Sometimes the god imagined by fundamentalists has less compassion and logic than Timothy McVeigh. Sure, god could just come down, make an appearance, and TELL us (using his inside voice) if he's mad about something we are doing.
But no. In their minds, he has to blow something up, kill a bunch of children, destroy a town, that sort of thing, then leave us all fighting over what it all means, if anything. Considering that most of us don't try to read metaphysical nonsense into natural phenomena, he would be wasting his time.
And if you were god, would you choose someone like Pat Robertson or the Westboro Baptists to channel your message? I mean, he's god. He could probably afford several minutes of Super Bowl advertising or something. He could even move the Super Bowl to like ... now if he wanted to and make us all watch it. Even if Janet Jackson performed again. But a tornado? That's such an Axial Age thing to do.
And if god is trying to terrify 310 million people by killing 24, does this seem like something an omnipotent deity having a temper tantrum would limit himself to? Americans are living longer, healthier lives than ever. Life expectancy at birth only a century ago was about 47. Now most of us can comfortably plan to live into our 80s if we treat ourselves right and look both ways before we cross the street. If god acts through wanton destruction as the fundamentalists allege, then why are we living so long, so comfortably, and with such interesting things to do?
But no. In their minds, he has to blow something up, kill a bunch of children, destroy a town, that sort of thing, then leave us all fighting over what it all means, if anything. Considering that most of us don't try to read metaphysical nonsense into natural phenomena, he would be wasting his time.
And if you were god, would you choose someone like Pat Robertson or the Westboro Baptists to channel your message? I mean, he's god. He could probably afford several minutes of Super Bowl advertising or something. He could even move the Super Bowl to like ... now if he wanted to and make us all watch it. Even if Janet Jackson performed again. But a tornado? That's such an Axial Age thing to do.
And if god is trying to terrify 310 million people by killing 24, does this seem like something an omnipotent deity having a temper tantrum would limit himself to? Americans are living longer, healthier lives than ever. Life expectancy at birth only a century ago was about 47. Now most of us can comfortably plan to live into our 80s if we treat ourselves right and look both ways before we cross the street. If god acts through wanton destruction as the fundamentalists allege, then why are we living so long, so comfortably, and with such interesting things to do?
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