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On March 21st, 2007, Kevin Hogan, Dave Lakhani, Blair Warren and Bob Beverly did a round table discussion about the movie and the book The Secret.

The purpose of the discussion was to take on some of the real innaccuracies that were presented as fact in the movie and the book. Some of those ideas that were presented as fact:

• The Secret is a law like gravity
• The people of Rwanda are subconsciously attracting genocide because they have a fear based mindset
• That children invite their rape and murder subconsciously
• That looking at fat people makes you fat and that if you don't believe food will make you fat you can eat all you want and it won't
• That the major minds of the world Einstein, Emmerson, and many more knew The Secret and practiced it

The round table had more than 775 people on the live call and we had more than scores of questions that we could not answer. As time allows we may post and answer questions on this blog.

Here is an overview of the four speakers on the call:

Dr. Kevin Hogan - www.kevinhogan.com - Psychologist, author of The Psychology of Persuasion and Covert Persuasion. Regularly featured as an expert on television, radio and print on the topics of persuasion and body language.

Dave Lakhani - www.boldapproach.com - Dave Lakhani was raised in a cult and is now considered one of the nation's top experts on ethical and unethical cult creation and proliferation. He is the author of Persuasion: The Art of Getting What You Want

Blair Warren - www.blairwarren.com - Television Producer, Author of numerous persuasion books and articles. Widely considered an expert on persuasion and media influence.

Pastor Dr. Bob Beverly - A psychologist and ordained minister. Dr. Beverly is the author of How To Be A Christian And Still Be Sane.   

Comments

[Krissy Jackson]

Thank you gentlemen,

The me, me, me-ness and materialism were the things that really bugged me about The Secret. Apart from your bringing to light the misquotes in the publicity material, your closing comments about compassion said it all for me.

Warmly,

Krissy
http://www.laughingkiwi.com

[Nicky]

Wow, the teleseminar is phenomenal! The speakers (Lahkini,Warren, Hogan, Beverley) did an excellent job discussing the Secret and helping us all think more critically about the subject.

How about a second teleseminar? I am fascinated by Dave Lahkini's story about escaping the William Branham cult. I've written papers about Branhamism in college. One generation ago, Branham was as well-known as Billy Graham or Jerry Farewell is today.

How did Dave Lahkini work through what happened to him, and transform his mindset? In many ways, Mr Lahkini is in the same position as "Secreters" who have to re-think everything they've been told is the truth. Now that the Secret is exposed, how do we breakway from this teaching, when everyone from Tony Robbins to Brian Tracy is telling us it's the only way to be successful?

[Lark]

I enjoyed the call very much!

My only lament...

I wish this could be produced as a series... with more interaction among the participants.

In fact, I'd suggest a mechanism be put in place to pre-screen questions or comments in advance, so as to not "interfear" with a particular evolving thread of inquiry and discussion, or else allow the introduction of off-putting topics which might only serve to devalue the end result.

I bet it would be huge!

Anyway, thanks for the nice gift - and keep up all your good works!

Lark

[P.S. - Hey, how can we help? :)]

[Copywriting Services]

Wow, Gentlemen Hats Off To You.

For your courage,compassion and the competence of your arguments.

I'd love to explore more with you guys.

When is the second call?

Sincerely,
Edward Santosh

[Jim Jenkins]

What a wonderfully AMAZING call! I'm so proud of all of you for taking this subject on. What an informed, honest and competant call.
Imagine if Rhonda Byrne had this much integrity!
Cheers,
Jim Jenkins

[Stephanie Brail]

APPLAUSE APPLAUSE! Standing ovation!!! Thank you SO MUCH for this very thoughtful look at The Secret.

One of the things that struck me the most was how that quote by Winston Churchill was taken completely out of context. In fact, it was twisted to mean something totally the opposite of what he was saying! That in and of itself should show how disingenuous the people behind The Secret are (as much as I do respect some of the people who appeared in the film itself).

I was also impressed by the comments about compassion - I just wanted to jump up and down and shout HURRAH! I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!

What bothers me about The Secret (besides the materialism and lack of compassion) is that it is already creating a huge backlash against certain "new age" concepts. I believe that chi is real, but I don't believe in the Law of Attraction. I feel like my job in educating people about chi is harder now, "thanks" to The Secret.

In fact, the whole field is muddled right now. So many people are confused and think that the concept of positive thinking is the same thing as the "Law of Attraction" and it is not.

If anyone is interested I have reviewed The Secret DVD on my own podcast here:

http://feelgoodgirl.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=191422#

And, as a counter to The Secret, I have put up a website called The Intention Project to encourage people to use their positive energies to pray for world peace and a better world:

http://www.intentionproject.com

Thank you again for helping stop the madness!

[Kalinda Rose Stevenson]

Thanks for the outstanding call.

The piece I would like to add to the discussion concerns method. “The Secret” weaves together snippets of interviews to make a case about “The Law of Attraction.” This means that there is no clear and consistent exposition by a single person. Instead, the movie is a collage of disjointed comments, as it shifts focus from speaker to speaker.

I have watched “The Secret” at least 40 times. In several of those viewings, I paid particular attention to what the movie claims about thought and feeling. If you listen carefully, you will find that the various participants make somewhat contradictory statements about the connection between thoughts, feelings, and attracting what you want.

It makes sense that different teachers have different perspectives and understand the idea of attraction differently, yet by cutting and pasting their comments, the method of the movie gives the impression of a unified front on the topic of “The Law of Attraction.” It also obscures the very real differences between them.

In my own work, I am particularly concerned with any method that takes material out of context and in the process, either distorts the original meaning or completely turns the original meaning on its head. Kevin gave a prime example when he talked about the misuse of the Churchill quotation.

On a personal matter, since Dave mentioned me on the call, he asked me to make a comment and provide contact information here on the blog.

I am currently working on a book titled, “Going Broke With Jesus.” I am thrilled that Dave has agreed to write the Foreword of the book.

My professional background includes a Ph.D. in Biblical Studies. My personal background includes profound awareness of how much harm has been done in the name of “the Bible says...”

The book is a critical look at the financial impact of biblical beliefs about money. It is also a book about method. Much discussion about money and the Bible does what “The Secret” does. It takes snippets of material out of context—in this case various Bible verses about money—and then makes unified claims about what the Bible teaches about money. My method is to put the Bible verses back into context, to demonstrate how often the original intention of the narratives get turned upside down. Narratives intended to liberate the poor from poverty can easily become bible verses claiming that God wants believers to be poor.

Since the call, I have created an online ASK page. I welcome questions on the topic of money and the Bible.

http://www.askkalindarosestevenson.com

[Darla Redfield]

omg< or no god, take your choice, Kevin Hogan. I am so sorry, This is the woman who wrote to you via yahoo messanger a couple of months ago, I told you what I went through with the secret and you told me my story needed to be told, and then you sent me a website and I thought that people from the secret did websites and where just trying to get people to do thier websites to get rich, I am so sorry Kevin Hogan, I really thought you were following the secret and it angered me, I thought you were just trying to get me to follow the secret somemore, please forgive me for all I said to you, I was wrong!

Sincerely,

Darla

[kevin hogan]

i understand darla,
i hold no grudge against you.
the secret, is the greatest scam and most harmful pseudo-spiritual philosophy to crush the decency from people in centuries.
no need to apologize.
i wish you happiness and peace

kevin hogan