"Almost no one in conservative Christianity will believe that the Almighty is mad at us for the many murders of trans people, or for doing too little to convert from fossil fuels to solar and wind energy, or for electing leaders like Donald Trump, Jair Bolsonaro, and Rodrigo Duterte. It won’t occur to them that maybe the Lawd is punishing us for our endless wars, or for the rich neglecting the poor, or for the child-rape perpetrated by so many of his Earthly representatives, or for the U.S. failing to implement “socialized” healthcare. That’s crazy talk.

To believers on the right, God is like a Magic 8-Ball that they’ve quietly rigged to supply only preferred answers. Ask the ball why we get deadly hurricanes or viruses, and the answer is “gay marriage.” Ask it again, and you’ll get “taking prayer out of schools.” A third time, it’s “pornography,” or “saying Happy Holidays,” or maybe “Starbucks cups with the wrong motif.”

Just like their religion, it’s childish, predictable, and substantially falsified."

“It won’t occur to them that maybe the Lawd is punishing us for our endless wars, or for the rich neglecting the poor, or for the child-rape perpetrated by so many of his Earthly representatives, or for the U.S. failing to implement “socialized” healthcare. That’s crazy talk.“

As you rail at these strawmen with variations of ‘orange man is bad’, please take notice that in America, all those egregious things that a good Almighty would be mad at, are the result of a thoroughly bipartisan agreement and action.

Orange man *is* bad. But his predecessors in office were worse. The side of the aisle that you hate *is* evil, but just as evil is the other side. The red/blue/blue/red game is thoroughly rigged against you and against your fellow citizens and against everything you and I could agree on being good.

America needs a *2nd* Party before it can think about a 3rd.

Human Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> “It won’t occur to them that maybe the Lawd is
> punishing us for our endless wars, or for the rich
> neglecting the poor, or for the child-rape
> perpetrated by so many of his Earthly
> representatives, or for the U.S. failing to
> implement “socialized” healthcare. That’s
> crazy talk.“

It does occur to me that maybe god is just the most convenient word we have long use to describe the 'eternal mystery' of our otherwise unlikely existence in a universe that tends towards chaos, which remains an eternal mystery to all of us, even the most learned scientists at NASA or the LHG in Cern, who discovered the God Particle.

THey have yet to discover "Dark Matter" and "Dark Energy" which makes up 95% of our universe, according to String Theorists.

That's a vast eternal mystery and remains so.

I think it's beautiful to hear a prayer that begins with, "Eternal Mystery", which I have only heard once, on the trail to Santiago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dqOI87nSU0


> As you rail at these strawmen with variations of
> ‘orange man is bad’, please take notice that
> in America, all those egregious things that a good
> Almighty would be mad at, are the result of a
> thoroughly bipartisan agreement and action.
>
> Orange man *is* bad. But his predecessors in
> office were worse. The side of the aisle that you
> hate *is* evil, but just as evil is the other
> side. The red/blue/blue/red game is thoroughly
> rigged against you and against your fellow
> citizens and against everything you and I could
> agree on being good.
>
> America needs a *2nd* Party before it can think
> about a 3rd.


"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom the emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand wrapped in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed. The insight into the mystery of life, coupled though it be with fear, has also given rise to religion. To know what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty, which our dull faculties can comprehend only in their most primitive forms-this knowledge, this feeling is at the center of true religiousness." Einstein

schrodingerscat Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> https://friendlyatheist.patheos.com/2020/05/17/63-
> percent-of-american-believers-think-covid-is-gods-
> way-of-trying-to-change-us/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm
> _medium=facebook

It changed the bejeebers out of me

If Mother Nature is their god they might have it right. Nature will not be mocked!

Pooped Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If Mother Nature is their god they might have it
> right. Nature will not be mocked!


Right. Substitute the writer's sacrastic, "Lawd" with "Mother Nature" and it makes it not crazy, but true.

“It won’t occur to them that maybe (Mother Nature) is punishing us for our endless wars, or for the rich neglecting the poor, or for the child-rape perpetrated by so many of his (HER) Earthly representatives, or for the U.S. failing to implement “socialized” healthcare. That’s (NOT) crazy talk. (THAT'S TRUE!)“

Maybe Mother Nature IS punishing us for our endless wars.
Maybe Mother Nature IS punishing us for being fat, out of shape, hearts diseased, diabetic, old and stupid enough to eat bats and pangolins and other endangered species.
We're NEVER going to CURE Covid until people quit eating raw bats, which are known carriers of 7 different types of Covid disease, 4 of which have jumped to humans and 2 of which are currently active.

Maybe Mother Nature IS punishing us for the rich neglecting the poor.
Maybe Mother Nature IS punishing us for the child-rape perpetrated by so many of HER Earthly patriarchal humans, (although I doubt it, since that behavior is not uncommon in much more ancient species of animals that are NOT affected by pandemics like ours.)

Maybe Mother Nature IS punishing us for the U.S. failing to implement “socialized” healthcare.

That’s NOT crazy talk.

THAT'S (mostly)TRUE!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/18/2020 02:35PM by schrodingerscat.

"A defense contractor's report purporting to show evidence that China manufactured the virus responsible for the pandemic—a favored Trump conspiracy theory—is being slammed for being filled with false claims and conjectures. Reputable scientists studying the genetic makeup of the virus remain quite sure it is natural in origin, likely originating in bats before crossing to an unknown animal host, then to humans."

I guess Im in the 37% of conservative Christians who do not believe the Pandemic is punishment or a push to change. The thing about opinions is that everyone has one. Since a survey can not possibly question everyone, it can not possibly get the absolute answer.

Crazy comes in all flavors, nationalities, genders, life choices, religions, atheism, politics, etc.

There is always going to be an "US vs. Them" because it is human nature to point to the people in the other camp and say "They are not like us; they must be crazy."

Cheers,
RMM

" Where in the Constitution of this great nation does it say that I can’t smoke wherever I choose? I DEMAND that my constitutionally protected right to do whatever I want, whenever I want, wherever I want, not be infringed."

It’s probably Gods attempt to get their attention. Sigh another missed opportunity. Religion needs to look within.