The Hand of God.

God responds to pontifications of Falwell and Robertson

In every disaster, whether we are talking about a tornado, a hurricane, a flood, or a mass shooting, as was the case this last weekend in Aurora, Colorado, there are always a number of people who fare better than others.  Amidst the pain and sorrow, some of which is so powerful that hope for the future is obscured, there is also a great amount of gratitude that things were not as bad as they might have been. All of these are healthy, natural responses to disaster.

The discussion becomes particularly interesting when one reaches into the realm of theology.  In every disaster, it is almost inevitable that some Atheists will question how a "merciful God" could allow such things to happen.  One can only describe such a remark as being in horrible taste.  These folks choose the moment of disaster to attempt to win an argument, the result of which could ultimately destroy what little the disaster victim has left, the very thing that might be keeping him or her going.

On the other side, it is equally inevitable that folks will emerge who credit the grace of God for sparing their house or life even as those of others were destroyed.  In many ways, I find this line of reasoning to be equally tactless.  This sort of theology has implications that are puzzling at best.  If God saves or protects one person from harm, does God not also fail or refuse to protect others in the situation?  And if God is in the business of saving people from disaster, then how does God decide who ought to be saved?  It seems like Jesus himself says that the sun rises and the rain falls on the righteous along with the wicked (Matthew 5:45).

Of course, examples of this sort of this theology get even more extreme.  During the week of MDS service in Alabama, we had opportunity to listen to one of the clients.  His home had sustained significant damage in the tornadoes of 2011, and MDS had just completed the repairs.  The gentleman explained that his son had been a preacher, but had died of cancer the night of the storms.  The man and his wife returned home from the hospital to find that a tree in their front yard had been uprooted and sent through their roof, but damage was restricted mostly to the garage, although the rest of the house was in disarray.  In a typical display of tornado force, the chain from the man's bathtub drain plug had been driven through the tile of his wall without so much as cracking the tile. The man explained that their home had gotten off relatively lightly, compared to the rest of the neighborhood, which was all but leveled.  "God protected our house," said he.  "But it made the devil so mad that he destroyed the rest of the neighborhood."

Really?  Especially if I were the man's neighbor, I would have some major problems with that theological explanation.  Is this guy really suggesting that he was saved from disaster because of his own worthiness vis-á-vis his neighbors?  Although I suppose his belief is genuine, and its implications not fully thought through, I just have difficulty believing that God had anything to do with the natural disaster at hand in Alabama.

This gentleman's account, however pales in comparison to the assessments that the likes of Pat Robertson and the late Jerry Falwell have made of such events as 9/11, the earthquake in Haiti, the hurricane in New Orleans, the tsunami in Japan, and many others.  The details of their pontifications do not bear repeating, but you can follow the links if you cannot remember.  These people besmirch the good name of Christianity just as much as those who would use these events to prove absence of a merciful God do atheism.  There is no compelling evidence to suggest that God has anything to do with disasters that are the natural byproduct of our tectonic plates and weather systems; even less evidence to suggest God is behind tragedies such as 9/11, Aurora, Columbine, or other such human caused disasters.

Moreover, my understanding of God's involvement in any of these things is functionally quite atheistic. I do not see the hand of God at work in disasters, natural or human.  I do not see the devil at work, either, for that matter.  What happened in Denver was an individual actor.  Many of these happen every day, though on a lesser scale.  Nevertheless, they do not represent the devil at work. 

On a broader scale, the concept of powers and principalities of evil is a good description of my understanding for those common motives that seem to develop lives of their own to cause harm to real people; for example, excessive profit motives that cause disregard for the environment, for human life, for common decency.  In one of his sermons, my friend Alan Stucky provided an excellent description of this understanding of powers and principalities, particularly related to the development of oil fields in Harper County, Kansas, where he lives and pastors the Pleasant Valley Mennonite Church.  Because of the money involved with oil, oil company employees, drifters, and profiteers have flocked to the county, occupying all available hotel and rental space.  Because they can earn more rent money in this market, land lords increase their tenant's rent, often doubling it overnight and driving it beyond rates their tenants can afford.  Those who have land prosper, but the sudden wealth can have negative consequences also, and so on.  Listen to his sermon; it is worth the time.

Similarly, the work of God is not so much tied up in the miraculous, but in what we do for our neighbors.  The ability to recognize a need and seek to meet that need without recompense.  The ability to forgive and hope for better in the face of tragedy.  The ability to shirk the powers and principalities to other people's benefit.  In many ways, the hand of God is our own.