Is she a religion? | IndyStar.com

Is Oprah Winfrey 'n godsdiens? Skynbaar 'n baie ter saaklike vraag ...

At first glance, Oprah Winfrey is nothing more than a talk show host.

But she's also recognized as one of Time Magazine's 100 most influential people, giving her the status of a religious high priestess.
Winfrey uses her daily TV show -- which draws audiences so huge that they could make the most pious televangelist fall prey to envy -- to explore topics of spirituality in both celebrities and housewives.
Winfrey's own authoritative word, O, The Oprah Magazine, this month features a "guide to good behavior," which is not uncommon territory for her.
And, like megachurches across the land, Winfrey has her own mission projects in places as far away as Africa and as close to home as the Gulf Coast and victims of Hurricane Katrina.
For these reasons and others, Indiana University religious studies scholar Kathryn Lofton finds that her students frequently ask her whether Winfrey constitutes a religion.
Lofton, author of a couple of articles about Winfrey's spirituality, says the question might seem easy to dismiss given Winfrey's fondness for makeover shows and celebrity gossip. But she says there is more to it than meets the eyelash extensions.
"She is at heart primarily an entertainer," Lofton said. "But at the same time, all of those things are attributes of growing evangelical churches, which are trying to be all-in-one enterprises."
For the record, Lofton argues that Winfrey is not a religion.
She says Winfrey rejects the idea herself, abhors any one particular set of beliefs in favor of a more all-inclusive spirituality, is clearly a for-profit enterprise and, because of her focus almost entirely on women, has no designs on reaching the entire human race.