Your devoted fans in the Republican Party say you have a plan. They say you don’t give us humans more hardship than we can handle. They say you know exactly what you are doing and there is no such thing as global warming. And they say “God is Love.”
So, God, was that you last Friday loving on the 39 people who were killed by tornados, 21 of whom were in Kentucky and 12 in Indiana? Your fans say you are in control of these things, not science, so that must have been you who decided to fling Indiana’s Babcock family from their home into a field via twister. That must have been you who allowed their toddler, 15-month-old Angel, to stay alive for a day or two before allowing her to succumb to her traumatic brain injuries so that her devastated extended family had to make the agonizing decision to “pull the plug.”
Was that you, God?
I wouldn’t blame you for being fed up with mankind’s inability to use the superior brains you gave us to save us from ourselves. We have made a fine mess of things, to be sure. Even 2000+ years after you allegedly sent your son to the planet to save our sorry souls, we are still solving our problems by killing each other. Oh, we have put our superior brains to work at developing incrementally lethal weapons with which to do our killing. That we have accomplished. And your devoted fans in the Republican Party don’t seem to have any problem with any of that. That they file under “National Security” and parade off to church on Sunday singing “Onward Christian Soldiers.”
Was that you, God, who in 2010 sent that violent earthquake to Haiti to kill 316,000 people, injure 300,000 and make 1,000,000 homeless? If you love all of us, as your fans insist you do, that is a funny way to show it. Those Haitian people were already in a pretty bad way. Many of the houses that earthquake destroyed were little more than shanty huts with tin roofs and dirt floors. I cannot imagine that you would have a plan that would include such wholesale pain and suffering. But your fans say it must, because you didn’t prevent it.
Was that really you, God?
That little girl in Georgia, Jorelys Rivera, who was snatched from her apartment complex’s playground, raped, bludgeoned to death and tossed into a trash compactor by a 20 year old janitor—what could she have done to deserve such a violent end to her life? She was only seven years old. Your son was reported to have said “suffer the little children to come unto me…” (matthew/19-14) Surely you could have interceded on this poor child’s behalf.
You and I have had our moments, God. I have struggled mightily with the evidence that negates your existence. But then, something happens like it did yesterday. I had a distant relative come to town for a conference over the weekend. I picked her and her husband up at their hotel to give them a whirlwind tour of Atlanta. Since it was a Sunday, the usual traffic madness that Atlantans endure during the week was reduced to a manageable lightness. As I was passing by Georgia State University, I took too long pointing out a building and allowed the car to drift over the lane line into the path of a passing car. The other driver reacted swiftly, laid on his horn and averted a collision. He was as mad as a hornet, but we were spared an unpleasant turn of events, at the very least.
It is times like that when I think you have intervened, God, and I usually whisper a quiet “Thank you, God.” Those are the kinds of things I believe a “loving” God would do.
Was that you, God?
Others, your devoted fans especially, tend to think you are angry and send tornados and earthquakes and tsunamis to punish us for our transgressions. I don’t buy it. The God I was taught to believe in knows everything and would therefore be able to select the offenders from the masses. The God I was taught to believe in would protect an innocent child and punish the man who would even think about harming her.
Most important, the God I was taught to believe in would never punish me for questioning your motives or your very existence. The so-called fear of God based on the fire and brimstone approach to religions created by mankind is not something I can believe. Instead, I choose to believe the planet Earth is a complex environment that has its own plans. The more humans rape and squander Earth’s resources; the more we allow our greed to fail to respect the delicate ecological balances; and the more we operate our “toys” without regard for the polluting effects they have on those balances, the more violent the Earth’s responses.
No, I don’t believe that was you, God. But if it was, could you please lighten up?
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Comments
If I'm going to take a stab at theology, it would be this:
The only way we can be good is to have the freedom to be bad. Goodness can only be a choice. That means leaving mankind with the freedom to make bad choices.
Including those that affect nature. Sometimes natural disasters are just that - natural, and essentially random. Sometimes mankind interferes with climate conditions and storms become more frequent and harsher. We know, for example, that hurricanes are more powerful over warmer water, and we know that we have through atmospheric interference created conditions leading to warmer water. We may as a species have in that way contributed to, for example, the power of Katrina.
Lots of people have taken various stabs at this question. Try Harold Kushner; he gives it a decent shot. "When Bad Things Happen To Good People."
Good luck. This isn't an easy one. Personally, for whatever my own reasons are, I have faith, and I don't believe God runs around killing people, particularly because He's ostensibly pissed off at something we did.
