It’s generally considered impolite to point out the irrationality and incoherency of religious faith, but sometimes the examples are so blatant, you wonder if they aren’t signs of some mental disorder. Like those cases where brain damage causes one side of the brain to perceive one thing, the other half, something different. (See Oliver Sacks and others.)
CBS News, 19 Jul 2024: In RNC speech, Trump recounts surviving assassination attempt: “I’m not supposed to be here”
So here for example is Trump (with that absurd ear ‘bandage’) saying, near the beginning of his RNC speech the other night, “I’m not supposed to be here tonight” in one breath, then a moment later, “I stand before you in this arena only by the grace of almighty God.”
Well, which is it? What does “supposed to be” mean, if not in the context of what God presumably intends? But if you’re among the faithful, you just *believe,* and don’t worry your pretty little head trying to be consistent about how you think the world works.
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But Christians do this all the time, by finding some Bible verse to explain or justify some providential event, never mind how much it might contradict some other Bible verse they dig up to explain some other event. Gullible? Motivated thinking? Magical thinking? Naive? Yes yes yes. And you can never explain this to them. In some deep place, they set logic and reason aside in order to cling to their “faith” and interpret every event as somehow justifying their ancient holy book. (In deeply evolutionary terms, this is about tribal survival, allegiance to the tribe.)
Hemant Mehta goes there, in some detail.
Friendly Atheist, 19 Jul 2024: Citing Ephesians 6:11 doesn’t explain the Trump shooting, subtitled “Christian conspiracy theorists are citing a Bible verse to explain why Trump survived. They haven’t read their own book.”
It’s all about the assassination attempt happening at 6:11. PM, in that time zone. Because… God allowed it to happen then? In order to leave a clue?? How does all this work? I can’t imagine.
Over the past week, a number of Christian conspiracy theorists have looked to the Bible to explain why Donald Trump survived the assassination attempt against him. As if only God can explain why Trump merely had his ear grazed by a bullet instead of something far more lethal.
They’ve latched onto Ephesians 6:11, a verse in the New Testament, that reads “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”
And how does this verse explain anything at all? (In general, I’ve never understood the point of Christians obsessively eager to find ancient “prophecies” that have been fulfilled. Does that mean their future, including our current present, is fixed, has been fixed for all time? No free will? Have they thought this through?)
That verse was cited by Trump campaign Deputy Director of Communications Caroline Sunshine, whom I posted about yesterday, who said the bullet supposedly hit Trump at 6:11pm local time and therefore the verse represented “divine intervention.” She’s not alone. A number of MAGA cultists have latched onto the same idea, referring to the verse as “fucking amazing,” posting a drawing of an angel standing behind Trump (“WOAH!!!”), claiming the verse proves we saw a “miracle with our own eyes,” and insisting this means “there are no coincidences.” Republican Congressman Cory Mills told people to go read the verse “and you will understand exactly why he has been saved and why we continue to move forward.”
Helpfully, Hemant — remember that many atheists are more familiar with the Bible than most believers — suggests a number of other 6:11 verses that might equally well apply. From Genesis, Ezra, Proverbs, Jeremiah, Ezekial, Amos, and so on. With different interpretations.
That verse was cited by Trump campaign Deputy Director of Communications Caroline Sunshine, whom I posted about yesterday, who said the bullet supposedly hit Trump at 6:11pm local time and therefore the verse represented “divine intervention.” She’s not alone. A number of MAGA cultists have latched onto the same idea, referring to the verse as “fucking amazing,” posting a drawing of an angel standing behind Trump (“WOAH!!!”), claiming the verse proves we saw a “miracle with our own eyes,” and insisting this means “there are no coincidences.” Republican Congressman Cory Mills told people to go read the verse “and you will understand exactly why he has been saved and why we continue to move forward.”
In clinical terms, and in terms of evolutionary psychology, humanity has succeeded because we are obsessive about detecting patterns in the world. Patterns, then perceptions of cause and effect. That’s how we learned to understand the world, and eventually control it. The result is our modern society, built through science and technology. The downside of this skill is that this obsession with patterns overreacts most of the time… and most of the time it doesn’t matter. Type 1 and type 2 errors. The sound of a snake in the grass–is it a snake? Better safe than sorry. The result is all sorts of superstitions and conspiracy theories. And religion.
