A Course In Brainwashing by Tracy Moran

Catholic apologetics:
http://www.ewtn.com/library/NEWAGE/BRAINWAS.TXT
Catholics across the country are alarmed at the increasing 
popularity of a New Age phenomenon known as "A Course in 
Miracles," a system of spirituality proponents claim is the "Third 
Testament" of God to His people.

Even more alarming, critics say, is that the movement is gaining a 
foothold among some Catholics.

"A Course in Miracles," a 1,249-page study manual, was authored by 
the "inner voice" of research psychologist Helen Schucman between 
1965 and 1972. Schucman, a professor at Columbia University and a 
self-described atheist at the time, claims the "voice" was that of 
Jesus Christ.

In 1977, New Age guru and best-selling author Marianne Williamson 
discovered "A Course in Miracles" and helped spread its message 
internationally, reeling in stars such as Oprah Winfrey and 
Shirley MacLaine along the way.

Today, the course has sold more than 1 million copies, and more 
than 2,000 groups in the United States meet to study the course, 
which Williamson calls "a self-study program of spiritual 
psychotherapy."

But a former disciple of "A Course in Miracles" who returned to 
the Catholic Church calls it a course in brainwashing. Moira 
Noonan, once a New Age minister and psychic, was introduced to the 
course 20 years ago. Upon returning to the Church, she was shocked 
to find that "A Course in Miracles" is sold in some Catholic 
bookstores and that many fellow believers are studying it.

"They say in the course that the Holy Spirit wants us to have 
these new thoughts, a new reality," Noonan explained. "It says 
right in the beginning of the course to question everything.... 
The course is Satan's mockbible," she said, adding that its 
disciples "want people to think it's a religion, but it's not."

The Foundation for a "A Course in Miracles," based in Roscoe, 
N.Y., is not affiliated with any church or denomination. Dr. 
Kenneth Wapnick, the foundation's director, was a Catholic 
seminarian about to enter the monastery when he met Schucman and 
read the manuscript for the course.

A clinical psychologist, Wapnick claims the course teaches that 
the way to recover one's buried knowledge and memories of God is 
by "undoing" guilt through forgiving others. It aims to remove 
"the blocks to one's awareness of love's presence," which is every 
person's natural state of mind.

Jesuit Father Mitch Pacwa, who has written on New Age religions, 
sees how such language can resonate with Catholics, luring them to 
study the course.

"The key problem is the [course's] pseudo - Christian vocabulary 
and ideas," said Father Pacwa. "People don't know the Catechism, 
they don't know their faith.... The course strongly rejects the 
use of reason and thinking.... This is precisely what makes the 
course feasible. Once you get rid of reason, you get rid of 
discussion."

Noonan explained the course's attraction to Catholics by noting 
that "in our culture, we want a quick fix. [The course] teaches 
that you can claim a miracle. It's part of the individualistic 
attitude we have in this society."

Noonan said some Catholics pick up the course thinking: "I never 
really liked or understood the Bible anyway, so why don't I read 
this? The language is easier for me to understand."

Led astray

Critics of "A Course in Miracles" warn that Catholics who try to 
incorporate its principles into their faith will severely 
compromise their beliefs because the two theologies are completely 
incompatible.

Father Pacwa said the course repeatedly misquotes the Bible and 
"presents a false Jesus." Even though Jesus supposedly dictated 
the course to Schucman, the course's Jesus "does not like the 
Crucifixion," Father Pacwa said. "One of the things said 
repeatedly and forcefully in the course is that sacrifice has 
nothing to do with love-they are incompatible."

The "Jesus" of "A Course in Miracles" is not really the Son of 
God, never really had a physical body, and hence never really 
suffered on the cross. He even rephrases the Lord's Prayer, 
replacing "hallowed be thy name" with "Our holiness is Yours," 
Father Pacwa pointed out.

With such glaring differences between Christianity and the course, 
it is no wonder Father Benedict Groeschel, C.F.R., another critic, 
said the movement "has become something of a sophisticated cult." 
And he should know, having studied at Columbia University under 
Schucman.

In his book, "A Still, Small Voice," Father Groeschel recounts his 
"utter astonishment" when he was told in 1969 about Schucman's 
alleged encounter with "the Son of God." According to Father 
Groeschel, the course that resulted from this encounter is 
"centered on a Son of God who at times seems to be the Christ of 
orthodox Christianity and sometimes an avatar of an Eastern 
religion."

Father Groeschel said that among clergy and Religious, "There's a 
lot of suspicion about the course right now."

And suspicion seems warranted, considering that the course denies 
the existence of suffering and sin, claims the Holy Spirit's main 
purpose is to heal people's unconscious thoughts, and reinterprets 
the word "miracle" into psychological terms.

According to a recent book promoting the course, the "purpose of 
this system . . . is to draw our minds into a completely different 
way of thinking.... Education on this level is clearly re-
education, which demands, first of all, unlearning."

Moreover, "A Course in Miracles" purports to be a "purifier of 
Christianity," as explained in the book: "Echoing the Bible, [the 
course] thus presents the image of a contemporary revealed 
scripture, a modern-day message from God to mankind."

Yet, ironically, perhaps the strongest argument against wedding 
Christianity with the course comes from Wapnick himself. In the 
book "A Course in Miracles and Christianity: A Dialogue," 
published by his foundation, Wapnick and Jesuit Father W. Norris 
Clarke map out the sharp differences of the two theologies, 
defining them as "mutually exclusive."

Wapnick writes that "to attempt reconciliation between [the two] 
must inevitably lead to frustration at best and severe distortion 
at worst.... 'A Course in Miracles' directly refutes the very 
basis of the Christian faith, leaving nothing on which Christians 
can base their beliefs."

Whatever the course's true intention, however, Father Pacwa warns 
that the course "presents a false Jesus, false Spirit and false 
Gospel, and therefore it deserves simple rejection."

And even if the course <does> attempt to "purify" the Gospel, its 
effort is fruitless, as Father Clarke points out in the 
"Dialogue":

"Traditional Christianity maintains that human beings have really 
sinned and turned away from God, hence [they] have the burden of a 
genuine (not merely neurotic) guilt.... Then Jesus took on the 
burden of our own sins and truly suffered and died on the cross to 
make reparation for them. He then truly rose from the dead, with a 
real, though transformed or glorified body, and is forever united 
with His Father now in glory." 

Moran writes from San Diego, Calif. For more information on "A 
Course in Miracles," contact Moira Noonan at: P.O. Box 232716, 
Encinitas, CA 92023

This article was taken from the June 2, 1996 issue of Our Sunday 
Visitor. To subscribe write Our Sunday Visitor, Inc, 200 Noll 
Plaza, Huntington, In 46750. 

Our Sunday Visitor is published weekly at a subscription rate of 
$36.00 per year. 

Copyright (c) 1996 EWTN Online Services.

-------------------------------------------------------

   Provided courtesy of:

        Eternal Word Television Network
        PO Box 3610
        Manassas, VA 22110
        Voice: 703-791-2576
        Fax: 703-791-4250
        Web: http://www.ewtn.com
        Email address: sysop@ewtn.com

-------------------------------------------------------