Anyone saying that #MarianneWilliamson's politics can be separated from her religious commitments is being naive.
Understanding where she's coming from spiritually is essential to assessing the calculus of what she says vs. what she believes vs. what she would do. /1
Understanding where she's coming from spiritually is essential to assessing the calculus of what she says vs. what she believes vs. what she would do. /1
Bits like this made MW stand out in the summer of 2019 because they were disruptive to the typical discourse, and they grounded her brand in outsidership.
But they also revealed Williamson’s real career as a spiritual influencer. They pointed at her sources. /2
But they also revealed Williamson’s real career as a spiritual influencer. They pointed at her sources. /2
If you listen closely, you can hear echoes of #ACourseinMiracles, the New Age Bible that MW has been meditating on every day since 1977, and lecturing from since 1983.
To get specific: /3
To get specific: /3
Juxtaposing herself as the agent of love against Trump as the agent of fear directly echoes a core theme in #acim. Chapter 13 of the text is called “The Two Emotions,” and opens with: "I have said [this is Jesus talking] you have but two emotions, love and fear." /4
Fear is said to be illusory, which is why she predicts her triumph.
When she says that Trump is not going to be beaten by insider politics or “somebody who has plans,” she is echoing long passages in #ACIM that hold mere human plans in contempt. Chapter 15 says: /5
When she says that Trump is not going to be beaten by insider politics or “somebody who has plans,” she is echoing long passages in #ACIM that hold mere human plans in contempt. Chapter 15 says: /5
"Every allegiance to a plan of salvation apart from Him diminishes the value of His Will for you in your own mind."
Her last trope is copped from the aphorism attributed to Rumi via the translation of Coleman Barks. It is famous in New Age spaces: /6
Her last trope is copped from the aphorism attributed to Rumi via the translation of Coleman Barks. It is famous in New Age spaces: /6
"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, / There is a field. I'll meet you there. / When the soul lies down in that grass, / The world is too full to talk about. / Ideas, language, even the phrase each other / Doesn't make any sense."
In other words: "Love will win." /7
In other words: "Love will win." /7
Williamson the spiritual influencer informs her political followers that ultimately there are no political solutions, no worthy plans without a spiritual dimension, and no action to take beyond love. This is totally consistent with her enmeshment with #acourseinmiracles. /8
It may also help explain why, when she is involved in real-world things, reports of rage and conflict follow in her steps. Because it turns out that doing politics and doing spiritual influencing are really different activities. /end
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