Heather MacDonald of Secular Right used the occasion of the tragic Continental 3407 crash which killed 50 people to make a point about atheism.
Will Bill O’Reilly or anyone else who saw the hand of God in the safe landing of US Airways Flight 1549 this January please explain why God chose not to save Continental Connection Flight 3407, which plunged into a house outside of Buffalo last night, killing all 49 people on board and a resident on the ground?
Among the explanations which will not be accepted: “humans cannot possibly fathom God’s mysterious ways.” Oh yes they can, apparently—when something good happens. Having found proof of God’s love in the safe conclusion of US Airways Flight 1549, believers cannot now turn around and claim that God’s ways are veiled just because something disastrous happens. If it’s legitimate to infer beneficence from a happy outcome, it is equally plausible to infer malice or at least indifference from a negative outcome. You can’t pick and choose the actions in which you find God’s will transparent.
Sweet, huh?
So offended by people saying “Thank God” after that plane landed in the Hudson river that she felt the need to evangelize her atheism and make a point just hours after the crash. Sad.
February 14, 2009 at 2:52 pm
There were some present at that very time who told him of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered thus? I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen upon whom the tower in Silo’am fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, No; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Lo, these three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down; why should it use up the ground?’ And he answered him, ‘Let it alone, sir, this year also, till I dig about it and put on manure. And if it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down'” (Luke 13:1-9 RSV).
There, the Christian perspective on how the hand of God functions in tragedies as well as why said tragedies occur. That wasn’t too hard.
February 14, 2009 at 2:57 pm
As for members of the Secular Right and other various denominations of the Atheist religion; men in general seem to care more about their ideas and theories than their fellowman, and you don’t seem to be an exception.
Contrary to popular belief, seeking truth 24/7 at the expense of others is not “seeking truth for the sake of truth,” nor is it “enlightening the masses out of simple charity.” It’s a self-absorbed, juvenile, petty ego-trip–nothing more, nothing less.
February 14, 2009 at 3:02 pm
It’s the old Problem of Evil repackaged as if no one has ever thought of it before. In my experience, when you put the Problem of Good out there, then you really see the “we’re all alone” view look like so much chopped liver.
February 14, 2009 at 5:10 pm
If she’s not willing to assign good to God, why should she assign evil? Sometimes bad things “just happen” – but when they don’t, we all know whose fault it really is.
There was a beautiful bit in a season 3 episode of Touched by an Angel I saw recently about God and bad things happening. I can’t find the whole quote, but it goes something like this:
Phil (guest angel Bill Cosby): “God isn’t pain, God is healing.. God isn’t hate, God’s love… I wouldn’t blame God for the things I didn’t get. I would thank God for the things that I have.”
February 14, 2009 at 9:55 pm
She does bring up a valid point, though her tone could have been a little more conciliar, rather than declaring unequivocally that believers have no explanation. As apologists, we shouldn’t be afraid to delve into why we attribute benevolence to our loving Creator. I had the same questions when I was a self-proclaimed agnostic. When the tsunami in Southeast Asia killed hundreds and thousands of people, I remember one young man (the lone survivor in a family of twelve) asked why did God spare him? Whenever I stub my toe on something, I usually have the audacity to beckon to God, “How in the heck could you possibly allow this misfortune to happen?” Always been a ‘glass is half empty’ kind of guy. Please pray for me.
February 14, 2009 at 10:08 pm
She does bring up a valid point,
Not really. 15 minutes of web searching would turn up plenty of material dealing with belief and the problem of evil beyond, “it’s a mystery!” But she can’t be bothered with that becuase she’s got a target and stick and by gum she’s gonna use it!
I’m not afraid to “delve into why we attribute benevolence to our loving Creator” at all. I do however need someone willing to listen.
February 15, 2009 at 10:07 pm
Hold on there Matt…she’s asking the same question that went through my head when I heard about the Buffalo crash. If one reasons that it was an act of Providence that spared the lives of those who were rescued from the Hudson River landing–if those people were saved (not in the Christological sense, har, har)because God placed pilot Chesley Sullenberger right there and then–because there are no accidents, then one may wonder the reason why those 50 people on the Buffalo flight were placed then and there by the same hand of Providence, no?!
February 16, 2009 at 12:13 am
She wasn’t asking a question. She was furthering an agenda. There’s a difference.