I have heard the same sentiment expressed in different places and times. I heard it on the news again this morning: why are we being punished? Today it was an Icelandic farmer whose fields were covered in volcanic ash. I don't get why some people still quickly gravitate to seeing natural events as a direct conscious act of the Divine, bent on retribution. I don't get it.
I get it when we're talking about an ancient society with little knowledge of the science of the earth. When one's world view is small and local, the big picture of moving tectonic plates is not the first thing that comes to mind.
The volcano on Eyjafjallajökull sits right over the tenuous boundary between two plates of the Earth's crust. It is an active volcano zone. This mountain has a relatively recent history of similar eruptions. Erupting is what volcanoes do. It is natural. It is normal. It just happens.
So are earthquakes and tsunamis and rains and droughts. It is part of the life of this planet.
None of this dismisses the anguish and hardship and death that often comes to people living in these areas. They deserve all of our compassion and help. The deserve our prayers. But they are not served by an outdated theology that blames them for these hardships.
Natural disasters are not the result of an angry or vengeful god. And it is a lengthy stretch of providence to say that since it was God who set the universe in motion that these resent natural events were part a master plan to reward or punish people based on their faithfulness.
I believe in a God who actively loves and supports and cares. I just don't believe that God dictates that volcanic ash will fall on a particular field because of what anyone does or believes.
Can I get an "Amen"?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment