Fundamentalist Cult Leader Is Angry at Me

…for not being a flat-footed literalist in reading Genesis 1-3.

In this case, he’s an atheist fundamentalist cult leader, preaching to a hermetically sealed choir of absolutely uncritical adorers. But sociologically, the dynamic is exactly the same as walking into a small sect of Protestant fundamentalists who believe every word of Genesis to be scientific fact–with the exception that Coyne believes it to be a scientific lie. Coyne is absolutely totally sure of what the author of Genesis is really trying to say and he is absolutely totally sure that what he is trying to say is Bad Science. Genesis said it. Jerry disbelieves it. That settles it. It never occurs to him that Genesis might not be interested in doing science at all.

Alrighty then. No point in having a conversation when I’ve already been stamped as a liar by the sort of mentality that says a myth, parable or piece of fiction, not being a newspaper account or a science text, is a “lie”. I suspect the man’s library is a dull affair, full of books of statistics and pictures of grain elevators and stories of fat foreign children doing exercises in model schools.

For those interested in trying to read Genesis (and the rest of Scripture) in the context in which it was actually written and not as a primitive science text, I highly recommend Walking With God by Tim Gray and Jeff Cavins. Genesis 1-3 is actually an extremely sophisticated and profound text. It’s just not a science text.

For those interested in a hilarious dissection of Jerry’s fundamentalist atheist mode of “thinking” (if such a strong word can be used for reflexive ideological contempt), I highly recommend Ed Feser’s hilarious takedown.