When Spirituality Kills

When Spirituality Kills.  Lots and lots of controversy surrounding this self help guru James Ray.  Here is one take on the negligent homicide of three people caused by this man.  
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303544604576431823713411478.html?mod=googlenews_wsj


"Best-selling author and self-help guru James Ray was convicted last month of negligent homicide in the 2009 deaths of three people at a ceremony he led in an Arizona sweat lodge. His conviction raises enduring questions about how far society should go in monitoring therapeutic spiritual activities, particularly when matters of health and safety are at stake."



"The nation faced similar issues in the late 19th century. After several Massachusetts residents died in the 1890s following Christian Science and "mental healing" treatments for illnesses, the state legislature drew up new licensing requirements designed to restrict anyone who offered healing without a medical degree. Pioneering psychologist William James lobbied against the measures, arguing that "mind cure" treatments seemed to relieve suffering and led to some documented cures."


"In response to the controversy, the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine opened its doors in 1893 with the aim of standardizing how medical licensing functioned state-to-state. The mental-cure movement didn't fade away, but it did begin focusing less on health and more on questions of happiness and prosperity—the kind of matters featured in the 2006 blockbuster New Age movie "The Secret," where Ray first gained national attention."


http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303544604576431823713411478.html?mod=googlenews_wsj


"The public should be alert to such situations—but not at the expense of the free exercise of spiritual experiment that has long characterized our religious culture. When considering crackdowns on ersatz sweat lodges or extreme rites, Americans ought to take guidance from what Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson wrote in 1944: "The price of freedom of religion . . . is that we must put up with, and even pay for, a good deal of rubbish."


When Spirituality Kills. No matter which side you find yourself on relative to the concept of "alternative" spiritual practices, the actions by this man scream out for change.


http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303544604576431823713411478.html?mod=googlenews_wsj