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<\/a>I picked up The Parasitic Mind: How Infectious Ideas Are Killing Common Sense<\/em> with curiosity, and, I\u2019ll admit, a little caution. As a Bible-believing Christian and a pastor, I\u2019m used to navigating the waters where faith, reason, and culture intersect. Much of what I hold to is shaped by Scripture, prayer, tradition, and the lived reality of shepherding people through the highs and lows of life. I believe in truth. Objective, God-authored, Spirit-revealed truth. I also believe that people are made in God\u2019s image and worthy of dignity, even when I disagree with them. That said, I\u2019m also increasingly aware that our culture has become allergic to truth, especially when it\u2019s inconvenient, uncomfortable and or biblical.<\/p>\nSo when Gad Saad opens his book with the statement, \u201cThe quest for truth should always supersede your ego-defensive desire to be proven right,\u201d[i]<\/a> I immediately resonated. That\u2019s the Gospel. Jesus didn\u2019t die to validate our opinions; He died to redeem us in truth. Saad, though not a Christian, holds a torch for truth in a way that I appreciate. His concern is that our minds are being hijacked by what he calls \u201cidea pathogens,\u201d[ii]<\/a> ideologies so divorced from reason that they function like intellectual parasites (see his story of the spider wasp),[iii]<\/a> shutting down rational debate and silencing dissent. His metaphor is confronting, but it works.<\/p>\n As someone who believes Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6), I\u2019m wired to care about truth. The whole biblical narrative hinges on truth, creation, fall, redemption, and restoration. Lies lead to bondage, and truth sets us free (John 8:32). Saad\u2019s relentless call to defend truth even when it’s uncomfortable or unpopular confirmed what I already knew deep down: truth must never be sacrificed on the altar of ideological convenience.<\/em><\/p>\n His critique of postmodernism particularly stood out. Saad is deeply concerned with the rise of relativism, identity politics, and cancel culture, all of which, he argues, prioritise personal emotion over objective facts.[iv]<\/a> That sounded familiar. I\u2019ve watched how, even within church communities, people struggle to handle disagreement without taking offence. It\u2019s as though we\u2019ve forgotten how to think critically and disagree graciously.<\/p>\n Saad’s citation of Voltaire hits hard: \u201cCommon sense is not so common.\u201d[v]<\/a> That\u2019s not just witty, it\u2019s sobering. I\u2019ve seen \u201ccommon sense\u201d take a back seat to trendy but hollow ideologies, even among Christians. Saad\u2019s book reminded me that defending truth in today\u2019s world requires not just conviction, but courage. Or as he puts it elsewhere: \u201cHave the courage to speak your mind. Truth is a lot more important than your fear of being ostracized.\u201d[vi]<\/a> That\u2019s a message the church needs more than ever.<\/p>\n One of the strongest affirmations I found in Saad\u2019s book was his unapologetic defence of free speech. He argues that truth can only emerge when people are free to speak without fear. He recounts the silencing of dissenting voices in universities and media and how fear of offending has become more important than pursuing truth.[vii]<\/a> \u2075<\/p>\n As a Christian, I\u2019ve seen how the Gospel itself offends, but it also saves. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1:18 that the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. We don\u2019t get to soften the Gospel to fit the times. The idea that free speech is foundational to a healthy society affirmed my belief that the church must protect its voice, not to dominate culture, but to preserve space for honest, grace-filled truth-telling.<\/p>\n I found support for this conviction in other works as well. In The Coddling of the American Mind<\/em>, Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt describe how modern institutions, especially universities, are shielding students from discomfort rather than preparing them for life.[viii]<\/a> Their findings echo Saad\u2019s warnings where not only does overprotection lead to fragility, and fragility leads to ideological intolerance, but unlimited tolerance leads to a loss of tolerance.<\/span>[ix]<\/a><\/p>\n Now to the part that made me squirm. Saad devotes a chapter to discussing Islamic terrorism, and he boldly states, \u201cScale matters.\u201d[x]<\/a> He isn\u2019t denying that there are peaceful Muslims, he\u2019s simply making the case that not all belief systems produce the same outcomes at scale. His critique is aimed less at individuals and more at ideologies that, when widely embraced, can justify violence or suppress freedoms. What struck me wasn\u2019t his conclusion, it was my nervousness for him, putting that in print. Perhaps it proves the point?<\/p>\n As a pastor who ministers to a diverse congregation, including people of many ethnic and religious backgrounds, I\u2019ve been trained to tread carefully. But Saad\u2019s point is not to demonise, but to wake us up. He laments how the world offers feeble responses to serious threats because of political correctness.[xi]<\/a> As he sees it, ignoring scale is not compassion, it\u2019s cowardice.<\/p>\n Final Thoughts: Truth and Grace Must Walk Together<\/strong><\/p>\n Allan Bloom\u2019s The Closing of the American Mind<\/em>\u00a0predicted a generation that would lose the capacity for meaningful thought[xii]<\/a> decades ago. Saad shows us we\u2019re living in that future now. Even Jonathan Haidt\u2019s The Righteous Mind<\/em> helped put things into perspective. Haidt explains that human beings are not naturally rational, we\u2019re moral and emotional creatures who justify what we already believe.[xiii]<\/a> That\u2019s a wake-up call for preachers. We can’t just appeal to people\u2019s logic, we must engage their hearts, but without compromising truth.<\/p>\n Reading The Parasitic Mind<\/em> was a joy. Saad doesn\u2019t mince words, and while some of his tone might be sharper than I\u2019d use, the core message hit home: we\u2019re in a battle for truth, and (in my words) the church must not retreat. We must be bold, humble, and discerning. As Jesus came full of grace and truth, so must we.<\/p>\n Saad might not share my theology, but he shares my commitment to truth. His book confirmed much of what I already believed, challenged me, and reminded me that speaking the truth in love isn\u2019t just a biblical command, it\u2019s a cultural necessity.<\/p>\n [i]<\/a> Saad, Gad. The Parasitic Mind: How Infectious Ideas Are Killing Common Sense<\/em> (Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing, 2020), 12.<\/p>\n [ii]<\/a> Ibid, 237.<\/p>\n [iii]<\/a> Ibid, 18.<\/p>\n [iv]<\/a> Ibid., 6\u201330.<\/p>\n [v]<\/a> Ibid., 104.<\/p>\n [vi]<\/a> Ibid., 187.<\/p>\n [vii]<\/a> Ibid., 88\u2013100.<\/p>\n [viii]<\/a> Lukianoff, Greg and Haidt, Jonathan. The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure<\/em> (New York: Penguin Press, 2018).<\/p>\n [ix]<\/a> Saad, 116.<\/p>\n [x]<\/a> Ibid, 132.<\/p>\n [xi]<\/a> Ibid., 133\u2013135<\/p>\n\n
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