Frank Peretti.

Argh.

substandard fiction. Crappier theology

I'm from a small Southern town. When I first visited New York City in 1986, I was fascinated by the crazy people I saw walking around talking to themselves and saying weird shit. (This was before cell phones so they were actually talking to themselves)

I have that same fascination about fundamentalists. I read their books not by accident, but on purpose because it amazes me that the human brain can produce such absurd thoughts.

For example, I bought a book by Charles F. Stanley who is a minister of a mega church in Atlanta, Georgia. This man tells his readers that unbelievers are blinded by "The devil". In his book he says:

"We sometimes wonder why people act the way they act. We see people who have no relationship with God and no understanding of the Bible, and we say, 'Why do they do what they do?' Their actions seem insane to us - without any common sense or rational thinking."

"The apostle Paul wrote, 'If our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, the minds of the gods of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.' (2 Cor. 3-4)."

"Paul was saying that the devil has blinded those who are unbelievers so they cannot discern the truth. They have no capacity to preceive what is for their eternal benefit, much less their earthly god."

Then he goes on to say what the devil can do:

"What can Satan do?

- destroy the quality of our lives. The devil has the power to send sickness and injury our way, to affect our physical, emotional, mental, and financial well-being and our relationships.

- attack our peace and joy. The devil has the power to send agitation into the calm waters of our lives. He can stir up trouble for us and cause us to find ourselves in turmoil.

- use unbelievers or weak believers to harm us physically, but more often, in the things they say and do that undermine our reputation.

- bring confusion, anger, and frustration into situations and relationships - often for no apparent reason. The devil is a master at causing misunderstandings."

So what this man is telling his followers is that when bad thing happen to you it's because the devil has attacked you. If you get hurt, it's the devil. If you get sick, it's the devil. If you have problems in a relationship, it's the devil. If you are confused, frustrated, or angry it's the devil attacking you.

And he tells his followers that "unbelievers" are blinded by the devil. Yet he says that "unbelievers" are the ones who are "insane - without any common sense or rational thinking."

With all the advancements humans have made in science and technology the past 100 years, the fact that the human brain would still follow this line of illogical thinking in 2008 intrigues me.

I get the same fascination reading these books as I do watching a crazy man walk down the street having an angry conversation with himself. I get the same fascination as I do when I watch a car thief speed down a highway in a police chase or see news of a school teacher who got arrested for having sex with a kid.

How can the brain, the same human organ that landed man on the moon and invented the microwave oven, cause people to think and behave so irrational?

It's fascinating.

It didn't start doing that right away - I also was bored and started getting good laughs about some of the things in it. He actually had the ACLU (they didn't use that name - it was another 4 letter acronym, but it was obvious that's who he meant) allied unknowingly with actual devil worshippers and trying to murder people and such to destroy Christianity!