Just so we're clear, I don't like the show Bones. That will probably become abundantly clear as you read this. I find it difficult getting past the predictable plot lines, the shameless plugs from sponsors, and the silly 3D holographic computer an art student brilliantly designed that can re-enact entire sequences of events with nary a mouse click. This computer, with its obligatory pointless beeps, is able to do in 5 seconds what would take weeks to accomplish in real life. It just seems far too convenient for making a 1 hour program. It's all so hokey.
But it's the main character, Bones, with whom I really have a ...uh... bone to pick. If you've seen the show, you probably already know what I'm on about. If not, here goes. Every episode of Bones, at least from what I've seen, follows the same basic pattern. They find a dead body, and a bunch of nerdy people in a lab examine the bones and other microscopic nonsense and are magically able to figure out exactly how, where, and when the victim was killed. Meanwhile, Mr. FBI uses this information to pin down the villain in some clever and entertaining fashion. And there you have a simple recipe for a run-of-the-mill American crime drama.
The main character, Bones, is the brain behind most of the operation. That is, its her expertise as a forensic anthropologist (I'm not making that up) that helps them figure everything out. Her character is very socially awkward, and as a result, very annoying, and one of the reasons for that is her irrational insistence on her own superior rationality.
Now, obviously, that's her schtick. But I wouldn't find it so unbearable if her colleagues could at least give her a good smack upside the head with some good old common sense. But that's not important right now. You see, Bones takes on the persona of a person completely convinced by what we'll call the "scientific worldview." The scientific worldview really isn't scientific at all, it's actually quite philosophical. It basically assumes that all that exists is entirely material, and all can be explained rationally and logically. Like science. I could go on about the inherent inconsistencies within her worldview, but worldviews aren't necessarily consistent to begin with, so I'm not concerned about that.
For Bones anything to do with God is absurd, the stories in the Bible are "myths", and morals, while useful, are merely shaped by cultural contexts. Interestingly, the writers have been able to develop her pattern of thinking quite a lot. They're clever enough to think things through enough to suggest that, perhaps, some of them are convinced by it themselves. And, from what I can tell, there hasn't been much in the way of quality intellectual retorts either. A shame really.
If you found my posts on secularism too boring to read through, watch a few episodes of Bones. She represents that worldview pretty well. And if you did read them you may recall that we shouldn't be surprised by the logic of the ardent secularist. That's because it's the presuppositions that are the problem. I think Bones and the secularists are just too naive to realize that.
The thing about Bones, despite her social ineptitude, is that she is very brilliant and has an incredibly high IQ. She has no problem telling others about it either, which tends to make people feel a little insecure. I think the same is true with secularism against Christianity. It gloats about its own superior rationality. It attempts to relegate Christianity to the fringes, dismissing it as unscientific, irrational nonsense. As a result, many Christians have felt the insecurity of sounding stupid.
But if there is a God, and the word is his revealed Truth, then Christianity cannot be the unscientific, irrational nonsense the secularist makes it out to be. In fact, it's they very height of rationality. The denial of God, of a higher moral order, the original created order of things, and our need of repentance, is the height of irrationality. It's a blatant denial of the Truth.
The Bible talks about the cross being foolishness (1 Corinthians 1:18) to those who are perishing. It should be no surprise that we sound silly. In fact, even as believers we often have a difficult time accepting the cross. But the real folly is to buy into the idea that Christianity is as much nonsense as the secularist would have us believe.
