There’s a prophet hollering on the street corner. People are passing him by, but he doesn’t seem to mind. He’s holding his big black book in one hand, and his mouth is saying things over and over. Tonight it’s:

“Everybody out there is looking for a thrill! But what they don’t know is that Jesus has the will! and the skills! to give you a thrill!”

I didn’t stick around long enough to find out if Jesus is like some kind of pill to take when you’re ill.

Talk about ill, though. When I was a missionary, we compared our activity to scattering seeds. It’s a benign metaphor; seeds grow food, and food is good for you. But I’d say that this kind of activity is more like spreading a virus. Ideas are like viruses (including this one) because they can catch in the mind of a host, and the host can propagate the idea through a community. Whether you think ideas are seeds or viruses probably depends a lot on how helpful you think the idea is.

What if a sick person were purposely spreading viruses among an urban population? People would wisely avoid him (as indeed people were avoiding the street prophet). They’d isolate him in a hospital until he got better. A mental hospital would be the right sort of place for someone who spreads mental viruses. But no, he’s still out there, still propagating.