Where was God in Noah's flood? He was systematically drowning the entire world, animal as well as human, as punishment for 'sin'. Where was God when Sodom and Gomorrah were consumed with fire and brimstone? He was deliberately barbecuing the citizenry, lock stock and barrel, as punishment for 'sin'. Dear modern, enlightened, theologically sophisticated Christian, your entire religion is founded on an obsession with 'sin', with punishment and with atonement. Where do you find the effrontery to condemn Pat Robertson, you who have signed up to the obnoxious doctrine that the central purpose of Jesus' incarnation was to have himself tortured as a scapegoat for the 'sins' of all mankind, past, present and future, beginning with the 'sin' of Adam, who (as any modern theologian well knows) never even existed? To quote the President of one theological seminary, writing in these very pages:
"The earthquake in Haiti, like every other earthly disaster, reminds us that creation groans under the weight of sin and the judgment of God. This is true for every cell in our bodies, even as it is for the crust of the earth at every point on the globe."
You nice, middle-of-the-road theologians and clergymen, be-frocked and bleating in your pulpits, you disclaim Pat Robertson's suggestion that the Haitians are paying for a pact with the devil. But you worship a god-man who - as you tell your congregations even if you don't believe it yourself - 'cast out devils'. You even believe (or you don't disabuse your flock when they believe) that Jesus cured a madman by causing the 'devils' in him to fly into a herd of pigs and stampede them over a cliff. Charming story, well calculated to uplift and inspire the Sunday School and the Infant Bible Class. Pat Robertson may spout evil nonsense, but he is a mere amateur at that game. Just read your own Bible. Pat Robertson is true to it. But you?
Educated apologist, how dare you weep Christian tears, when your entire theology is one long celebration of suffering: suffering as payback for 'sin' - or suffering as 'atonement' for it? You may weep for Haiti where Pat Robertson does not, but at least, in his hick, sub-Palinesque ignorance, he holds up an honest mirror to the ugliness of Christian theology. You are nothing but a whited sepulchre.
Riding on the coat tails of more popular atheists, Loftus, being the blind follower he is, follows suit as well.
I was thinking of doing my own post on this topic. I have heard Christians say Pat Robertson is a moron for suggesting the Haitian disaster was a divine judgment for too long now. No, they are the morons. Pat Robertson represents Christian tradition, not them, as Dawkins said in a Washington Post column
Listen Christian, ever exegete Isaiah 45:7 (NIV):
I form the light and create darkness,
I bring prosperity and create disaster;
I, the LORD, do all these things.
Does your God do this or is Isaiah mistaken?
Claiming "modern, enlightened, theologically sophisticated Christians" are not true to the bible or are morons for disagreeing with Pat Robertson on whether or not the Haiti Disaster was divine judgement is Dawkins and Loftus at their best. They menacingly circle around their opponent and attack. They land punches, elbows and knees, until the man of straw they're assaulting is nothing more than a pile of scattered straw. The "modern, enlightened, theologically sophisticated Christians" are just as biblicaly justified for disagreeing with Pat Roberston than Roberston is for saying what he said. God creates disaster yes, the bible clearly says that in Isaiah. Does that mean God caused every single disaster? does that mean God caused the earth quake in Haiti? no it does not. Does God causing the flood or the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah mean that God caused every single disaster? or caused the earth quake in Haiti? no it does not.
God saying "I create disaster" is no more conclusive He caused the specific disaster in Haiti(or every disaster for that matter) than it is conclusive that Roberto Succo causes every murder or a specific murder in South America because he said 'I Kill People.'
Saying or insinuating that God caused the disaster in Haiti because He caused disasters in the past is logically fallacious.
At this point it has become plainly obvious that neither Dawkins nor Loftus knows what they're talking about, and Loftus's case it is extremely ironic since his challenge to exegete Isaiah 45:7 was nothing but a false dichotomy. Truth is, that unless God told Pat Roberston to directly say that, then neither he or the "modern, enlightened, theologically sophisticated Christians" know exactly Who or what caused the earthquake and since both views are biblical neither can be accused of being not true to the bible. The fact that Pat Robertson is an elder is grounds for respect, not infallibility.
