PC writes: “What do you know about the ‘Women can have it all’ conference, by Susan Sly that was in Toronto. This appears to be a self empowerment movement, and they are very evangelistic. Ones career is to ‘travel, and spread the good news’ that you can have it all, and the evidence that they have it all , is that they travel around telling everyone ‘look at me, how fantastic I am’. Is it New Age? Is all self empowerment fall into New Age? It does seem to be contrary to Christ’s call to pick up our cross daily and follow him, or to be humble and meek of heart.”
Yes, Susan Sly is part of the New Age self-empowerment movement which has become bloated with people who are using their success stories to motivate others. Among other things, she advocates a kind of guided meditation that is all about “learning how to communicate with our ‘Source’.” The technique she describes is the eastern-style of mind-blanking which is a mental exercise, not prayer as is the Christian form of meditation. She also claims that people are using her meditation method to “attract abundance and prosperity into their lives . . .and to attract the right partner . . .” – not exactly the goal of Christian prayer which is to dialogue with God.
Ms. Sly has other issues as well, such as her association with a multi-level marketing scheme known as Isagenix, which is essentially a line of weight loss products that are based on colon cleansing. The company also sells vitamins, supplements, and anti-aging products for the skin.
The problem with Isagenix is that the products are all hype.
“The claims on the Isagenix website are a mishmash of pseudoscience, myth, misrepresentation, and outright lies,” writes Harriet Hall, M.D. in this critique of Isagenix.
“They engage in scare-mongering about toxins, but provide no data to show that the tiny amounts we ingest lead to any significant adverse health effects. They also provide no evidence that their treatment actually removes any toxins from the body. Or that doing so would have any significant impact on health. There have been no properly controlled scientific studies of their ‘cleansing’ treatments, only testimonials of the sort that abound on the Internet for hundreds of other ineffective products.”
In spite of these problems, Susan has a great back-story that is certainly attracting a lot of people to her philosophy.
She was raised in Ontario, Canada, and is the daughter of Chinese immigrants. At the age of 27, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and told that she would be dead within 20 years. About the same time, she discovered that her husband was having an affair, which led to a divorce, the loss of her business, foreclosure on her house and eventual bankruptcy.
Just about anyone would have given up after all that, but Susan didn’t, and went on to build a whole new life in network marketing. This was how she came into contact with Isagenix and is now a big promoter of these products.
Susan Sly is just another example of how vigilant we need to be about the many motivational books and conferences being marketed to us these days. Many of them are riddled with New Age ideology and really need to be avoided by anyone who wants more than just a short-term thrill. If it’s long-term happiness and security that you’re looking for, you’ll find all that you need in Jesus Christ.
Check out this blog for helpful clues about how to spot New Age speakers.
