Inculation, Inoculation, and Insulation – Insulation

Part 3 – Insulation

in·su·late  (ĭn′sə-lāt′, ĭns′yə-)

tr.v. in·su·lat·ed, in·su·lat·ing, in·su·lates

1. To cause to be in a detached or isolated position. See Synonyms at isolate.

2. To prevent the passage of heat, electricity, or sound into or out of, especially by surrounding with a nonconducting material.

i·so·late  (ī′sə-lāt′)

tr.v. i·so·lat·ed, i·so·lat·ing, i·so·lates

1. To set apart or cut off from others.

2. To place in quarantine.

3. Chemistry To separate (a substance) in pure form from a combined mixture.

4. To render free of external influence; insulate.

5. Microbiology To separate (a pure strain) from a mixed bacterial or fungal culture.

6. Psychology To separate (experiences or memories) from the emotions relating to them.

7. Electricity

a. To set apart (a component, circuit, or system) from a source of electricity.

b. To insulate or shield.

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Satan’s first strategy is to keep religion intellectual.” – Rick Joyner, The World Aflame – The Welsh Revival and its Lessons for our Time

They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. 1 John 2:19 KJV—

The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. Psalm 14:1 KJV—–

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written:

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”

Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.  1 Corinthians 1:18-25 NIV

All throughout the inculation process, once the presumption of God – and not just any god – but the Christian God has been accepted, once inoculation has taken place, insuring that the seeds planted are growing and there is no room for doubt, you are slowly and steadily being insulated.  Fully convinced that the Bible is the inerrant, inspired, holy Word of God, you diligently attempt to live every word of it as truth.

Deliberately you’ve surrounded yourself with like-minded people and are given dire warnings about keeping the company of non-Christians.

Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? 2 Corinthians 6:14

Oh, sure, you’re supposed to be nice to unbelievers but you are “in the world but not of the world” (John 17:11-16).  Unbelievers are acquaintances, not good friends.  Believers have no business cozying up to unbelievers in any sense – not in business or friendship.  “A little leaven leavens the whole lump.” (Galatians 5:9)

Dire warnings also accompany higher learning.  Answers in Genesis propaganda is liberally distributed to insulate against scientific contamination.  Aplogetics are used to ward off philosophical and ethical deviation from the scriptures.  By the time many students reach college age their minds are so filled with all of this information that they choose Bible colleges specifically so that they won’t have to be exposed to the evil secular ideologies.

Others, the ones who do go to secular college, often go through, at least, some questioning of the doctrines and theology they were taught.  Sometimes they lose their faith, and other times they can somehow retain their faith by accepting some form of theistic evolution or clinging on to the notion of inerrancy and completely dismiss evolution theory.  It is entirely predicated on confirmation bias.  As long as one can find something, anything to cling to, their faith remains in tact.  So even when they find evidence that doesn’t line up with the Bible, they find some way to either twist evidence or scripture to fit the presumption of Bible God.

Still others, like myself, don’t attend a post-secondary institution of higher learning.  As of 2009 only 30 percent of American adults had a college degree, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, though that number is steadily climbing.  So unless there is a specific desire or reason to avail oneself of any higher learning the only science, history, religion, philosophy, or any other subject one is exposed to is what they learned during the twelve years they were subject to the public education system in the U.S.

In the world of a fundamentalist Christian who believes in a literal translation of the Bible, it’s easy to live inside your little bubble,  especially given that deviating from the message can land you in hell.  The wisdom of the world is shunned because God’s wisdom is foolishness to the world and God’s wisdom is the best wisdom. And all of you smarty-pants atheists with your fancy book-learnin’ will look like fools when it’s all said and done. It’s easy for an atheist to assume that everyone is speaking or blogging using the same standards. Yet all of this insulation against the world gives a person who doesn’t know shit from Shinola an arrogance with which they speak. They think this special wisdom entitles them and, moreover, prepares them to enter debates on subjects in which they have no real knowledge and to speak with authority from the scriptures because they don’t need the world’s education.  One can remain a dumb as a box of rocks and feel completely satisfied that whatever that sciencey stuff that scientists talk about doesn’t apply to them.

