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Vetting: Marianne Williamson
“Vetting” is a series of essays that will provide in-depth analysis of the records of the more overlooked 2020 Democratic candidates.
I literally had no idea who Marianne Williamson was until she announced her 2020 presidential run. That being said, exactly who is Marianne Williamson?
Marianne Williamson was born in Houston, Texas on July 8, 1952. She briefly attended Pomona College in Southern California before dropping out in her junior year. For the next few years, Williamson lived a rather rootless existence. She briefly worked on a communal farm in New Mexico. Then she traveled around the country, supporting herself through temping, food service, and cabaret singing. Williamson, who admits to having used drugs, struggled with emotional problems and dead-end relationships. At age twenty-seven, Williamson discovered A Course in Miracles, a new-age self-help book whose author, Helen Schucman, claimed that the book had been dictated to her by Jesus Christ. Williamson then returned to Texas where she managed a new-age bookstore.
In 1983, Williamson once again relocated, this time to Los Angeles. She began giving lectures on A Course in Miracles and developed a following-- a following that included a large number of gay men. When the AIDS epidemic ratcheted up, Williamson founded Project Angel Food, an organization that cooked and delivered…