Every time there is a natural disaster, I hear some crazy Christian leader talk about how God sent the disaster (or at least didn’t prevent it) because of atheists, gays, the ACLU, or some other group that fundamentalists don’t like. Now it is my turn!
Earlier this week, the very religious and conservative state of Oklahoma got hit with a tornado. The tornado was massive and did a lot of damage and killed quite a few people. Wolfe Blitzer even interviewed one of the survivors and guess what? She was an atheist. So while many Christians died from this tornado, one of the very few atheists in this conservative state lived.
It must be a sign from God, right? Who would have believed that God hates Christians and loves and protects atheists? Maybe God just wants to be left alone and all these Christians keep bothering him with their prayers for football teams and celebrities. Speaking of celebrities, Ricky Gervais Tweeted that he felt stupid because all these other celebrities were sending prayers to Oklahoma and all he did was send them money.
While I am joking about God punishing Oklahoma of course, the sad truth is that in a way it is true that Oklahoma is being punished for being so Republican. They aren’t being punished by God though since gods don’t actually exist. But they are being punished by their own stupidity.
You see, in the real world actions have consequences and when you deny that global climate change is even occurring and refuse to do anything about it, than it continues to get worse and worse. Before you know it a tornado gains more strength than they normally would.
Tuesday was primary day and I was at the polls all day in my Republican controlled suburb. One of the Republicans I was working with was complaining about how bad allergies were this year. I reminded her that twenty years ago, only geeks like me had allergies and that twenty years before that no one even knew what allergies were. The reason why allergies are so bad is because Republicans allowed corporations to poison our air.
So now, Republicans aren’t just punishing themselves for their stupidity, they are punishing us all for their stupidity. The worst part is that they are getting away with it because they know how to justify their stupidity with the stupidity of religion. They tell their fellow Republicans that God will come down and fix it all up or that it is just a sign that the end is near and that the Kingdom of God is upon us… or some such nonsense. They tell themselves that people can’t possibly poison the Earth that God created. But the truth is that we are not special and that the Earth is not for us.
Poisoning the planet won’t destroy the planet. The Earth will go on with or without us. But if we want to continue to live on this planet, we have to make sure we don’t fuck it up. When tornados get to be that powerful, it is a sign (not from God obviously). It is a sign that we need to fix our environment. In the meantime, we should help those who in Oklahoma who need help. Atheists can give to charity too.
Related articles
- Atheists raising money for Oklahoma Tornado Relief (examiner.com)
- Asked by Wolf Blitzer if She Thanked God for Surviving the Tornado, Oklahoma Woman Responds: ‘I’m Actually An Atheist’ (patheos.com)
- CNN’s Wolf Blitzer tells atheist tornado survivor: ‘You gotta thank the Lord’ (rawstory.com)
- Atheists Are Everywhere! (skepticink.com)