In fact, the fundamentalist Christian can educate even the most intelligent, well-studied scientist or historian.  Just ask them.  Radiometric dating?  Must be flawed.  Archaeology?  Just look around, Archaeologists are finding Bible relics all the time!  Cosmology?  Who cares?  All you need to know is Goddidit.  In all cases and instances presume God, then make all the evidence support that.  Never, ever follow the evidence where it leads

Then the circle is complete.  That adult, with the much-lauded-by-the-Bible mind of a child, carries on the tradition, perpetuating the indoctrination to the next generation.  One would be hard-pressed (though it isn’t impossible) to penetrate the layers of insulation that have shrouded the mind of the true fundamentalist believer.

Maybe all the words of the Bible aren’t hokum.  The iniquities of the father are visited upon their children to the third and fourth generation.

Inculation, Inoculation, and Insulation

Inculation – Part 1

in·cul·cate (ĭn-kŭl′kāt′, ĭn′kŭl-)
tr.v. in·cul·cat·ed, in·cul·cat·ing, in·cul·cates
1. To impress (something) upon the mind of another by frequent instruction or repetition; instill: inculcating sound principles.
2. To teach (others) by frequent instruction or repetition; indoctrinate: inculcate the young with a sense of duty.

From a very young age I learned about heaven and hell, good and evil, and God, Jesus and Satan.  No, my parents didn’t go to church every Sunday.  In fact up until my dad died when I was twelve my family didn’t go with any frequency at all.  This sweet little couple with two kids of their own operated a bus ministry.  They ran a route on Sunday that came by my house and one day they stopped and asked my parents if it’d be alright if they picked me and my sister up for church on Sunday mornings.  So they came around in their re-purposed school bus painted green and white with Northside Baptist Church scrawled in cursive down either side every Sunday thereafter.  Sometimes I got on the bus and sometimes I didn’t, but they always came around.

While my parents slept in on Sundays, frequently, I’d tool down the road to church.  Seemed harmless enough at the time.  They took all us kids into “children’s church” where we learned about Adam and Eve and creation, Noah and the ark, Abraham and Isaac, Jacob and Esau, Moses, the Isrealites and all their obstinance, David and Goliath, and all the stories of old.  They taught us all about sin and where it came from, about the wages thereof, and about God and Jesus, and mercy and redemption.

They impressed on our young minds the truthfulness and reliability of all of the Bible.  We sang songs about all these things:

‘The B-i-b-l-e, that’s the book for me, I stand alone on the word of God, the B-i-b-l-e’,

‘Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world, red and yellow, black and white, all are precious in his sight, Jesus loves the children of the world’,

‘God told Noah there’s going to be a floodie, floodie, Get those animals out of the muddie, muddie, Children of the Lord. God told Noah to build him an arky, arky, children of the Lord’,

‘I may never march in the infantry,
Ride in the Calvary,
Shoot the Artillery,
I may never fly over land and sea,
But I’m in the lord’s Army.’

‘Oh, be careful little ears, what you hear,                                             Oh, be careful little ears, what you hear,
For the Father Up above,
Is looking down in love,
So be careful little ears
what you hear.’

‘Joshua fought the battle of Jericho,
Jericho, Jericho,
Joshua fought the battle of Jericho,
And the walls came tumbling down!’

We played games and listened to stories as the leaders ‘acted’ them out with the characters on the flannel board.  Learning about all of this was so much fun.  Sunday after Sunday the greatness of God and his virtues were extolled to us.

Children’s church is where I first learned some really big words.  They seemed big to an eight-year-old anyway; words like omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent.  We learned that there was only one God, he was the Christian God, and he was all powerful, all knowing, and all present.  God was everywhere all the time, he could see and hear everything and even knew my thoughts, and he could do anything.

We learned that Eve ate the apple, gave some to Adam, and ruined the perfect garden.  We learned that, just like that, sin entered the world and tainted every person ever since.  We learned that God sent Jesus to fix it all and all we had to do was trust in Jesus and everything would be okay.

Child-like faith was all we needed.