Saturday, April 30, 2011

Apocalyptic Assholes



Already in the wake of the storms that devastated the South, these apocalyptic assholes are popping up to declare the disaster to be God's Wrath and God's Judgment. I find it so curious that God always seems to visit the full measure of His wrath on poor people who live in flimsy housing in low lying areas. He hardly touches affluent Sodom-on-the-Hudson here or Gomorrah-by-the-Bay out west. And poor people in flimsy housing in low lying areas usually do not have much opportunity or inclination to sin and blasphemy on a scale to match the wrath visited upon them. I'm still puzzled by what a population of largely elderly and working class Japanese did to so piss off God to deserve that string of major catastrophes. New Zealanders hardly strike me as particularly inimical to all that is good and sacred. Why should they suffer a catastrophe? Why should impoverished sub-Saharan Africa and Bangladesh be regularly singled out for disaster, while here in relatively safe and affluent New York, we can practically moon the Lord without so much as a mild thunderstorm?


And what Christian charity, what compassion these preachers show! Telling people who've just lost family, friends, and homes that they deserved it! These preachers are such friends of humanity! Such paragons of Christian Charity, of God's love and care for His creation! I'm moved to tears ... excuse me a minute.

Small wonder so many people hate Christians these days, with this shit dominating the broadcast bandwidth.

Or, maybe it's what the geologists have told us all along, that we are living on a volatile planet, on the broken crust of molten planet tugged by competing gravitational currents, and created out of continuing cosmic collisions between leftover pieces from the creation of the star we call the Sun. The scientists remind us that today's disasters are mere firecrackers compared to some of the planet-wide geological upheavals that happened long before we appeared. Scientists are not very reassuring when they say that there's every reason to expect those colossal catastrophes to happen again some day. If there's any lesson to be learned in any of this, then it's that we are all mortal and we are all vulnerable.

Remember Elijah's experience in the cave, storm, fire, earthquake and all, and God was not in any of it. Instead, God was in the Still Small Voice. These apocalyptic preachers usually try to quiet that Still Small Voice in the back of their consciences with power and money, and with secret addictions to booze, pills, mistresses, and rent boys. That Voice is always there, always reminding them that they are assholes.


Another tip of the beret to JoeMyGod who appears to have a cast-iron stomach for this kind of toxic nonsense.

4 comments:

Pfalz prophet said...

The Cal Beisner caller has either not read Job or hasn't understood the irony of his assessment of the tornado victims and Job's friend Bildad, in Job 18. What about Abraham's plea to God in Gen. 18, to save Sodom if only ten righteous people lived there? Were the 333 people killed this week all sinners? How about the thousands who lost their homes and businesses? What, no righteous people at all? And Dr. Beisner doesn't raise these issues? What a pack of jackals!

Rick+ said...

     I was wondering when someone would blame the devastation in the South on the wrath of God. One thing I've always found curious is their inconsistency: The South is per capita probably the most church-going population in the US. And, if you want to get technical – and literalists always do – they probably attend what these folks consider the “right” kind of churches more so than we. So, why would God smite them?

     It all gets back to childish theology and magical thinking. It’s hard work to grow up and realize we can’t control everything by wishing and praying hard enough. It's hard work to grow up and understand that bad things happen to good people too, that God suffers with us, and that our role has only been to open our stony hearts with love and compassion, not judgment. Yes, that's a lot harder than just reverting to a kind of primitive tribal God.

JCF said...

Another tip of the beret to JoeMyGod who appears to have a cast-iron stomach for this kind of toxic nonsense.

Remember that to JMG, this is Yet More Evidence that ALL religion (especially religion involving the Nazarean Carpenter) is batshit crazy AND wickedly malevolent. Ergo, finding this stuff kind of gives him a Happy. [I note that Joe is kinder to his few pro-LGBT religious commenters (inc. Yours Truly), than are many of his anti-theist regulars]

Counterlight said...

You may be right, JCF. I can hardly bear to read or listen to most of the crazy homophobic stuff he posts.