Impacted Fecal Matter

No, no ... I promise ... this is not another post about The Episcopal church.

I just want to tell you that there is huge money to be made by telling people false things they wish were true.

I have been getting a lot of spam emails lately regarding colon cleansing. You know, the ones that tell you the real reason you are overweight has nothing to do with your diet or lack of exercise. It is all due to the 25 pounds (or more) of IFM (impacted fecal matter), stuck like spackle to the walls of your intestines. If you buy the product, it will all be flushed out, and you will no longer be fat!

It's absurd. The people who fall for this kind of scam can grab the fat on their bellies (and elsewhere), knead it in their hands, and see with their own eyes that it is external body fat that is the problem. Snopes and other anti-hoax sites have attempted to add a dash of sanity to the conversation.

But, you see. It's not about the facts. It's about desire. And here, the desire is to believe that one's current diet is okay, when it is not. That one's current exercise plan is sufficient in both intensity and frequency, when in fact it is woefully inadequate. It's all about what they want to be true. They don't want it to be their fault. And they will pay for the easy fix.

I would venture to say that most or all heresies are like this as well. Each represents a divergence from the Christian faith, motivated by something that the doctrinal innovator desperately wishes were true. In the end, though, we all have to step on the scale. And the truth will be known.