God As A Weapon Against Humanity

Since I live next to the ocean on this Florida sand dune...

...I pay particular attention to weather forecasts and the possibility of "acts of God."

So when I read that a well known religious broadcaster, Pat Robertson, said on "The 700 Club"...

...that God may vent His wrath against Orlando, Florida by summoning hurricanes, earthquakes, terrorist bombs "and possibly even a meteor," I took notice.

After all, a good wind could pretty well wipe out...

...me, my cat and my trailer (with the ocean view).

And, come to think of it, an earthquake, a terrorist bomb, or a meteor wouldn't be so good either.

Why would God be so upset with Orlando?

After all, it's conservative and Republican...

...both of which appear to be important for staying on God's good side and getting into heaven—at least according to some who talk a lot about such things.

Well, it seems that Robertson feels God could well direct such things this way to get even with Orlando for recently allowing gay groups to put up rainbow flags...

...in support of sexual diversity.

If some flags in Orlando could cause such divine retribution, I sure glad I don't live near San Francisco!

But, come to think of it, they had a big earthquake a few years back.

So I guess that was God's way of getting even with the goings-on there.

But I wonder how Robertson explains school buses on the way to church camp that overturn killing children...

...or bombs that go off in Christian churches?

Maybe one of those children was a latent homosexual...

...or someone in that church was thinking homosexual thoughts.

Okay, so that was beneath even me, but ponder this for a moment:

Do not the bulk of these TV preachers get their power and status (not to mention considerable wealth) from...

...trying to get the rest of us to believe they hold a privileged position with God...

...and possess some sort of divine wisdom?

Once we believe such things, these people can go on to make threats on God's behalf.

...hurricanes, earthquakes, or terrorist bombs.

Maybe there will even be a self-styled terrorist who feels he'll simply be doing God's work by blowing up a building somewhere.

Sort of save Him the trouble.

Once we start believing such stuff, is getting 900 men, women and children to drink cyanide all that hard to believe? (Remember Jonestown?)

Or slaughtering men, women and children (heretics!) in the name of a (loving!) God.(Are you up on your history?)

Pretty extreme rhetoric?

Yes.

But I was in the newspaper business for a few decades and regularly saw such stuff...both here and around the world.

And stuff like this will continue to happen...

...until we really get hold of the central message of all real religions.

It's expressed in many ways, but it all comes down to...

...love your neighbor as yourself...

...even if your neighbor is a different race or sexual orientation....or disagrees with your beliefs...

...(beliefs, incidentally, that have an uncomfortable way of changing over time).

Using God as a weapon against people is a little like the kid who constantly threatens to have his big brother beat up on you...

...unless you do as he says.

In addition to the commandment to place love above all else...

...God gave us an individual mind and an ability to think.

Maybe His plan was to have us use both of these personal talents...

...and not abandon them and blindly follow anyone...

...who is counting on us not to use them.