Dembski and the Book of Daniel

William Dembski posted this parody on his blog. I found it very fitting on the morning after seeing the second hour of The Book of Daniel last night. I had not intended to watch it, though I had heard all about the furor over it. I simply do not watch a lot of television. But someone in channel mentioned that the Suns were tromping all over the Heat, so I turned it on, and it happened to be on NBC, so, since I was doing the “Please, please, let me get this Bluetooth stuff installed” thing anyway, I kept it on. It was pretty much what I expected. Though I refuse to poison my mind with the graphic scenes in Brokeback Mountain, in reading in-depth reviews I gather Hollywood has invested its best in creating a focused apologetic for homosexuality–one that keeps your attention tightly centered on the emotional hot-buttons they are using to keep you from either seeing the big picture or thinking clearly about all the other relationships being destroyed by the perverted selfishness of two individuals. So I was hardly surprised to find Daniel well written, well paced, and witty. Of course, the Jesus figure in the show is simply laughable, but accurately portrays the 1960s style hippy Jesus the left can be comfortble with: nothing divine, nothing sovereign, nothing challenging about this bearded, effeminate figure standing across the room practicing his golf swing (yes, that’s what they had him doing in one scene). But the rest of the cast is perfectly suited to the task of promoting an empty-headed religiosity to a postmodern culture. Immorality runs rampant with every form of homosexuality, adultery and fornication, theft, dishonesty—it’s just your regular ol’ American story, or so someone wants us to believe. The male homosexual character is soon to graduate as a doctor–he isn’t the kind of homosexual you see in gay pride marches dancing down the road in a thong. No, Hollywood knows better than that.
   
Just one glaring example of the “overwhelm the emotions, end critical thinking, create lasting (if irrational) impact in muddled postmodern minds” methodology against which most are utterly without defense these days: the minister’s father, a bishop, is blissfully unaware that his grandson has chosen to be a homosexual. The bishop’s wife has Alzheimers. With the best of the videographer’s skills, you are drawn into the tragedy of Alzheimers as you see her for a moment knowing who he is, and the next slapping him for touching her. If you are human, you are drawn into his pain. Then…a few moments later…he is putting on his shirt after committing adultery with a woman from the leadership of the church—and they stand there talking about how tragic her condition is, and how he should not feel guilty. You feel for him—so, right as that emotion sets in, *smack* show him committing adultery and excusing himself in the process. See, it isn’t that bad! Covenants mean nothing! Gotta get your gratification you know, even in your mid sixties! He has needs! Those needs obviously outweigh solemn vows! I mean, it is obvious his whole church mocks the idea of marriage to begin with–it is just a convenience, so why worry about it? Probably one of the saddest things about the presentation is that it is so accurate to so much of modern Episcopalianism.
And so returning to the parody Dembski posted above…the man is saying, “I need a belief system that serves my needs right away.” Bingo. Exactly. Man-centered religion. A Jesus without power, authority, purpose, or truth. That’s The Book of Daniel and that is the face of the modern “mainstream” denominations that continue to morph into whatever a God-hating society wants them to be. Thankfully, God is still in the business of changing hearts of stone into hearts of flesh, opening blind eyes, and drawing His people unto Himself. And so we press on, seeking to be faithful.