Apparently Rhett and Link became apostates.
Kenny Boyce offers some observations about their apostasy. I don't entirely agree with Boyce (e.g. I'm not a YEC but I think mature creation may be more defensible than he does, I'd want to unpack what he means by "a less theologically conservative view of the nature of Scripture"), but he does say a lot of useful things. It's worth a read.
Anyway, I highly doubt it's all intellectual for Rhett and Link. It's not just about fundy Christianity, YEC, do we take the Bible "literally", etc. I think it's also about the seductive draw of the world. Moving from rural North Carolina to Southern California. Finding fame and success in the entertainment industry. Meeting Hollywood execs. Gaining wealth and influence. Rubbing elbows with celebrities. Getting invited to attend film premieres and after-parties. It's hard to resist these pulls and temptations. Especially if one's Christian faith is already threadbare. If one doesn't already have deep roots in theology and apologetics.
At the same time, it's not as if Rhett and Link can't reach out to Christians who can offer intelligent answers to their questions. They have more luxury to seek than many other people do. And it's not too late for them even now.
There's something strange feeling watching this unfold because I was unaware they were Christian, if not very publically, in the first place. So I find it sad, but not sad in the way you see something fall apart; but sad in the way you missed something you didn't even know was there, and now it's gone.
ReplyDelete"There's something strange feeling watching this unfold because I was unaware they were Christian, if not very publically, in the first place."
DeleteThanks for the comment, MetaSkipper! I think this alone speaks volumes about them. By contrast, consider someone like Tim Tebow or Jeremy Lin who seem to share the gospel whenever they can, whose works reflect their faith, even when it costs them, etc. Not that they can't apostatize, but so far it seems quite the opposite.
I used to wrestle with the debate over creation, but then I started reading defenses of "mature creation" and it seems to have a lot of advantages. It is empirically equivalent to what is considered "our best science", it allows theological orthodoxy, and it takes seriously the fact that the weight we give many empirical claims is much too strong. Not only that, but it allows the Christian to take an instrumentalist view of science, which makes investigation of the natural world subservient to making human life better. Many have equated a traditional view of Genesis with the YEC organizations which is a mistake. You can think the universe is much "younger" than many think but not accept YEC science.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Blake. :) Helpful thoughts!
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