William Blake’s depiction of God speaking to Job out of the whirlwind.
Originally posted March 5, 2011, at Both Saint and Cynic. Republished with permission of the author.
Last week, after a deadly tornado struck Harrisburg, Ill., I wrote a post in which I noted that Pat Robertson and John Piper were, to that point, silent about the how and why of this natural disaster.
Robertson had previously said that a 2010 earthquake struck Haiti because the Haitians had made “a pact with the devil.”
Piper had said that a 2009 tornado in Minneapolis was sent by God as a “warning” to the ELCA about the ordination of partnered gay clergy.
I speculated that the two were silent about the Harrisburg tornado because the people of Harrisburg are too much like their constituencies.
It is easy to demonize those with whom we disagree. It is easy to say “Aha! God sent this disaster to you as a sign of his judgment.” But it is a different matter when disasters strike those who are just like us.
Since my blogpost, more tornadoes have devastated the American Midwest, and today both Piper and Robertson weighed in on the subject. Their responses are almost diametrically opposed and quite revealing.
This time around, Pat Robertson says that God doesn’t send disasters against wrongdoers. Tornadoes are naturally occurring events. Still, Robertson tends to blame the victims. “Why do you build houses,” he asks, “in a place where tornadoes are apt to happen.” He also says “Don’t blame God for doing something foolish.” He also suggests that more prayer might have provoked God to intervene, stilling the cyclonic storms.
Piper takes a very different approach. He raises the question, “Why Henryville, and not Hollywood?” Why were small Midwestern towns destroyed and the urban centers of libertine sinfulness spared? Piper’s answer is a resounding shrug. God sent the tornadoes, but God’s will is inscrutable.
Piper’s reply evidences what I call the Monotheist’s Dilemma. If there is only one God, then that God is responsible for both weal and woe. Piper’s respect for God’s sovereignty is in perfect keeping with his neo-Calvinist theology.
Wrestling with the question of why the righteous sometimes suffer and the evildoers sometimes prosper, Piper’s answer is that we really cannot know. I might wish he had been as circumspect in his remarks about the Minneapolis tornado in 2009.
So, Robertson blames the victims and Piper blames God. In the end, I think it is safe to say that both Robertson and Piper have taken softer positions than they did previously. Neither of them is quite so ready to pinpoint the reason for these tornados as God’s judgment against specific people for a specific cause.
It’s easy to see God’s wrath in a disaster that strikes those whom we think are not like ourselves. When the victims of a disaster look just like us, it is a different matter.
I’m not ready to blame either God or the victims. This week’s tornadoes provide us once again with an opportunity to care for our neighbors in their need. Please give to a reputable relief agency. If you don’t have another relief agency in mind, I can recommend ELCA Disaster Response.
Find a link to Brant Clements’ blog Both Saint and Cynic at Lutheran Blogs.
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On the ground in Joplin
How Lutherans respond to international disasters
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I often say that sometimes we suffer because of our own sins, sometimes we suffer because of the sins of others, and sometimes we suffer for no apparent reason. However, if God is sovereign -- and He is-- then all things must be in His permissable will, although we might not understand His will on this side of heaven. I agree we cannot always know "why" things happen, and it is not our place to ultimately assign blame. Whatever the cause, disasters do give us the chance to serve our neighbors and thus proclaim God's love and mercy.
I've always thought with that tornado during CWA that it was there to warn the people speaking against inclusion...
More seriously, though, we can see natural disasters as God's judgement against us. Not against them, or those other people, but against us. And when faced with God's wrath, we only have one solution: turn to God's mercy (aka repent).
Peter:
The tornado the happened during the 2009 CWA came during Bible study. Almost instantly upon the voting on ministry policies, the sun began to shine gloriously. One must be careful in interpreting signs.
Bill,
I was being facetious there. I agree that we need to be careful in interpreting signs, but so far as God's Law goes, it's usually most helpful to ask how these signs are condemning us, as opposed to the "other" group. Even if I get sick, how does that lead me to repentence? If someone else gets sick, did I get them sick? Have I failed to help them in their sickness?