Common Belief

Jane Fonda, John Maxwell, Norma McCorvey, and Scott Peck -- what do they have in common?
 
By Berit Kjos - April, 2005
 
Jane Fonda, Norma McCorvey, John Maxwell and M. Scott Peck -- four very different celebrities on four diverging paths! What do they share along the way? What can we learn from them? How can we pray for them?
 
First clue: Ponder their words and ways. "For," said Jesus, "out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks" (Luke:6:4How he went into the house of God, and did take and eat the shewbread, and gave also to them that were with him; which it is not lawful to eat but for the priests alone?
See All..., 5).
 
Jane Fonda (celebrated as "born again"): "I began to really study it [Christianity], and I thought, uh-oh, I don't know. There's a lot of problems I have here with this Christianity. Maybe I've made a mistake. I'm a feminist. But I'm on a journey....
 
KING: You're not a "born again?"
 
FONDA: I don't even know what that means . . . .
 
KING: Do you read your Bible?
 
FONDA: I read everything from Robert Graves "King David " to the "Gnostic Gospels" to the "Book of John" [the Gnostic version?]. I read a lot. I'm on a journey." [Jane Fonda was interviewed on CNN Larry King Live on April 6.]

Norma McCorvey, the former "Jane Roe" of Roe vs. Wade (celebrated as "born again") : "I would profess my adherence to all that the Catholic Church officially teaches . . . . But the Blessed Virgin leads me, and all of us, to the true God. I have great dreams about the Mother of God, and have set up a prayer garden at my home. The Blessed Virgin is there, and I bring her my love every morning and evening. Through the storms of this life, she will come to lead us to Jesus and make a way for everyone who will enter heaven." ("My Journey into the Catholic Church" By Norma McCorvey, the former "Jane Roe" of Roe vs. Wade).
 
 
Scott Peck, author of "A Road Less Traveled" (celebrated as "born again" in the 1980s): "In and through community lies the salvation of the world. Nothing is more important . . . . I am dubious, however, as to how far we can move toward global community -- which is the only way to achieve international peace -- until we learn the basic principles of community in our own individual lives and personal spheres of influence." (Scott Peck, "The Different Drum: Community-Making and Peace" (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1987, introduction).
 
John Maxwell (chairman of Global Pastor's Network ): "No matter what your profession, possibility thinking can help you to broaden your horizon and dream bigger dreams." Professor David J. Schwartz ["one of the foremost experts on motivation"] believes, "Big thinkers are specialists in creating positive forward-looking, optimistic pictures in their own minds and in the minds of others." (John Maxwell, "Thinking for a Change: 11 Ways Highly Successful People Approach Life and Work" (Warner Books, 2003),