Pastor Oprah

Last Thursday's USA Today carried an intriguing story about the power of being Oprah Winfrey and how many Americans (particularly women) see Oprah as a spiritual leader who is changing the world. Here is what actor/entertainer Jammie Foxx said as a guest on her show ...

Last fall, at the start of this 20th season of The Oprah Winfrey Show, guest Jamie Foxx said much the same thing, but he wasn't joking. "What you have is something nobody can describe," Foxx said to Winfrey on the air. Then he explained about how he told Vibe magazine: "You're going to get to heaven and everyone's waiting on God and it's going to be Oprah Winfrey."

He told her she has "different gears" than most people. "You're on the top of the world, and we really do watch and listen for everything you do and say to kind of get our lives together. It's the truth."

In a November poll conducted at Beliefnet.com, a site that looks at how religions and spirituality intersect with popular culture, 33% of 6,600 respondents said Winfrey has had "a more profound impact" on their spiritual lives than their clergypersons.

Cathleen Falsani, religion writer for the Chicago Sun-Times, recently suggested, "I wonder, has Oprah become America's pastor?"

What do you think? Is Oprah America's new spiritual leader? Does the fact that 33% of 6,600 respondents say the Oprah has had a more profound impact on their lives than their clergy person say more about Oprah or about today's clergy person? Something to think about ...

Comments

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[Holly]

I've thought about this before myself. I'm an agnostic, both in terms of Christianity and Oprah, but it's obvious to me that her influence on the country is nearly spiritual in some of its dimensions. It will be interesting to see the impact of her new show, "Oprah's Big Give." It doesn't look that different from some of the other reality shows, but her popularity and reach are taking on Evita-sized proportions (without all the talk of sainthood or tawdry past, of course) and the reality show will probably either enhance or tarnish that image.

I guess if the Academy decides to give her a retrograde Oscar for being in The Color Purple, we'll know that her spiritual status is shifting. Then again, I'm biased. It was years before I cared about the Oscars after that little travesty, and I was sixteen when I saw that movie!