In defense of the sanctimonious women's studies set || First feminist blog on the internet

Note to World

Lauren

The hurricane was not an act of God to punish us.

The Salvation Army conducted an outside religious service that included songs such as “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.”

“Natural disaster is caused by the sin in the world,” said Maj. John Jones, the group’s area commander. “The acts of God are what happens afterwards … all the good that happens.”

Note #2: Cold-hearted as this may be, this is why I don’t give to the Salvation Army.

In the face of a national disaster, it is difficult not to look for reasons why so many were abandoned or left for dead, but let’s not grow ever more flagrant in our rejection of reality.

C’mon, America. I don’t know why I believe in us much anymore, but let’s get a grip and chuck the fantasies. The god you love is not a god of retribution.

9 thoughts on Note to World

  1. I don’t know why religious fundies NEED to pin blame for otherwise RANDOM, COSMIC, CLIMATE changes on sinful acts. Sometimes a storm is just a STORM, not Noah and the Great Flood, Armaggedon, or the Second Coming.

  2. i’m curious, Ms. Lauren: how do you know that the god (apparently) so many UnitedStaters worship is not a god of retribution? given that their own statements would indicate otherwise…

    & Ms.Maven – my understanding (once personal, not rather distant) is that if you’re religious, excepting a handful of hardcore zen addicts & those troublesome Erisians, there’s no such thing as “just a” anything – no one expects Noah’s Ark to return, but they do (or strive to) see the world as he might have: utterly imbued with supernatural meaning – everything, even a sparrow falling, happening for a reason – of course, this can produce all manner of deranged thinking in the attempt to discern what such a reason might be…

  5. “Natural disaster is caused by the sin in the world,” said Maj. John Jones, the group’s area commander. “The acts of God are what happens afterwards … all the good that happens.”

    OK, explain something to this cranky middle-aged atheist. Is the Major saying that sin somehow causes natural disasters (maybe through stray tachyon beams or something), and those are NOT the work of God? But the good stuff, like human beings helping one another, now THAT’S actually God’s doing? So don’t the good samaritans get any credit for helping?

    Well, I happen to think (I know, nobody asked me) that shit happens, and what matters is how we respond to it. It’s good ol’ HUMAN acts of bravery and compassion that give life meaning, not the inexplicable acts of the Sky Fairy or Flying Spaghetti Monster. But a philosophy like that doesn’t get the faithful to church or fill the collection plates. Ooops. There I go on one of my rants…

    In any case, Lauren, thanks for this site and for all you do!

  6. Ugh. Every xmas I hate walking past the grinning/judging bell-ringers. So sanctimonious, thinking I’m cheap for not giving them change, when I’m really totally offended by their BS charity bait and switch (where help is replaced by preaching and god hot-air blowing). I consider missionary work cultural terrorism, and I’d sooner give my cash to people who need it.

    I won’t give to the red cross because of their homophobic blood ban, so I donated to a local pool drive. Emily’s link is great.

    Lauren – hope you’re finding a silver lining to all the trolls…

  7. Every other country has openly admitted it, so why can’t we?…Hurricane Katrina was a result of GLOBAL WARMING! The ocean was 2-3 degrees warmer than average…(unusually)warm front+cold front=devastating hurricane. And it’s not even the height of hurricane season yet!

    I’m not positive about the exerpt from the Bible..but it is bitterly ironic that our own greed and neglect for the environment would lead to our own demise. Several scientists HAVE predicted a slew of increadibly devastating storms to come as a result of global warming. Several scientists also predicted that the levees would not withstand a category 4 or 5 hurricane….perhaps we should start listening to the scientists…

    However, it’s not fair that the rest of the world has to suffer when America has done most of the damage. Clinton did work on a plan with the Japanese to conserve our natural resources, but Bush refused to sign it when he came into office…obviously because the oil men would not profit from it.

    It’s a pity the hurricane devastated thousands of innocent victims…rather than, say, a ranch in Texas?

  9. I don’t give to the Salvation army because they are a homophobic organization. That pretty much does it for me.

Comments are currently closed.