Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 8, No. 3, 2009, Page 56
Blake), but more often we have confused, simple-minded utterances (Tolle), delusional
identification with a god (Schucman in ACIM) or worse—self-serving fabrication (Smith in
Book of Mormon). I think that Price more or less agrees with me.
I agree with Price that Tolle‘s insight influenced by A Course in Miracles (ACIM) is
―malarkey,‖ but I would go further. I spent years trying to analyze ACIM after it came out in
1975, especially after I baled from a New Age cult in 1980,v and I now see it as pure mind-
(bleep)ing psychobabble. ACIM could be dangerous if any of its devotees ever figured out
how to apply its cloud of inscrutable directions. The pure ACIM devotee would have to stop
all movement and breathing forever to demonstrate its truth to remain in the ―holy instant.‖
Rocks do a super job of remaining in the holy instant. Also, ACIM is an odd, new example of
the old, Gnostic how to avoid-the-real-world shuffle. But that‘s just me talking. Price says,
Oh, and one more thing: the book (ACIM) never once defines miracles nor is
it at all clear even by implication. One thing Schucman seem (sic) not to
mean is miracles as traditionally defined supernatural feats. So what does she
mean? Some course in miracles. Is the tuition refundable? (153-54)
Price only hints that after all his deconstruction and seeking that he ―knows‖ something of
truth. Price is compelling in his arguments but does not play guru, and I like him for that.
However, he delivers nothing that is ―top secret‖ either, and that is why I call his effort here
facetious. He was obviously punning because all the commercial gurus covered in his book
claim to have found the Top Secret. Price argues for a path to self-realization through
science and reason—that is his Top Secret, as far as I can tell.
The book contains a few errors that a rewrite might correct someday. For example, Price
calls the 2004 religious docudrama What the Bleep Do We Know? a ―TM [Transcendental
Meditation] production‖ (51). What the Bleep... was produced by Ramtha School of
Enlightenment operatives, although it had a significant TM sympathizer in it. In chapter 5,
―A Course in Malarkey,‖ Prices misses an important New Thought connection for Helen
Schucman, who channeled the ―voice‖ that generated A Course... from 1965 to 1972.
Schucman was a psychologist and not a psychiatrist, as Price states (131). She worked
under Bill Thetford‘s mental health clinic at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital at the time of
writing A Course. She shared her ―voice‖ musings almost daily with Thetford over seven
years. Thetford (1943–1988) encouraged her from the start because she was a reluctant
prophet, at least initially. Price does not mention Thetford or his early family influence from
Christian Science, something Thetford may have rejected formally but not philosophically.
Thetford‘s continued enthusiasm over ACIM is the evidence for his continued belief in New
Thought principles.
With Price and his polemic (in The Jesus Project) against faith-based claims of evangelical
Christianity, we may have an echo of the classic clash between the scholastic Pierre Abelard
(1079–1142) and the visionary St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153). Bernard charged
Abelard with heresy because the certain faith of the saint felt threatened by and opposed
the brilliance of the rational scholastic. Abelard‘s reported last words at his death were ―I
don‘t know.‖ I think God may have found that refreshing. And as much as I find flaws in
Price‘s work, I find him refreshingly if not compellingly skeptical.
This Is a Deprogrammer?
Now I come to the appendixes, in which Price gives us his take on the cult problem. Here,
he is in my territory—I have been a cult critic and ―deprogrammer‖ since the early 1980s. I
mentioned above that this last section seems out of place. It is nowhere mentioned on the
jacket notes and not indicated in the subtitle. But a quick Internet search of Price‘s writings
reveals a fictional piece he called The Deprogrammer (2004).vi He definitely exhibits a keen
interest in the topic of cults. After reading this entertaining story and looking over the
Blake), but more often we have confused, simple-minded utterances (Tolle), delusional
identification with a god (Schucman in ACIM) or worse—self-serving fabrication (Smith in
Book of Mormon). I think that Price more or less agrees with me.
I agree with Price that Tolle‘s insight influenced by A Course in Miracles (ACIM) is
―malarkey,‖ but I would go further. I spent years trying to analyze ACIM after it came out in
1975, especially after I baled from a New Age cult in 1980,v and I now see it as pure mind-
(bleep)ing psychobabble. ACIM could be dangerous if any of its devotees ever figured out
how to apply its cloud of inscrutable directions. The pure ACIM devotee would have to stop
all movement and breathing forever to demonstrate its truth to remain in the ―holy instant.‖
Rocks do a super job of remaining in the holy instant. Also, ACIM is an odd, new example of
the old, Gnostic how to avoid-the-real-world shuffle. But that‘s just me talking. Price says,
Oh, and one more thing: the book (ACIM) never once defines miracles nor is
it at all clear even by implication. One thing Schucman seem (sic) not to
mean is miracles as traditionally defined supernatural feats. So what does she
mean? Some course in miracles. Is the tuition refundable? (153-54)
Price only hints that after all his deconstruction and seeking that he ―knows‖ something of
truth. Price is compelling in his arguments but does not play guru, and I like him for that.
However, he delivers nothing that is ―top secret‖ either, and that is why I call his effort here
facetious. He was obviously punning because all the commercial gurus covered in his book
claim to have found the Top Secret. Price argues for a path to self-realization through
science and reason—that is his Top Secret, as far as I can tell.
The book contains a few errors that a rewrite might correct someday. For example, Price
calls the 2004 religious docudrama What the Bleep Do We Know? a ―TM [Transcendental
Meditation] production‖ (51). What the Bleep... was produced by Ramtha School of
Enlightenment operatives, although it had a significant TM sympathizer in it. In chapter 5,
―A Course in Malarkey,‖ Prices misses an important New Thought connection for Helen
Schucman, who channeled the ―voice‖ that generated A Course... from 1965 to 1972.
Schucman was a psychologist and not a psychiatrist, as Price states (131). She worked
under Bill Thetford‘s mental health clinic at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital at the time of
writing A Course. She shared her ―voice‖ musings almost daily with Thetford over seven
years. Thetford (1943–1988) encouraged her from the start because she was a reluctant
prophet, at least initially. Price does not mention Thetford or his early family influence from
Christian Science, something Thetford may have rejected formally but not philosophically.
Thetford‘s continued enthusiasm over ACIM is the evidence for his continued belief in New
Thought principles.
With Price and his polemic (in The Jesus Project) against faith-based claims of evangelical
Christianity, we may have an echo of the classic clash between the scholastic Pierre Abelard
(1079–1142) and the visionary St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090–1153). Bernard charged
Abelard with heresy because the certain faith of the saint felt threatened by and opposed
the brilliance of the rational scholastic. Abelard‘s reported last words at his death were ―I
don‘t know.‖ I think God may have found that refreshing. And as much as I find flaws in
Price‘s work, I find him refreshingly if not compellingly skeptical.
This Is a Deprogrammer?
Now I come to the appendixes, in which Price gives us his take on the cult problem. Here,
he is in my territory—I have been a cult critic and ―deprogrammer‖ since the early 1980s. I
mentioned above that this last section seems out of place. It is nowhere mentioned on the
jacket notes and not indicated in the subtitle. But a quick Internet search of Price‘s writings
reveals a fictional piece he called The Deprogrammer (2004).vi He definitely exhibits a keen
interest in the topic of cults. After reading this entertaining story and looking over the
