Archived blog post

God is angry with that thing you did that I don't like you doing

Posted by Ben on Wednesday, January 18, 2006 | Permalink
 

Rather surprisingly, there appears to be some confusion as to exactly why God pitched wave after wave of hurricanes at the USA this year.

The mayor of New Orleans thinks it's because of Iraq:

"Surely God is mad at America...He sent us hurricane after hurricane after hurricane and it's destroyed and put stress on this country. Surely He's not approving of us being in Iraq under false pretences."

Fred Phelps, on the other hand, knows that He took a personal hand in complex weather patterns because of the sexuality of part of the New Orleans population.

Steve Lefemine was pretty sure it was actually abortion that caused the Almighty to let fly.

Our very own Stephen Green figures it was all kinds of frowned upon behaviour that meant the city was, quite frankly, asking for it:

"What an expression of trust in God and holy fear of God it would be if the people of New Orleans told the abortionists, the criminals, the pimps and whores, the drug pushers, the voodoo priests and the homosexual tourists, 'Your presence has cursed us. We don't want you back; we don't want your money.'"

And inevitably, it turns out it was actually Allah taking action against the Great Satan:

"It is almost certain that this is a wind of torment and evil that Allah has sent to this American empire."

Amazing how everyone seems to know what God was thinking. Amazing how closely His will matches their own prejudices.

Comments [ hide comments ]
This is hot stuff Ben. I hope you can go on to tell us which of the leaders of Anmerica's major Christian denominations - Episcoplian, Methodist, Roman Catholic, Quaker and Baptist - have also declared they think the hurricane was a punishment from God?

Or is this some kind of cartoon argument - and if so do the religious people get to quote mad and fraudulent scientists as representative of science?
field, 19.01.2006, 9:03am #
I've read your comments policy, but that was a pretty harsh deletion. The comment related to the '...people called Green' thread, but that's been untouched for a month. Thought it was relevant.

Suit yourself.
Don, 22.01.2006, 6:43pm #
This is a really great site. Keep it up! I will be reading regularly from now on.

A related site you might like...

http://libertariandefender.blogspot.com - The Libertarian Defender (atheist, skeptic, libertarian, relativist)

Lots of great stuff to find on the Web. Cheers, and keep the new posts coming!
Frank, 22.01.2006, 7:21pm #
yes, gawd msut punish us brutally because he is too lazy and whiney to get off his ass to use his omnipitent powers to foresee all that goes on in the world. almighty my ass ^_^
Shaggy, 28.01.2006, 7:47am #
Yes, it has always been a curiosity to me why the hypothetical God should get upset about things in the world if, as many believers suggest, he is omniscient. He must have seen it all even before he supposedly created it. If he is also omnipotent, he could have created it differently.
So, one would have to suppose that, if he is both omniscient and omnipotent, he is also not very nice.
Maybe the Gnostic Christians got it right when they taught that the world was not created by a perfect, all-powerful God, but by a lesser, and maybe demonic, being they referred to as a demiurge.
In that case, I better watch what I say as I wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of it.
benelailax, 10.02.2006, 7:40am #
this is why people (Like the author of this site) hate God. Everyone is acusing him of hitting us with natural disasters. God doesnt do this stuff to people!! get real!
joe, 20.02.2006, 4:32pm #
Joe
God doesn't do this stuff to people? Sounds like someone likes to ignore the Old Testament.
JGJ, 20.02.2006, 5:54pm #
Bible readers tend to ignore quite a bit of the Bible's contents treating it something akin to a cafeteria, i.e., taking what they want and ignoring the rest.
benelailax, 25.02.2006, 6:53am #
JGJ/Bene -

Even literalists pick and mix.

The pick and mix approach of believers is in fact one of the strongest arguments against Biblical or indeed Koranic authority. It's quite clear that there is no self-evident "Word of God" and everythign is down to human interpretation, which is why you won't find a single Anglican clergyman in the UK who will say with Jesus that people who divorce will rot in hell!
field, 25.02.2006, 2:09pm #
The hurricane activity was within the normal range of probable hurricane events for that time of year, and as such, one must conclude that the weather was no more abnormal than any other year. Therefore it would seem illogical to conclude that a force outside the system of weather, like God, must have produced the hurricanes experienced. While it does not preclude the possibility, the odds are incalculably small. To reason to a highly unlikely outcome demonstrates a mind concerned with an objective other than the truth. You will know a tree by the fruit it bears.
antivenom, 21.12.2011, 3:04am #
i think you put up a good argument. you seem to be blaming the church. i bet that was the point based on the name of the site, but you fail to see fault that what was said was by people, no human could know if god sent them (the hurricains), or, say, a demon maybe. they are wrong to blame god, but you make it seem like all think that way, you are putting a steriotype on the situation.
navellint1989, 16.08.2012, 4:16am #

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