Dumb Christians

Last updated on: June 13, 2010 at 4:36 pm by JBW

Dumb Christians 2010-06-13T16:36:29-05:00 JBW

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Yesterday, while washing the dinner dishes, I heard my wife call over from the other room.

“Brad, can you come here? Tell me what you think of this.”

She was sitting at the computer, reading her email. A friend had forwarded a message with a subject heading that said, “This is incredible!”

A sure prompt for heavy eye-rolling.

Scrolling down the contents of the screen, I could see that this friend had forwarded a message from another woman, who had attached a series of photographs depicting the remains of what appeared to be enormous human skeletons lying among the ruins of an excavated archeological site. It all looked very official and scientific, with crystal-clear photographs of an unearthed human skull that was half the size of the full grown man standing next to it with his spade. It was definitely one heck of a gigantic skull.

The friend’s email went on to exclaim the magnificence of how science supports the scriptures, quoting verses from the Old Testament book of Numbers about the Israelites coming across tribes of Giants called the Nephilim:

“The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.” Numbers 13:32-33

“What do you think?” asked my wife. She was not sure what to make of it, coming from a trusted friend.

My immediate reaction: “It’s a hoax, of course. Who would believe this crap?”

I immediately conducted a Google search for “Human Giant Skeleton” and found the many articles revealing how a fake photo-shopped photograph went viral thanks to “a very receptive religious audience.”

In other words, “those stupid Christians.”

Why did my wife’s friend not immediately question the validity of this far-fetched tale? Well, probably because it came with a bible verse attached to it. I was so angry and embarrassed, I wanted to march over to that woman’s house and give her a good slap on the wrist for being so dumb. Being so overtly spiritually gullible is downright sinful, as far as I’m concerned

Why do some Christians have to completely suspend their critical thinking for the sake of propping up their perception of the Truth? Who cares if the biblical story of a tribe of giants is actual historical truth, or merely a writer’s enthusiastic exaggeration? My faith is not going to fall apart if all that biblical talk of giants was just a figure of speech, rather than literal.

And dollars to donuts, I bet the same woman who originated this sensational chain email in the name of the faith is undoubtedly running with the same crowd ranting against the Emergent Church movement and “secular humanism” and anything else that threatens her dogmatic perception of what “Truth” is. But how many Christians out there are marching for intellectual integrity?

Not enough, apparently.

Previous Post

June 10, 2010

Summer Reading

Next Post

June 17, 2010 Dadtastic!

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Ambition Blogging Career Culture Executive Career Development Failure Faith in the Workplace Family Feeling Stupid Leadership Managing People Purpose Reviews Spirituality Uncategorized Work-Life Balance

Select a Month November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which Christian group is associated with the "Anabaptist" tradition?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Mennonites Calvinists Episcopalians Lutherans