T. Allen Burr Ministries

I am anything but shy about how I feel about social media, specifically about its influence on the younger generations. I grew up in the age of social media’s advent, and I have a love-hate relationship with it. However, my relationship with social media is increasingly looking more like the later half of that description. Now, I can already hear some people saying, “Rev. Burr, this is a religion blog. What does this have to do with faith?” Allow me to explain. Increasingly, our young people are being exposed to content creators who espouse beliefs that undermine not only faith but the essential nature of human uniqueness and the special qualities each person brings to the world. These content creators undermine traditional Christian beliefs and degrade the younger generations’ ability to embrace their uniqueness as humans. 

Recently, I came across a content creator by the name of Ian McConnell. He’s a Nashville based singer-songwriter who, according to his website biography, is “attempting to live a good life.” (Seriously, this is all his “About” section said as of November 11th, 2023). Typically, I don’t pay any attention to the musings of modern day artists, namely because I’m not a fan of modern music. However, Mr. McConnell’s choice of lyrics in one song struck a serious chord with me. He stepped well beyond the bounds of playful consideration of life’s meaning and delved straight into a philosophical and theological assault against the imago dei (the image of God). In his song, he wrote:

“Humans aren’t really going to kill the planet, we’ll just make the planet unlivable for us. But earth will keep right on spinning way long after we ain’t in it and life will keep right on living till the sun explodes. Oh, I’m not important and neither are you. So, let’s do whatever we want to do. Bask in our cosmic insignificance. Soak up this blip we’re living because nothing matters anyway. Isn’t that great?”

Ian McConnell, singer-songwriter

What a horrendous outlook. So because we’re going to make the planet unlivable for us and nothing matters, we should do whatever we want because we aren’t important anyway, therefore all consequences of our actions are null and void. How is that great? How is that comforting in the slightest? Truth be told: it isn’t. The problem is our children are being spoonfed this garbage while we aren’t looking. Social media algorithms seem to favor these content creators and recommend their content to impressionable children. They are overwhelmed with this kind of content to the point they believe that this is the prevailing belief of their generation and so kowtow to it. That said, Mr. McConnell takes it a step farther, saying:

“I’m pretty sure that life doesn’t have a meaning and if there’s a God that he doesn’t look like me. I’m just member of the current apex species, but there will be another when the humans go extinct. We’ve only been around 200,000 years out of 13.5 billion years. How can we think the pinnacle is here? Isn’t that arrogant? There’s a couple hundred billion trillion suns and we act like it all was made for us. There ain’t no way that we’re the only ones.”

Ian McConnell, singer-songwriter

He then repeats his assertion that no one is important and how great that is. I’ll be blunt: I have never heard or read a bigger load of crock in my life. According to McConnell, life has no meaning; God isn’t real; humans are a temporary blip; and creation is not made for the enjoyment of the creatures inhabiting it. Again, what an abysmal outlook. He sings all of this to a jaunty tune to take the edge off. This jauntiness cannot outweigh or overshadow the demoralized message.

Christianity teaches that we are all inherently important. We all have intrinsic value. You are important. Psalm 139 teaches: ​​

“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.”

Genesis 1 tells us:

“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” 

These are just a couple verses describing the value of the individual human life. However, this isn’t the only evidence against Mr. McConnell’s claims. Even the well-renowned agnostic astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson disagrees with McConnell’s claim:

“There have been about 100 billion people who have ever lived. Do you know, mathematically, how many people can exist? You take a look at the genes, find out how many combination of genes can make an authentic human being, and it is a stupendously larger number than the 100 billion who have existed thus far.”

Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist

Mathematically speaking, the number of gene combinations that result in “viable people” is something akin to (4³⁰⁰)^25,000. That number, for all intents and purposes, is infinity. There are an infinite number of possible gene combinations leading to an infinite number of potential human beings. What does this mean for us, then? Let’s return to DeGrasse Tyson’s thought:

“What this means is you are alive against stupendous odds. You are breathing air, observing sunsets, gazing into the night sky. Most people who could exist will never experience that, because most people who could exist mathematically never will. You are as special a living entity as there ever was.”

Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist

Out of the infinite number of potential human beings, you are here. You are alive against stupendous odds! You are here reading this article against all odds. You are as unique of an individual as there ever was or ever will be. You have meaning. You have purpose. You aren’t the result of a cosmic dice roll; you’re a unique person. Bask in that.