An Honest Look At “Don’t Drink the Kool-aid”

On March 3rd, a book
titled Don’t Drink the Kool-Aid was released by
author Carrington Steele. The book, subtitled Oprah,
Obama and the Occult, seeks to document Oprah’s ties to
the occult and the New Age religion. Since its release,
Steele has had several radio interviews, and a

promotional video on YouTube has received over two and a
half million hits. Steele’s efforts to alert Christians and
the public are noteworthy. However, after a thorough
examination of this book, Lighthouse Trails must issue a
public warning.

Last week, Lighthouse Trails was contacted by two other
ministries who brought up issues regarding the use of their
material in Steele’s book. Upon reading Steele’s work
ourselves, our editors discovered that the 80-page book was
filled with verbatim passages copied from other writers
material, which was presented as Steele’s own authorship.
Because of the sensationalistic overtones of the book (e.g.,
comparing Oprah to Jim Jones who gave poisoned Kool-aid to
over 900 people), and because plagiarism most often ignores
the original context and authorial intent of the material
copied but is not ethically credited, Lighthouse Trails
cannot, in good conscience, promote Steele’s book.

While we regret to issue this finding because we do believe
that Oprah Winfrey’s efforts to convert the public to her
New Age beliefs must be exposed, we fear that Steele’s book
could negatively reflect upon and misrepresent long-standing
and reputable ministries. In addition, because the author
also plagiarized some secular sources (such as CNN,
Fox News, and Rolling Stone magazine), we
believe this book may, in addition to being a poor Christian
testimony, be legally problematic. Particularly, the fact
that one paragraph in a book we publish, A Time of
Departing, was illegitimately copied in

Don’t Drink the Kool-Aid and passed off as
Steele’s own writing, has forced us to speak up.

Some of the ministries whose research and writing were
plagiarized include Let Us Reason Ministries, Herescope
(Discernment Ministries), Apologetics Resource Center, and
Lighthouse Trails Publishing. Material was also lifted from
the websites of Oprah Winfrey, The Secret,
Washington Post, A & E Television Networks, and
CNN and presented as the author’s own writing. For a
partial list of these instances, please

click here.

On April 7th, Lighthouse Trails spoke on the phone to
Carrington Steele, and we expressed our concerns over the
book. Steele said that she had done the book with a pure
motive and thought she was within the guidelines of the Fair
Use Act when using the material of others. Steele said that
she had previous editorial experience (her website says as a
magazine editor). Lighthouse Trails explained that the Fair
Use Act pertains to quoted material that does not require
the original author’s permission if it is properly
footnoted. It does not mean that sections of copyrighted
material can be used verbatim without proper citation of the
original source. Unattributed use of another’s writing that
is passed off to the public as one’s own is plagiarism.
Kirsch’s Handbook of Publishing Law (the industry
standard for copyright issues) explains that copyright
infringement occurs when the material used is under legal
copyright. Kirsch’s Handbook states that verbatim
copyrighted material must be credited.

When Lighthouse Trails spoke with Carrington Steele, she
stated she had done both the writing and the research on the
book without help or support from others. However, it was
pointed out to her that she often said “we” and “us” in her
interviews, and we wondered to whom she was referring. At
this point, Steele said she could not answer that question,
saying she was not at liberty to say. We found this response
to be curious and disturbing.

Because the chapter on Barack Obama did not contain any
documentation that he was involved in the occult or the New
Age, Lighthouse Trails asked Steele if there was political
motivation involved. What’s more, the chapter on Obama did
not seem to fit in with the rest of the book. Steele said
she was not politically motivated. However, with Obama’s
name on the cover of the book and with a chapter especially
devoted to him, yet with no evidence demonstrating his
connection to the spirituality of Oprah and other New Agers,
Don’t Drink the Kool-Aid gives the appearance of
having political overtones, even if Steele did not intend
this.

…our efforts and our research are to defend the Gospel of
Jesus Christ. We make every effort not to propagandize
political actions by mere associations. …

In conclusion, if Don’t Drink the Kool-Aid had been
written by a university student, he or she would have been
severely disciplined for their plagiarism. While this report
is not written with the intent of hurting Carrington Steele
or refuting her basic message of Oprah’s New Age
propensities, we had no other choice than to go public with
our serious concerns. Our prayer is that the gospel message
be proclaimed, spiritual deception be exposed, and many who
now follow the path of New Age spirituality will have their
eyes opened.

“In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of
them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious
gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine
unto them.” (II Corinthians 4:4)

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Read the entire article here:
www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/index.php?p=1047&more=1&c=1

For further information:

Press Release for Don’t Drink the Kool-Aid

List of problematic instances in Don’t Drink the Kool-Aid


A Statement from Discernment Ministries

Other reports from
www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com:

The Oneness Blessing – Pathway to Global Awakening

Ken Blanchard Joins “The Secret” Team

Rick Warren
Teams Up with New Age Proponent Leonard Sweet

Al Gore and Tony
Campolo Address Baptist Organizations

Emergent Manifesto |

Deceptive
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The
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They Like Jesus,
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The Secret: A New
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