Swedenborg and Dr. Oz

SI Sept/Oct pgs_SI MJ 2010 7/22/10 4:40 PM Page 10 NOTES OF A FRINGE WATCHER M A R T I N G A R D N E R Swedenborg and Dr. Oz orn in Cleveland to Turkish immi- William James’s father, and John Chap - Life on Other Worlds, contains—fasten grants and raised a secular man—better known as Johnny Apple - your seatbelt!—detailed accounts of his BMuslim, Dr. Mehmet Cengiz Oz seed—Swedenborg is now almost for- out-of-body travels to the five then- is vice-chair and professor of surgery at gotten except for a small cult following. known planets, the Moon, and five Columbia University. Thanks to his Here is a thumbnail biography. planets outside the solar system. On many appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772) each of these worlds he was able to chat Show, and now with his own Oprah- was a respected Swedish scientist until with the human inhabitants and the sponsored The Dr. Oz Show, he has sud- middle age, when Jesus appeared to him bodiless spirits of deceased humans who denly become the nation’s most famous in a vision. The Lord persuaded him to serve the inhabitants. He also visited the heart surgeon. Each year he performs abandon science and devote the rest of his heavens and hells of some worlds, where more than three hundred cardiac opera- life to theology. After Swedenborg’s death, he spoke with humans who became tions at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital his followers in England founded The angels and humans evil enough to be - in Man hattan. His speaking fee is Church of the New Jerusalem based on come demons. Some of these trips “lasted $100,000. Author of hundreds of techni- his fifty or so books. Remnants of this a day,” he writes, “others a week, and yet cal papers and a series of YOU books— church still flourish in England and in the others for months.” the most recent is YOU: Having a Baby— United States, where Swedenborgians Swedenborg’s first visit was to Mer - his admirers are now in the millions. number an estimated 6,000. cury. Its spirits were able to invade his It is not widely known that Oz has Swedenborg never doubted that every brain, searching for facts and knowledge been profoundly influenced by Emanuel verse in the Bible was God inspired. His but having no interest in ideas or opin- Swedenborg, a Swedish Protestant funda- deviations from orthodoxy resulted from ions. The most notable spirit he meets is mentalist who, late in life, became a spir- endless trances that today would be called none other than Aristotle. We are told itualist and Sweden’s most famous trance OBEs (out-of-body experiences). Among he was a wise man in contrast to his medium. In the November/December his many books, the most popular by far many “foolish” Earth followers. 2007 issue of Spirituality and Health, a was Heaven and Hell. Sweden borg claim - The human inhabitants of Mercury glossy bimonthly devoted to New Age ed to have visited both regions in his are slimmer than earthlings. Their women topics, Oz coauthored an article titled trances, where he supposedly spoke with have smaller faces. Their clothes are tight “Mehmet Oz Finds His Teacher,” about angels, devils, and spirits of the departed. fitting. In spite of Mercury’s nearness to how his wife Lisa introduced him to the His book contains detailed descriptions the sun, its atmosphere shields the planet theology of Sweden borg. (Lisa, by the of heaven and hell. from the sun’s heat, producing a climate way, is a Reiki Master. Reiki is a Japanese All of Swedenborg’s books were writ- “not too hot or too cold.” form of alternative medicine developed ten in Latin. A series titled Heavenly Se - Swedenborg then visits Jupiter. Its by a Buddhist monk.) crets consists of eight volumes. Al though land is called “fertile.” (Swedenborg had Once greatly admired by thinkers as he never married, Conjugal Love was a no way of knowing that Jupiter has no diverse as Emerson, Goethe, Blake, widely read treatise. Another popular land.) Its inhabitants’ main concern is book, Apocalypse Revealed, is a verse-by- bringing up their children, whom they Martin Gardner submitted this column May 12, verse analysis of the Bible’s Book of dearly love. They are free of all evil 2010, ten days before his death. See tributes in Revelation. impulses, such as stealing and greater this issue. Swedenborg’s most worthless book, crimes. They know nothing of wars but 10 Volume 34, Issue 5 SKEPTICAL INQUIRER SI Sept/Oct pgs_SI MJ 2010 7/22/10 4:40 PM Page 11 are a “gentle and sweet” people who live bined with charity, or good works.) rate species, but people who are regener- in a