Cranky: You have summarized it perfectly. Why would God have to "test our faith" if he already knows whether we have it or not. I'm with you on #3, at least most of the time.
I dont think God had anything to do with it. I think the storm just turned.. Lucky so lucky though
HUGGGGGGGGGG
JMac
One of my friend's said that when something bad happens, it's not God's fault and yet we try to assign blame. Who do we blame when something good happens? Yup. God. Who do we blame when something bad happens? Good grief, I hope we don't blame God for the bad things that happen throughout all of eternity. If so, what's the point of believing...
DandyLion: Yes, but it was a human who said that, too.
jmac: Well put!
That brings to mind a battle I've had recently, in posts about bullying leading to school shootings. According to the philosophy promoted by most teachers and administrators (a philosophy that washes the blood off their hands) bullied children should "take it." When they don't - when they take action against their bullies, or simply go into a rage and kill the closest people out of their emotional agony and despair - they are apparently "not following God's will." That will is even expressed by people who are atheists or whose God isn't particularly bloodthirsty, or even Christian.
It's all part of that minefield of religion in America. And L, fortunately you didn't get blown up in your stroll through the minefield.
jfsathre: ...which doesn't exactly make sense to me either. Why create something that cannot be controlled? Unless one is Frankenstein, I guess.
Jman wrote:
Whenever I hear Greens or other eco-folk talk about how we have to change our ways to "save the planet," I always reply,"It's not about saving the planet.
Kinda like what Klaatu was saying in The Day The Earth Stood Still. We humans could go a long way toward “saving the Earth and most of the animals on it” by committing mass suicide.
Oh, and if you resent such questions, remember, you blessed me with this inquiring mind.
David: Thanks for sticking you little toe into the political cesspool. I that as a compliment. :D
trilogy: Thanks.
Sheila: The sadness is overwhelming, so I seek a way to make sense of it.
Don: Thanks for your comment.
Frank: Yeah, maybe WE are the pollutants and not the emissions!
Tom: Thank goodness!
Erica: Thanks!
So in essence, only those who are stewards of the planet are God's actual followers.
And always the hope (God interfered to save me...).
Whenever the question of a personal God, creator of the universe, comes up, I think about the gahzillions of galaxies, each with gahzillions of stars. No wonder we're neglected...
Brava, Ms. L. ! r.
Myriad: Yes, that is an awful lot to attend to, even for God.
Jon: Thanks!
Alysa: You have faith that there is, in fact, someone or something calling the shots “for the greater good.” That must be comforting, and sometimes I truly wish I had it.
Jaime: Thank you.
"So, in a sense..."
Well, yes.
Stewards of the planet and also stewards of humanity, primarily in terms of how we treat each other.
In Judaism, particularly my branch, our biggest obligation is Repairing the World. That means different things to different Jews - in Orthodoxy, there's a lot of ritual tied to that; in my Reform movement, it's promoting ethics, which includes not dooming others by selfish conduct (such as making all the ice melt), which kind of adds up to, literally, Repairing the World. For what it's worth, Israel is either one of the only nations on Earth or actually the only nation on Earth where the number of trees has increased over time. Not Deforestation, but Forestation. (This is not an attempt to boost Israel, it's an attempt to show that there are people who agree with what he said quite literally.) From a religious standpoint, we aren't alone - Environmentalism has more recently become a concern in some fundamentalist churches based on the concept of Stewardship.
Lezlie,
Ultimately, of course, when if comes to faith it's all a gamble. You figure out what makes ethical sense to you using whatever source material resonates most with you, you try to make your life approximate your model, and you make your case when and if the time comes. I'd imagine the main factors when it comes to judgment will be how much thought you put into getting the model right and how much you put into living according to that model.
I can't theorize about the incomprehensible mix of cosmic indifference and personal Divine micromangement; my own experience suggests there's a lot of both. Deal as best you can.
I'd also suggest applying JFK's statement about patriotism to faith. "Ask not....."
R♥
I thought about that little girl quite a bit this weekend and heard this morning that she was taken off life support. I would also like to think that she is with her family. We may not know if there really is a God but I would like to believe that he/she allows us to experience things in which there is no blame, just a randomness that provides teachable moments for those willing to learn.
As for school bullies, as a former science teacher who left the last school (in the midsouth where evangelicals ran the public schools with a dedication to making them Christian only), you were considered in a negative light if you did try to help curb bullying and work with students. I was "lectured" about giving my students an opening day message that I would NOT allow bullying or anything related while expressing that students should feel comfortable and in confidentiality, coming to me or another teacher with their fears no matter how popular the student bullying them. But then, all schools seem to be a breeding ground for the ills that affect society at large.
