Who's in charge up there?

I just read a fantastic article the other day, located HERE:
http://www3.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0410/feature5/index.html

Please read it before continuing with my comments below. It is HIGHLY relevant and even significant. As you read it, remember that it was written about a year ago.

Okay, you're done? Good. Brace yourself.

My comments have to do with the fact that I'm an atheist, a Recovering Mormon. And while I think there is probably some merit to the tired old idea of, "If there is an all-powerful god out there, why did he allow this disaster to happen?" that isn't where I'm going to go with this. Besides, it's a worn out, worthless argument that a lot of atheists jump on when they have an unsuspecting Christian to bash on about their beliefs. What utter, unproductive nonsense that is.

Instead, I'm going to milk a different worn-out argument which makes a little more sense, frankly. Come to think of it, I don't recall hearing it presented in quite this way so perhaps this is somewhat original.

We find that over and over again throughout history, religion has had to bow down to the power of science. The earth is not flat, it's round. The planets revolve around the sun, not the earth. Disease is caused by microorganisms, they are not punishments from a divine being. Comets are little balls of space debris, not the sword of god. Eclipses are merely the shadow of one big ball onto another, not god giving us a warning. You know. So much religion flushed down the toilet of scientific research.

And hurricanes really kick ass when they get to hustling right along. Guess what, though? Science predicted this one. Not any religious leaders. The Mormon guy is Gordon B. Hinckley. He and fourteen other top Mormon men all claim to be, "Prophets, Seers, and Revelators," their words, their definitions. And yet, Katrina ripped through New Orleans like a snow blower with fangs on serious steriods. And not one revelation from Salt Lake City to protect New Orleans Mormons or anyone else for that matter.

Of course, nobody in any other prophetic career claimed any prior knowledge either. Not the Pope, not Billy Graham, not Robert Schulyer, no fortune tellers, no voodoo witch doctors and no indian shamans talking to the bones. Nobody. (Are these guys even still alive?)

Oh, wait. There was one group which predicted everything about it except the timing. Well, they didn't say the name of the hurricane, either. And they messed up when they originally predicted a different path for the hurricane in the days before it struck. But face it: They came a lot closer than anyone else! Didn't they?! Of course they did. Re-read the above-referenced article if you're still unsure. It's nearly a year old.

Okay, if you wish to believe in a divine power of some flavor, be my guest. I don't have a problem with people believing what they will, even in the face of this kind of natural disaster. But at least think about it. What I'm alluding to above is bad enough: Religion isn't protecting people, even though they really do claim to be able to do so. What's horribly bad is when religion gets out there and claims that this hurricane and the recent Pacific Tsunami and all sorts of other things are punishments from god for the decadence of any particular locale.

Speaking of the punishments of the Judeo/Christian god, I thought that before he punishes the evil guys he sends a prophet to warn them first and give 'em a chance to repent. Or move outta town. You know, Jonah was sent to Nineveh to threaten those people and get them to follow god, otherwise, they would be destroyed. Jonah even got pissed off when god spared them because SURPRISE! They all repented. Then god repented, I guess. Whoa.

And didn't two guys, angels even, go to Sodom and Gomorrah to tell Lot to get outta town? Sure enough, the cities were destroyed by god. Didn't Noah even have a few years to build a king-sized boat? All according to the Bible, that is.

So, if these modern sinful people were about to be destroyed by an angry god, where was their fair warning? You know, the kind of warning people used to get when they were about to be wiped out? Oh, I know. People will say that god gave us a blanket warning in the book of Revelations. And then went on vacation for the last two thousand plus years. Must've gotten tired of telling us all the same damn thing over and over again. So what is he doing now? Hangin' out and wiping out a city now and then just to give us a reminder that he's still there and he's still pissed off? He can take the time to sucker-punch us from time to time but he can't be troubled to give us the advance notice warnings any more?

Puh-leeze.

No, religion claims to be the solution of all of society's ills and yet, nobody was saved from the hurricane or any other natural disaster and they never are. The only thing religion ever does is claim, after the fact, that those people were evil and they deserved it. Like they're saying, "Surprise, surprise, burn in hell, cretins." Or words to that effect.

To religion's credit, a great many of them are out there helping the people who were hurt by Katrina. They did it after the Tsunami. They ALWAYS do. They ALWAYS will. Kudos to them and they have my support for such things. But don't say that any disaster is from god or that any person deserved such a tragedy. It's ludicrous at best and insulting at worst.

And time to polish up those crystal balls and peep stones and Urims and Thummims or whatever and get to protecting your people! I have a good one for ya. What about that bulge in the ground in Oregon?
http://www.livescience.com/forcesofnature/ap_050906_sisters_bulge.html The scientists candidly say they don't know what's up. How 'bout you religious prophets? You have a chance to outdo science this time. Do you have an answer for us on this one? BEFORE we find half of Oregon under a lava field?

--Wag--