Genarlow Wilson Did Not Create His Own Reality

Genarlow Wilson is free. For the first time in years, he can get up in the middle of the night and make his way in the dark to the refrigerator and get himself a snack. He can go outside whenever he wants. He can sleep all day. He can make choices about what to do every minute of the day. The way we all do. He is free.

Maybe some of you have heard of this New Agey spirituality based on the Create Your Own Reality concept. It is what it sounds like: no matter how horrifying your circumstances, whether you are an Ethiopian orphan or a child starving in Darfur, your soul picked them from the vast array of choices on the menu at the Heavenly Diner. You coulda had a V-8, but no, you wanted to experience suffering in Africa. To build your character. To enlighten your understanding.

Stretches all credulity, really. Such a convenient belief system, in that it absolves one of the need for compassion and the moral imperative to speak and act for those who cannot do so for themselves. It is probably no accident that the Create Your Own Reality people also preach the Gospel of Greed Prosperity. (It goes without saying that the prosperity is for themselves. It's interesting, because although so many of the Create Your Own Reality folks align themselves with liberal politics, their beliefs and actions align with the We Hate Poor People party.)