As if Sedona wasn’t weird enough with all the New Age lunacy, three people perished on Thursday, Oct. 8 under extremely bizarre circumstances. According to The Arizona Republic, those who died were participating in a five-day program called “Spiritual Warrior,” which was led by self-help “expert” James Arthur Ray.

The fatalities occurred during a two-hour session in a sweat lodge, which basically consists of water being poured over hot rocks in a tent.

Not surprisingly, Ray somehow messed up when he adapted the Native American tradition of steam lodges for his own use, drastically expanding the scale and selling it as a product.

The incident has naturally spurred some calls for more oversight and regulation of the self-help industry. Not only would it be problematic to regulate these type of events that so closely border on the spiritual, but the government should not be in the business of protecting consumers from their own stupidity, provided they are not being lied to.

Instead, people need to take charge and make decisions concerning their lives for themselves. If that sounds ironically like something Ray would say, that’s just the beginning. Nobody in that steam lodge was forced to stay, and in fact, some people left. The only things that kept some of them in were Ray’s encouragements and his chastising of those who wanted to quit.

The scene would be laughable were it not so horrifying. Scores of people on a quest for self-empowerment, but even as some began vomiting and collapsing, many participants proved too mentally weak to defy an authority figure in order to preserve their health or, in three cases, their lives.

While the participants showed an astounding lack of initiative, self-respect and common sense, not all of the blame rests with them.

Look up James Arthur Ray on YouTube, and you may be a little less surprised that something this terrible and idiotic could happen.

The guy is very charismatic, in that typically cheesy motivational speaker kind of way. He makes use of a lot of phrases that sound good but are essentially meaningless. In addition, he abuses science in the most egregious manner possible, misexplaining, oversimplifying and misapplying. Any time someone goes straight from quantum physics to the easy way to become a millionaire, it’s a safe bet they’re talking out the wrong hole.

It seems an open question whether he really is just that ignorant or if instead he knows he’s making huge mistakes and simply views his audience as too dumb to notice (as they apparently are).

As evidenced by the steam lodge debacle, his tendency to take things out of context and apply them inappropriately manifests itself not only in his speech, but also in his practices.

If it turns out Ray knowingly endangered people and misled them regarding the risks, he should probably be prosecuted. Either way, it must be admitted that James Arthur Ray has brilliantly demonstrated the importance of self-help.

Inform Noah of whether you think he’s talking out the proper hole at nnzarr@asu.edu.