In a Strange Land

We live in a strange world. We live in a world that argues "born that way" requires "perfectly good" unless, of course, it's something of which they disapprove. If you're "born as a homosexual", it isn't merely acceptable, it is good, but if you're born with a deformity, it is something to be corrected and if you're born with Down's Syndrome, it's something to be terminated. We live in a world that argues that science ought to rule even though the scientific method is by definition a process of inquiry, measuring, correcting and further inquiry, not certainty. And even when they argue that science ought to rule, they ignore the irrationality of "There is no God because science proves it" or, on the other hand, the science of "A baby in the womb is scientifically a human being" and "There is no scientific proof that people are 'born that way'." We live in a world where people will defend both "It is not immoral to abort a pregnancy" and "It is murder to kill a child in the womb." When we argue, "If you change the definition of marriage to include same-sex, you open the door to include polygamy, polyamory, and more", they cry, "Foul! Slippery slope argument!", even though these are actually showing up in court cases, but they argue, "You can't allow a business owner the free exercise of religion because it might allow them to forbid child health care or inoculations" even though no one has suggested such a thing and it's not a slippery slope argument.

Consider this little tidbit. The ACLU -- the American Civil Liberties Union -- has filed a brief against the civil liberties of Hobby Lobby President Steve Green and associates to require them to provide contraceptives for their employees against their religious beliefs. And the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) has also filed against Hobby Lobby because granting them their First Amendment rights is tantamount to an establishment of religion. This is "good thinking" these days. Defend civil liberties by removing them and argue that defending religious freedom establishes a State religion.

It's not only "them". It's us. Just as an example, take the latest "good for our side" movie, God's Not Dead. Christians are raving about it. The Christian Film Database raves, "An overwhelmingly, powerful, thought provoking film. We wish everyone in the world would go see this film." Check your Facebook for the reviews of other Christians who have seen it and loved it. Still, even The Hollywood Reporter notices "it sometimes stacks the deck shamelessly in defense of its credo." So why is it that no one seems to notice that it's a poorly structured set of arguments played against a poorly stereotyped set of opponents? In the movie, the main character is a Christian required to engage in a "contest" with a virulent atheist professor in order to get a passing grade. So he has to prove the existence of God in three lectures and convince the class. The necessary biblical fact that humans are not convinced in favor of God based on argument, but by the Spirit, is ignored and the disappointingly weak arguments are passed off as compelling. The movie argues from the Big Bang and from theistic evolution for the existence of God rather than for any biblical version of God. This character's arguments have been often and skillfully refuted by skeptics while many much more reasonable and sound arguments are available, but Christians are delighted that the film argued for God even if it simply set up a soft pitch to a skeptical world ready to knock it out of the park.

We live in a strange world indeed. We suffer from debased minds (Rom 1:28) and deceitful hearts (Jer 17:9), but we don't seem to notice. We are commanded to love God with all our minds (Matt 22:37) and to avoid being conformed to this world by renewing our minds (Rom 12:2). So this battle for the mind continues and we don't often seem to take this into account because, well, we live in a strange world.