Wednesday, September 07, 2005
MARK GIVES HIS INTERPRETATION
of the hurricane. (Scroll down to "Until further notice from God...")
UPDATE
Setting wisdom and prudential judgment aside, I'll comment.
Mark: First, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Second, God is in control of stuff (including weather).
Since you admit God is in control of weather, why do you think He chose not to stop Katrina before it hit New Orleans?
Mark: But playing Lifeboat is much less fun when you are in a lifeboat and sensible people know that there is a time and place for speculating on the mysterious purposes of the Almighty and a time and a place for shutting one's trap and just helping.
If by "Lifeboat" you mean the game of who gets to stay and who is thrown overboard, what on earth does that have to do with the subject at hand?
What specifically are you doing to help, other than sending cash?
When is the "time and place for speculating" in your opinion?
Mark: I believe God judges evil.
Give us an example of God judging evil.
Mark: picture God as a huge pissed-off bearded guy who smashes whole populations indiscriminately without bothering to distinguish between the innocent and the guilty.
How do you explain the great flood? The destruction of the second temple and dispersion of the Jews?
Who are the "innocent"? In paragraph one you indicated that "all have sinned and fallen short".
Mark: when God shows us our own faces and reveals to us who we really are.
How does God show us our own faces? Could you provide an example of God doing this?
Mark: God doesn't stop the proceedings and smash the evildoers.
Well, He did send darkness and an earthquake when Christ was crucified. Some folks might have thought this halted their proceedings somewhat. Katrina halted the Southern Decadence party. I don't suppose Mardi Gras will be the usual event in 2006. Most likely drug trafficing has been interrupted. Since you admit that God controls the weather, and since the weather is the cause for these changes of plans, I'd be interested to know to whom you're assigning resonsibility.
Mark: Everybody remembers the people who were certain they saw a judgment on New York in 9/11. I'm one of them. And the judgment I saw was, "New Yorkers are awesome!" I was repeatedly moved to tears by the incredible stories of heroism, sacrificial love, and nobility that came out of that horrible moment.
You seem to have no hesitation in judging goodness. What sort of discernment refuses to recognize its opposite? If you can't judge evil, how do you manage to avoid it?
