Is "The Secret" Unethical?

Rhonda Byrne's runaway bestseller, "The Secret" is quite the lightening rod for controversy these days and the number of proponents and detractors online is rather amazing. Supposedly, "The Secret" can be applied to anything. Indeed, during my latest Oprah Winfrey sighting on Larry King Live!, Oprah credited the "Laws of Attraction" with getting her the role of Sophia in "The Color Purple." Ms. Winfrey believes that her fervent desire to be in the movie somehow was magically communicated to Steven Spielberg at the same moment that she was exercising at a fat farm and singing "I surrender..." because that is exactly when Spielberg's call came.

Oprah went on to say that "The Secret" is really what she has been trying to teach people on her own show for years. Evidently, that wasn't good enough since she devoted two whole shows to Rhonda's "Secret" earlier this year. Oprah and Ms. Byrne are, of course, far from the only inspirational motivators to come down the pike. Actually, "The Secret" has even been called just a hokey rewrite of Norman Peale's 1952 book, "The Power of Positive Thinking," with some mysticism à la "The Da Vinci Code" thrown in. From what I've read about it, I think it's a composite of a lot of self-help books.

Critics of the book seem quite concerned that it conveys a warped message that people with serious problems have somehow brought problems and tragedies on themselves with negative thoughts, since all one really has to do to be successful and wealthy is think positively. I have seen articles quoting Rhonda Byrne as saying that it is as easy to attract $10,000 as it is $1.00.

Let me say that I don't think there's anything wrong with setting out to learn how to get ahead in this world and how to make money and ultimately achieve financial security. I believe it's the way you go about making your money that matters. I once read a remark in a library book that has pretty much stuck with me. I can't tell you the name of the particular book and I'm not even sure I remember who it was attributed to - maybe one of the Rockefellers - but it stated that there is a certain amount of money in the world at all times and it just changes hands every day. This made perfect sense to me, and when I thought about it, I guess I already knew it. After all, my parents did tell me that money doesn't grow on trees. I also learned a lot about sales and sales pitches at the library.

Oprah's site relates this information about how Ms. Byrne came to know "The Secret:"

"Rhonda says she stumbled on what she calls The Secret at the end of 2004. At the time, everything in Rhonda's life had fallen apart - physically, emotionally and financially - and she was in "total despair." ... That's when Rhonda's daughter gave her a copy of The Science of Getting Rich, a book written in 1910 by Wallace D. Wattles. "Something inside of me had me turn the pages one by one, and I can still remember my tears hitting the pages as I was reading it," Rhonda says. "It gave me a glimpse of The Secret. It was like a flame inside of my heart. And with every day since, it's just become a raging fire of wanting to share all of this with the world."

That's pretty much all I had to read to NOT want to buy "The Secret ". This type of "I hit rock bottom" spiel is such a phony gimmick -- and it is SO unbelievably widespread. I've seen this type of ad in print, online - every damn where -- for over 20 years and I hope, by now, everyone would head in another direction as soon as they see any product being hawked with that type of intro. It's just so transparently geared to target people who are needy and desperate and/or gullible enough to try and buy anything that might conceivably offer them hope. If it doesn't work out, it's your own fault. That stinks.

So, yes, I think that "The Secret" is unethical. Also, the title "The Secret" just chopped off a name out of Napoleon Hill's "Carnegie Secret" from his 1937 book "Think and Grow Rich." The "Secret Scrolls" are so reminiscent of the Ten Scrolls from Og Mandino's "Greatest Salesman In The World" that, quite possibly, Rhonda Byrne read that, too. Heh heh heh.

There's a bookstore in Gwinnett County, Georgia called Books For Less, which has banned "The Secret."¹ I wonder if, as I've seen suggested, it was labeled "For Entertainment Purposes Only," or even fiction - like "The DaVinci Code" - they might consider reversing their decision.

It wouldn't much matter to me. I would never buy "The Secret" in any form anyway.

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¹ Local bookstore bans 'The Secret' from shelves, Ryan Crawford, Gwinnet Daily Post