state of “blessedness” and “inner hap- If you are interested in reading Life ate—literally reborn humans.” This, of piness.” Their clothing is made of “bluish on Other Worlds, a paperback translation course, is contrary to what the Bible says bark or cork.” When they sit down to eat titled Life on Other Planets was pub- about angels and demons. they do not use chairs or benches but lished in 2006 by the Swede n borg Swedenborgism, Oz believes, is close instead sit on piles of fig leaves. Their Foundation in West Chester, Penn - to Buddhism. “Zen Master D.T. Sesuki,” horses resemble ours, only smaller. sylvania, and the Sweden borg Soci ety in Oz writes, “once referred to Swe den borg I was further informed by the spirits London. Copies are readily available on as ‘the Buddha of the North.’” A devout from that world about various matters the Internet. Christian, Sweden borg would have vio- concerning its inhabitants, such as lently disagreed. their way of moving, and their food The number of alternative medicines and houses. When moving, they do that Oz favors is not known. He believes, not walk upright like the inhabitants of this and many other worlds; nor do contrary to most doctors, that acupunc- they go on all fours like animals, but ture really works, that its effect on pain is when they walk they help themselves more than a placebo. Acupuncture should with the flat of their hands, at every always be supplemented, says Oz, by what other pace half rising to their feet. As he calls the Dr. Oz Diet to lose weight. they move, at every third pace they turn their faces to one side and look On an episode of The Oprah Winfrey behind them, making a slight twist, Show Oz supervised an acupuncture treat- quickly accomplished, of the body. ment for a pain in Oprah’s shoulder. This is because they think it impolite Oprah said she could hardly feel the nee- to be seen by others except face to face. dles and that the pain had vanished after I spare the reader Swedenborg’s ac - the treatment. In the April 2010 issue of counts of the inhabitants and spirits on O, Oprah’s magazine, Oz’s daughter Mars and Saturn. Venus is more inter- Daphne authored an article on “The Se - esting because its humans are of two crets of Acupuncture.” kinds: one “gentle” and “humane,” the It is hard to believe, but Oz also rec- other as fierce as wild animals. The two ommends homeopathy! Homeopaths are groups, along with their spirits, live on The book contains a lengthy intro- convinced that the more dilute a drug, opposite sides of Venus. Their heavens duction by Raymond Moody, author of the more potent it is. Accordingly, they and hells are nearby. many books about NDEs (near death dilute their medications until only a few Swedenborg devotes only three pages experiences) of persons whose hearts or no molecules remain. Somehow, in a to the spirits and inhabitants of the momentarily stopped beating and who way totally unknown to science, the di - Moon. The humans are small as dwarfs, had visions of entering heaven, some- lutant “remembers” the missing mole- but when they speak, their voices— times even seeing Jesus. Moody believes cules! Mainstream doctors like to tell of which come from their abdomens— NDEs are genuine out-of-body events the homeopath who forgot to take his roar like thunder. Swedenborg assures us similar to Swedenborg’s trances. He daily pill and died of an overdose. that the moons of other solar-system strives mightily, without success, to find In the November 2009 issue of O, Oz planets are also inhabited by humans something of lasting merit in Sweden - recommended homeopathy for treat ing and their spirits, but he gives no details. borg’s crazy book. migraines. “Acupuncture and ho me - His trip to our moon is followed by vis- Now for Dr. Oz’s fascination with opathy are worth considering,” he wrote, its to five planets in what he calls our Swedenborg’s other, saner writings. “as adjunct therapies once you are sure “starry sky,” far beyond our sun. “When Lisa and I got married,” he the headache is not a sign of a serious I should add that the humans on our writes in Spirituality and Health, “there disorder.” planets all worship Jesus, although he was no ’til death do us part in the cere- Ophthalmologists all agree that eye was incarnated only on Earth. Sweden - mony.” Swedenborg had convinced Oz refraction problems, such as near- and borg devotes a chapter to explaining and Lisa that marriages are intended to far-sightedness and astigmatism, can be why Jesus chose our world as a place to last forever in paradise.

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