Crossposted from Reflections Journal.
One thing I learned during the James Ray
sweat lodge trial was that you can't rely on mainstream media to report the unvarnished truth about the man's character or his crimes. If the recent
Piers Morgan puff piece proved anything, it's that CNN is not so much a news organization as it is a PR venue for criminals. But then, the media has always been an
enabler for the rogues gallery behind
The Secret, ignoring one financial
misdealing after
another.
But there is a record. It's scattered across teh internets on blogs, zines, and message boards. The latest installment can be found on
The Verge, who not long ago brought us
Scamworld. In
The Death Dealer, Matt Stroud offers a crash course in what went so horribly wrong on that awful day in Sedona. He also delves into Ray's autobiographical details, separating fact from fiction.
In Harmonic Wealth Ray describes sitting in the front row of his father’s church as a child. There he first heard that "it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." He describes how angry he felt, how that Biblical verse made him question his family’s situation — even question God. His parents didn’t have money to buy nice clothes, or own a home — they had to live next to the church. Rather than pay a barber, his mother would cut his hair. From his upbringing he concluded: "Here’s what I know: it’s a sin to be poor." That belief stayed with him for the rest of his life.
"I was the kid with the big Coke-bottle glasses and buckteeth who everyone made fun of," Ray writes, painting himself as a stereotypical nerd, mocked for his gangliness and lack of athleticism. Later, a classmate told the Arizona Republic that, like much of his "rags-to-riches" biography, Ray’s tale of an impoverished, socially outcast childhood contained embellishments if not outright lies. He dressed well and carried himself with confidence, said the former classmate. "It depends on what you call poor, but his dad made more than my family made."
Yes, Ray has both under and over estimated his net worth throughout his career -- his
financial picture has always been more narrative than balance sheet driven. But more to the point, it's a
sin to be
poor?! Words matter. To Ray, poverty and illness are not simply unfortunate, they're
spiritual failings -- even indicators of moral turpitude. Except, somehow, when it's Ray who's in
financial trouble.
