The Secret vs. Christianity Pt 3: No Objective Moral Standard

On page 179, Byrne writes:

“Be happy now. Feel good now. That’s the only thing you have to do. Whatever you choose for You is right.”

And on page 178, Byrne writes:

“If it ain’t fun, don’t do it.”

Well, this seems problematic. Christianity teaches pretty clearly that a transcendent, absolute moral standard is given to us by God, that we should aim for that standard, and that we continually fall short of that standard.

Now most folks in civilized society have heard of the Ten Commandments. This is the most obvious example of where moral standards are laid down. For example, Exodus 20:14 says:

"You shall not commit adultery."

Now I think it's safe to say that folks who have committed adultery thought that doing so was "fun", even if they suffered for it later. Fortunately, I don't speak from experience on this one. But the question is, how is Exodus 20:14 compatible with what Rhonda Byrne says?

In addition, consider Romans 3:23 which says:

"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"

"Sinned" really means nothing more than to fall short of a standard. To miss the mark. Notice that not only does this verse teach that there is a standard that should be met, and that we've missed it, but it also teaches that we're not God. We fall short of that standard.

Once again, we see a stark contrast between "The Secret" and what the Bible teaches. And once again we see that we don't even have to accept one book or the other as true in order to see this contrast. We don't have to, for example, believe we must obey the ten commandments in order to see that the ten commandments do set a moral standard which Christians (and Jews) should adhere to and that Rhonda Byrne denies that any moral standard actually exists… you can just do whatever you feel is right for you.

But as for the question of deception, up to now I've given Byrne the benefit of the doubt… but I can't do that any longer, because I find it impossible to believe that any adult in civilized society has not heard of the ten commandments and doesn't know that these commandments are taught in The Bible and are part of what Christianity teaches, even if they themselves don't feel compelled to obey them. I don't believe for one second that Rhonda Byrne doesn't know this and yet she says that Christianity and "The Secret" are compatible even as she writes that "whatever you choose for you is right."

This is not merely an oversight or mistake made from ignorance. This is a lie. I've become convinced that she knows good and well that all three of these points conflict directly with what Christianity teaches, but she just doesn't want her audience to know it. She wants to convince her audience that there's nothing wrong with what she's teaching them. She is intentionally deceiving them.

But hey… she chose to write it, so even if it is a lie, it's "right" because she chose it. And she is God.

Stay tuned for Part 4