From Jon Stewart
Warning! PG-13 material to follow. Jon Stewart opened his show on Thursday night with the following bit on the Hurricane Rita's approach:
Listen, friends. I'm not blaming God for all the hurricanes but Stewart is only following the natural and logical conclusion of most of our God-talk. We, as Christians, will say in one moment that God blessed me today with a parking space but in the next moment we'll say that God had nothing to do with the hurricanes.
Part of my quest as a Christian is to find consistent language about the way God works in this world. Stewart does well at pointing out that we Christians have a long way to go before we make sense to the rest of the world.
I have this quick thing I want to say to the Almighty: "What part of God bless America don't you get?" How many times do we have to go over this, "GOD BLESS AMERICA, from the mountains, to the prairies, to the...the whole *&%@@! thing." BLESS! This song is not, "God flatten or drown, fill with water." What do you want from us? We already have almost as many churches as strip clubs? What else do you need? You're really bumming me out, dude.
Listen, friends. I'm not blaming God for all the hurricanes but Stewart is only following the natural and logical conclusion of most of our God-talk. We, as Christians, will say in one moment that God blessed me today with a parking space but in the next moment we'll say that God had nothing to do with the hurricanes.
Part of my quest as a Christian is to find consistent language about the way God works in this world. Stewart does well at pointing out that we Christians have a long way to go before we make sense to the rest of the world.
posted by jch at
12:31 PM
4 Comments:
I hear ya, Joe. That's why I never say things like, "There, but for the grace of God, go I." The implication is that those who suffer, for whatever reason, are w/o His grace and protection.
A good example is the tragic bus accident east of Dallas a couple of years ago where some teens lived and some died. Without realizing it, parents who claimed God's hand protected their child who lived were only adding more pain to the parents whose children died.
We are careless and insensitive with our words.
I'm sure you've had your own share of pain caused by insensitive words, yes?
I too find myself praising God but I don't want to blame God.
We did have to leave for the hurricane and not knowing what happened to our home was hard. But this morning we found out our home is intact with little damage. You bet your sweet patooties I praised God's name for finding that out. I praised him for keeping us safe, our home safe and our family safe.
Did he cause all this? I think his plan for the earth put all the elements together to cause this. So I don't blame him or think he pointed his finger and said for it to happen. But I certainly want him to get the credit for my happiness.
Does all this make sense? No, and I still struggle with what you are saying. But if I can give him praise, I will.
Peggy in Texas
Great post, Joe. This is one of those issues that I think most Christians don't like to think about or even address because they're afraid that they may come to some blasphemous conclusion. But, my bottom line is, of course God is responsible. That may sound crazy to people who've been raised in the Church of Christ (God knows, it did to me when I came to that conclusion) , but I believe it to be the case. To the ancient Jews, God was the source of all: order, chaos, good, evil. And the Old Testament explicitly says so many times. Isaiah 45:7, Job 1:21 and 2:10 (in fact the whole book addresses it) are a few of my faves. But, then it becomes a very difficult pill to swallow. How is God a just god when he rains down sorrows on the righteous and the unrighteous? The answer he gives Job is: "Who are you to tell me what's best for you? Or how I should run my creation? I see the big picture. You're just one of my pieces. How dare you think that your righteousness is so lofty that you can stand toe-to-toe with Me and put Me on the witness stand to defend my creation and my justice."
It's difficult for us to handle that because the ancient Jews had an, ultimately, pretty cold view of their Creator. But, ironically, through Jesus, I personally think we view God as something less than He is. We've brought Him down to our level instead of recognizing how small we really are. God came to us in the form of a man and I think we've kept him there because it's easier to understand when He's walking among us. It's easy to enjoy God when he's rattling off maxims and life lessons rather than off in the cosmos coldly regulating the world. (Not that I think God is cold...) I refuse to think that God reaches down and smites because I believe to do so is presumption of the highest order. But when destruction is cause by elements of a world that he created piece by piece, it is impossible to not come to the conclusion that God allowed whatever horrible thing it was to happen. Where we get bogged down is dealing with the miserable interim while God's plan is worked around us through the disaster. Can you blame God? Sure. But, Job tried and he got cosmically pimp-slapped. To get angry at God is natural. But to claim a greater knowledge of outcome than God is simply a sin.
This was a fabulous post. Thank you. Living here in Louisiana, we're a bit touchy about people saying that these storms were God's wrath on our state. And yes, I express my thanks that my family was safe. I agree with Peggy that it is so important to share our praise of God with those around us who may not be Christians. And in the end, yes, finding appropriate user-friendly language is vital.
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