing "wrong" with anything. "Wrong'" is a relative term, indicating the opposite of that which you call "right." Yet, what is "right"? Can you be truly objective in these matters? Or are "right" and "wrong" simply descriptions overlaid on events and circumstances by you, out of your decision about them?

I'm sure if Mr. Walsch's publisher refused to pay him the royalties on his book, I'm willing to bet he would see something very wrong with that and sue. The danger of this nonsense should be self-evident. We can't be truly objective about murder, lying, stealing, etc being immoral? It gives the green light to sin.

2. God loves you as you are; there is no need to amend your life. 
You must first see your Self as worthy before you can see another as worthy. You must first see your Self as blessed before you can see another as blessed. You must first know your Self to be holy before you can acknowledge holiness in another (1:26)

 Walsch claims "God" taught him Original Sin is a "myth," and we are all holy. Pure heresy.

3. Feelings are superior to the intellect.  
Feeling is the language of the soul. If you want to know what's true for you about something, look to how you're feeling about it. (1:13)

Notice the phrase "what's true for you"--as if each person can have a "different truth" because there is no objective, unchanging truth. If that's the case, why is Walsch (or "God") asking us to accept what is said in the book as true? Wouldn't that eliminate anything that contradicts it as objectively false? At the beginning of the book we are told by "God" that "Words are really the least effective communicator . . . merely utterances..." If true, why is "God" communicating words to Walsch and why should we believe these "mere utterances"? It's a self-refuting statement.

4. There is no One True Religion. 
No path to God is more direct than any other path. No religion is the "one true religion," no people are "the chosen people," and no prophet is the "greatest prophet." (7:98)

In one sentence, Catholicism, Judaism, and Islam are denied. All organized religions are false according to Walsch's "conversations with 'God.'"  Furthermore, there is no Hell, and everyone is assured of eternal happiness. Your happy destiny is unavoidable. You cannot be "saved." There is no hell except not knowing this.-- (1:93).

5. Christ is not God. 
In book 2 of his series, on page 244, we are told The Buddha, Krishna, and Jesus were spacemen. Yes, aliens from another planet! Walsch denigrates Catholicism by claiming "God" said: Wait a minute! This God of yours sent you to Purgatory if you ate meat on Friday? (2:44). In the first book we are told by "God" that drinking is not OK. But Jesus took alcohol! says Walsch. To which "God" replies, So who said Jesus was perfect? (1:192)

6. Promoting Eastern paganism. 
In book 3 of the series, Walsch asks "God" if reincarnation is a false doctrine, "God" replies that it is not. Walsch then asks why some religions do not know the truth about something so basic. In response, "God" says that we must understand that humans have many fear-based religions whose teachings surround the doctrine of a God who is to be worshiped and feared. This teaching means reincarnation is true, and other doctrines are false. Doesn't that contradict what God said earlier about there being only what's true for you? Reincarnation exonerates Hitler of wrongdoing (morality is subjective anyway). From book 2: The mistakes Hitler made did no harm or damage to those whose deaths he caused. Those souls were released from their earthly bondage. (2:42).

In addition to the above, the following are also worthy of mention in these books:
Disturbing features about God. 
"God" is an idiot who doesn't know about religions and needs to be taught by Neal Donald Walsch. "God" rejects Catholicism. Here is a sample of dialogue ("G" is "God" and "W" is Walsch, as supplied by me):

G: What's a "wrong church"?

W: Any church that is not Roman Catholic. You can’t be baptized in the wrong church, you can’t get married in the wrong church— you can’t even attend a wrong church. I know this for a fact because as a young man I wanted to go with my parents to the wedding of a friend—I was actually asked to be in the wedding as an usher—but the nuns told me I should not accept the invitation because it was in the wrong church.

G: Did you obey them?
The nuns? No. I figured God—You—would show up at the other church just as willingly as You showed up at mine, so I went. I stood in the sanctuary in my tuxedo and I felt fine.

G: Good. Well, let’s see now, we have heaven, we have hell, we have purgatory, we have limbo, we have mortal sin, we have venial sin—is there anything else?

Feelings, nothing more than feelings...
From his books:

• Open your mind, allow your feelings to be expressed, to be pushed out, and your heart will neither break nor burst, but be a free-flowing channel of the life energy in your soul.

• I do not communicate by words alone. In fact, rarely do I do so. My most common form of communication is through feeling. Feeling is the language of the soul. If you want to know what's true for you about something, look to how you're feeling about it... Hidden in your deepest feelings is your highest truth.

• Stop giving your power away and begin to trust that your feelings are in fact expressions of the deepest truths.

Does anyone even know what this gobbledygook means?

Conclusion

Stay away from anything written by Neale Donald Walsch. His conversations are not with God, but demonic forces. What he promotes is New Age pantheism (God and the universe are one) with relativism and an over emphasis on "feelings." This is necessary so the reader won't think critically about how Walsch's god contradicts himself and speaks nonsense. The series reads like a bad episode of the old Kung Fu TV series in the 1970s--unintelligible pagan sentiments that are supposed to be profound. It tells people what they want to hear, and you have Vatican II "lectors" promoting it. Since all Catholic doctrine has been eliminated from their temples, anything except the truth is permitted. I have no problem with men having, and expressing, their feelings. However, to cry at the drop of a hat isn't being "open," but just teaching men to be little more than emasculated dolts placing feelings above reason. Women as well should not think being overly emotional is some kind of "virtue." 

Neale Donald Walsch wants you to believe he's having conversations with God. Anyone who trusts him, has no idea of who he's really talking to, and had better wake up before (God forbid) it's too late.