Insulin and Ice Cream: A Parable

Religious claims are not statements of opinion. They are truth claims. A religion says, “The world is like this, not that.” If we step away from the arena of religion, we can see more clearly how this works.

We believe everyone in the world has a disease, let’s say it’s diabetes. We further believe the only way to treat diabetes is insulin. Some people think you should treat it with penicillin. Others think you should treat it with ice cream. Some ice cream people don’t even believe anyone has diabetes.

Since everyone is sick, we believe we have an obligation to tell people about insulin. Most of them don’t want to hear it. Some are happy with the penicillin or their ice cream. Many will be offended that you don’t think their treatment is good enough. Some get very angry at the suggestion that they have diabetes. Sometimes, though, when people start feeling ill from the diabetes, they’re more willing to hear about insulin. (This is the solution to the problem of evil in a nutshell.)

Once upon a time the people around here believed in insulin or at least pretended to (frankly, most probably believed in ice cream, but quietly). The penicillin people mostly lived elsewhere, so the insulin people could talk about diabetes and insulin without any problem. Now, though, there are more penicillin people around, and the ice cream people are becoming more common and louder. Don’t feel bad for us; this is what it is usually like for the insulin people. This is the world now: the insulin people are one of many voices in the crowd, and the ice cream people are the loudest voice.

Most of the time the ice cream people just ignore the insulin people and roll their eyes. Sometimes, though, the ice cream people get very angry with the insulin people. They start saying it’s mean to tell people they need insulin. It’s hurtful to tell people they need to lay off the ice cream. And sometimes they even say it’s hateful to believe in diabetes at all.

This is the world we’re about to find ourselves in. The ice cream people are getting angry. It may not matter that you don’t tell people they need insulin; the very fact that you believe that in the quiet of your own thoughts may offend them. Your simply believing in diabetes may enrage some. People may tell you you’re crazy for believing in insulin. They may call you names for even believing in diabetes, names like “out-dated,” “backward,” or even “monster.”

The temptation will be to stop talking about insulin and diabetes. There’ll be strong pressure to stop believing the truth. Because is it really true? “Is it really that big a deal? Am I really sure? Maybe we’re wrong. Maybe there really is no diabetes. If diabetes even exists, ice cream must be a good treatment for it because the ice cream people sure seem happy. Maybe I should try some of that.”

In times like this, the insulin people need each other more than ever. Getting together with other insulin people is important normally, but when the ice cream people are angry, we need it. We need the company of other insulin people. We need to remind each other that we’re not crazy. We need to help each other reject the lie that there is no diabetes. We have to help each other stay away from the ice cream. (This is just a parable, OK?)

If we ride out the storm, we’ll still find ice cream people who’ll listen to us about insulin. And one day the ice cream people might go back to pretending to be insulin people again. But none of that can happen if the insulin people aren’t careful to remain the insulin people.


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