{"id":809,"date":"2009-02-04T20:30:05","date_gmt":"2009-02-05T01:30:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/shrinkingcamel\/?p=809"},"modified":"2009-02-04T20:30:05","modified_gmt":"2009-02-05T01:30:05","slug":"forget-oprah-move-over-dr-phil-its-the-year-of-rick-warren","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/shrinkingcamel\/2009\/02\/04\/forget-oprah-move-over-dr-phil-its-the-year-of-rick-warren\/","title":{"rendered":"Forget Oprah! Move Over, Dr. Phil! It’s the Year of Rick Warren!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
\"118_pdl_mssmmag_img4\"<\/div>\n
It has only been four short weeks since I predicted that Rick Warren was going to be a hot commodity in 2009<\/a> . Sure enough, last week the Wall Street Journal (which somehow has become a major source of my entertainment and celebrity news) reported that Rick is launching a quarterly magazine called (drum roll, please): what else, but \u201cPurpose Driven Connection<\/a>.\u201d The folks at Readers Digest have teamed up with the Warren Purpose machine with high hopes of reaching publishing Nirvana by literally connecting millions of readers around a common interest, that of being Purpose-Driven Christians. The idea is to bundle the magazine together with an online social-media web site and multimedia resources to leverage a captive audience of evangelical Christians. According to the WSJ: \u201cThe idea is to envelop subscribers in a multimedia web of Mr. Warren\u2019s message.\u201d Very sticky, indeed.<\/div>\n

This is all just fine with me, because I am so tired of Oprah\u2019s\u00a0omnipresence and it\u2019s high time someone else\u00a0steps in to dethrone her.\u00a0She has somehow saturated her watered-down brand of self-help spirituality throughout every possible media outlet imaginable. I wouldn\u2019t be surprised to find her in my undwear tomorrow morning.\u00a0\u00a0And now I hear there\u2019s an Oprah\u00a0store<\/em>?\u00a0Well that just about did it for me. Enough, already, with Oprah.\u00a0Come on people, let\u2019s make room for Rick!<\/p>\n

\u201cBut kind sir,\u201d you say, \u201cIsn\u2019t this a bad time to be launching a major media publication, what with the global economic sinkhole in my back yard, and all?\u201d Au contraire, mon ami! These, in fact, may be terrific times to launch something like this. Think about it: people can no longer tap into their home equity lines to find meaning and purpose, and the troubles of the world are causing more anxiety and depression than we\u2019ve seen in fifty years. Americans are probably more in the mood for spiritual substance than ever before (another one of my 2009 predictions), especially if the offer of online community comes with it. Plus the publishers say that they don\u2019t have to rely on advertising to make it successful, at thirty bucks a pop for a one year subscription. Get it?<\/p>\n

The premier issue presents Rick Warren on the cover sporting a casual smile \u2013 he is happy, but not too <\/em>happy. We are in a severe recession, after all. The feature story\u00a0promises\u00a0An interview with President Obama. <\/em>Like, this type of thing happens every day here at Purpose Driven Connection. No big deal. <\/em>See? Freakin\u2019 Obama<\/em> has even bought into this thing! The magazine cover also promises articles rounded up from the usual suspects of Christian gumbo fare: Lee Strobel, Bill Hybels, Max Lucado. Which reminds me: the Christian publishing industry sure could use some new blood.\u00a0 But that\u2019s another conversation for another day.<\/p>\n

One more thing, just between you, me and the Blogpost. I think this high-visibility publication might\u00a0be an ideal opportunity\u00a0for Rick\u00a0to undo the one-size-fits-all perception of Christians \u2013 you know what I\u2019m talking about \u2013 that we are all politically identical right-wing, rigid, hateful, homophobic, elitist, stone-throwing war-mongers. Perhaps this is a chance for him to use his public persona and media influence through this publication to recast the world\u2019s impression of Christianity as a more diverse group of caring and loving people. More like Jesus was, I guess. Maybe that thought is a bit too edgy post-modern-emergent for some of you, but I\u2019m just wondering out loud.<\/p>\n

So there you have it. The Rick Warren train has left the station. Keep an eye out for the Rick Warren TV show next. And don\u2019t say you didn\u2019t see it coming.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It has only been four short weeks since I predicted that Rick Warren was going to be a hot commodity in 2009 . Sure enough, last week the Wall Street Journal (which somehow has become a major source of my entertainment and celebrity news) reported that Rick is launching a quarterly magazine called (drum roll, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1878,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[339,562,563,590],"class_list":["post-809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spirituality","tag-i-am-so-tired-of-oprah","tag-purpose-driven-connection","tag-purpose-driven-life","tag-rick-warren"],"yoast_head":"\nForget Oprah! Move Over, Dr. Phil! It's the Year of Rick Warren!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It has only been four short weeks since I predicted that Rick Warren was going to be a hot commodity in 2009 . 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