Musing 153

A week or two ago I think I wrote here about phases in my life where I was a go-getter for debate, and others when I wasn’t.

Especially for internet debate the rise of bots, and honestly just the overall decrease in coherent thinking has depressed me.

15 years ago, I felt like I could make rational, coherent points with people who in turn could give good responses, wrong though they or I could be.

But it has been uniquely depressing to see guys whose ability to think coherently doesn’t extend beyond 200 characters be elevated because they can make funny memes. As Christians, we are called to be honest, and sometimes that requires putting extended thoughts down into words.

I have with some frequency commented on how the dumbing down of the accepted leadership is a sign of God’s judgement, and at times I feel like that has hit the church harder than the culture at large.

As a Reformed Christian, I come from a tradition sees honoring God in intellectual pursuits as part and parcel of its heritage. And the idiocracy infecting the church in various ways is depressing because it suggests we see a lack of thoughtful engagement with Scripture as a good thing. Which in turn implies that a lack of critical thinking and a rejection of the intellectual gifts God has given is good.

Which is nonsense.