COMMENTARY: The character of Sheldon Cooper presents disbelief in God as the inevitable product of intelligence and scientific progress, but history — and even modern science itself — tell a very different story.
Fictional characters from popular culture come in all shapes and sizes, and carry messages that are both good and bad. Popular Hollywood television shows have introduced a number of well-known personalities, with one such example being Dr. Sheldon Cooper from the long-running comedy series The Big Bang Theory and its spin-off series Young Sheldon.
Although Sheldon’s character may (or may not) be entertaining, the message that he repeatedly conveys is that belief in God is an old-fashioned idea, implying that “truth” is revealed through knowledge gained through scientific discovery.
But knowledge and wisdom are two very different concepts, and the idea of making a free-will determination to reject God is not by any means a modern idea — regardless of how you might choose to define the term “modern.” A quick review of world history will clarify that disbelief in God has little to do with human beings evolving, increasing their knowledge (scientific or otherwise), or in Sheldon’s case, being inherently brilliant.
The Illusion of a