This morning on CNN, there were a few interviewees of different faiths, one of which was a Jewish rabbi who suggested these times call for a “defiant” faith, one that is free to rail at God about the inhumanity and injustice and horror. God can take it and, I believe, is with us in the midst of them. I think God is far less pissed with people who yell about the unfairness of the tragedies, than with the jackanapes who try to pin the tragedies on God. Very often, I don’t know what the f*ck God thinks God is doing, but I’m pretty sure God doesn’t arrange to have little girls desecrated and murdered, doesn’t hurl down tornadoes to destroy people’s lives. Just my two cents.
P. S. - Since the footnote didn't transfer, that definition of theodicy comes from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodicy
Kosh: I am becoming more and more comfortable with the concept of Stewardship.
Fusun: As I read your comment I suddenly realized how often the words "me” and “my” were used in the rant Barbara Joanne posted today. If you haven’t read it, check it out.
Patsy K: Thank you for your thoughts. I wouldn’t last two days in the school you described.
Abra: A friend told me about a bumper sticker today that says “God knows. I don’t.”
Scanner: It sure feels that way.
Psalm 58.6:
"O God, break the teeth in their mouths;
tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!"
The psalmist is suggesting God might want to punch his enemy's teeth out. The Psalms are full of many of the same sentiments you express in your post. And then some.
Maybe I'll just dig out "When Bad Things Happen To Good People." It's probably time for a re-read.
1 Corinthians 10.13:
"No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it."
It's about resisting temptation, not about handling the random cruelties of life.
God is nature, which is random, except when humans disturb it with pollutants, and then bad results, of some type, are predictable.
Religion, though, is about, "Authority and control." And that opinion, though I share it, is not mine, but Mr. Hawking's and anyone who wants to be religious ought to take a hard, long and introspective comparison as to why they believe poorly educated narcissistic power freaks over the guy who helped put rovers on Mars.
Imua (Onward)
Why do bad things happen to good people?
Why does God allow bad things to happen?
Joplin is where my daughter goes to college, and the deaths and devastation there defy belief.
And those in my church ask again..."Why God?"
I ask as well.
I have no answers, and I DON'T think it is wrong to ask God those questions.
I think Christians are called to understand God as best they can, and I believe He can stand up to scrutiny.
But as for me...I am clueless...and frustrated....and devastated as more and more happens.
J.D.: Joplin was hit extremely hard. I'm glad your daughter was not harmed.
That said, and not to sound horribly cruel and callous, we all have to die somehow. Painless death for 100% of us just isn't realistic. I hesitate to even that last part in there, as I truly believe in God's mercy as well as the gift of free will we have horribly blundered with bad choices...
Thought-provoking and well said, as usual.
My prayers go with you tomorrow, L.
Frank: Yeah, maybe WE are the pollutants and not the emissions!
That brought to mind another movie quote apropos of your topic. This one is from Agent Smith in the movie, The Matrix.
I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You're a plague and we are the cure.
OTH, God/the Creator has a wicked sense of humor. That's why humans continue to evolve. Eventually, we will be extinct and another species will take our place and stead.
Key words in this great piece being 'religions created by mankind'..
And you surely might be right about Mother, she does seem to have become quite short tempered of late ;).
Rated for created by man for men.
"Most important, the God I was taught to believe in would never punish me for questioning your motives or your very existence. The so-called fear of God based on the fire and brimstone approach to religions created by mankind is not something I can believe. Instead, I choose to believe the planet Earth is a complex environment that has its own plans. The more humans rape and squander Earth’s resources; the more we allow our greed to fail to respect the delicate ecological balances; and the more we operate our “toys” without regard for the polluting effects they have on those balances, the more violent the Earth’s responses."
I don't believe God (if He exists) intervenes in our world in the way the Republicans say He does. I believe He does intervene, but not the obvious ways where we can necessarily explain or witness it. I believe He allows nature to do its thing, good and bad. He gave us the gift of "free will" and allows us to use it. The result of what we choose can come across as a "punishment" or a "blessing." Can He intervene? I think so and probably has in our history. Perhaps miracles or the unexplainable. I also, unlike the Republicans, can't pretend to really know the answers. I'm only guessing. My mind can't possibly comprehend the infinite or God, if He exists. I do believe there is a reason for everything and that in time, we will all understand His ways. His ways may not be our ways, but I trust that He knows best even in the unimaginable.