Those of you who are involved in Protestant theological matters will recognize the title of this essay, “End Times,” with no hesitation. For those unacquainted with theological matters of the Protestant faith, perhaps I should explain that the words “end times” mean the end of the world. True believers hold that the end of the world will come about as a result of a giant fire or a similar disaster.
I had a bit of trouble producing the title of this essay because the alternative title was “Have We Grown Up a Bit?” My answer to the growing up business is at this moment fortunately yes. If that is so, I believe that for all of the misfortunes that have afflicted the human race, there is one element for which we should be quite grateful. I will get to the grateful part shortly.
When the year 2010 appeared on our calendars on a cold January morning, we had no real idea what to expect. There were wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the stock market was showing feeble signs of recovery. But in the meantime there had been several developments that were unforeseen. My guess is that we have been quite fortunate in spite of all of the tragedies because of one factor, which I will shortly review.
Let us consider some of the tragedies that have taken place this year. At the outset, there were flooding and landslides in a good part of theChineseRepublic. The human death toll was appalling. But now we turn from the death toll to the story among Protestant preachers who have yet to remind us that the flooding and mudslides were the work of a vengeful God. The preachers have said almost nothing. The fortunate part for all of us is that as we offered our sympathy to the Chinese people, we do not have to fear that a vengeful God turned on the communist atheistic government that caused both the flooding and the slides. The flooding and the mud slides are natural phenomena and the preachers have yet to claim responsibility for identifying the god or gods that caused all of this to happen.
Then we turn to another communist country that embraces atheism. That of course would beRussia. In the Russian case, in 2010 we find that the fires in the peat are so great that monstrous cities such as Moscow are covered with acrid smoke. Peat is a natural substance in the ground that the Irish, for example, use to heat a room or two in their homes. I suppose the same thing is done inRussia. But when a peat fire gets established, it is extremely difficult to put out. But, once again, we are spared the likes of Pat Robertson or the late Jerry Falwell telling us that it was a god’s revenge against an atheist society such as Russia.
Leaving foreign affairs, I find that this summer, gangs of teenagers from Chicago for example are killing each other with reckless abandon. I dislike seeing teenagers shooting each other, but equally I am delighted that we are not reminded by the clergy that this is the act of a vengeful God. Why the children shoot each other is a function of the National Rifle Association and its desire that every person be armed. When a young man carries a gun, the chances are that he will, in time, use it. He may use it to kill another person. But in any event, we are blessed in that loudmouths such as Pat Robertson and the late Jerry Falwell are not telling us that the Chicago situation is the revenge of a vengeful God.
Then in the spring, a volcano erupted in Iceland, a thoroughly natural event. Ashes were spread from Iceland through much of northern Europe, resulting in monsterous delays in air traffic. The blessed event is that we were not told that a God or Gods had caused the volcano eruption. The clergy were silent on this event.
And now we turn to other matters. We find that the year 2010 has introduced Pakistan to the worst floods in its history. The Pakistanis, unlike the Russians and the Chinese, are not atheists. They are Muslim. Indeed, they pray five times per day. But, again, I say that we are extremely fortunate in that we are not reminded by loudmouth preachers such as Pat Robertson and his ilk that the reason that Pakistan is troubled by floods is because of a vengeful God.
Next we turn to the stock market, where there is tremendous volatility. Fortunes are made and fortunes are lost by the Dow averages each day. So far, we have not been reminded that such a turn of events need be a product of a vengeful God. I suspect that gods of all faiths are busy seeing their own gains and losses.
Finally, there was the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. I know that this was not an act of God because it has been proven to me that the oil spill was clearly the work of Satan himself. Gods had nothing to do with the oil that is washing the shores of the Gulf of Mexico.
My extreme pleasure at not being reminded about vengeful gods comes about because five years ago, Pat Robertson had told us that Hurricane Katrina came about for a specific purpose. It seems that god or gods were angry in the extreme because women on the floats in the Mardi Gras parade that year removed their blouses, exposing their breasts while they passed out beads to the onlookers. According to Pat Robertson, that was thoroughly offensive to the gods that were ogling the breastwork. So according to Robertson, the gods sent Hurricane Katrina to New Orleans. Since Katrina, we have heard very little from His Holiness, Rev. Pat Robertson.
And so it is that I believe we are in good shape. We can handle the floods and the fires and the shootings without being distracted by theological warnings that a god or gods are extracting vengeance on sinners such as me.
My mother was a great believer in the end of times. She would have taken a different view from my own in that she would have considered the floods and fires and shootings as definite signs that the world was coming to an end. She would have hummed and sang the old spiritual about “It’s Gonna be Fire Next Time.” I believe that we have dealt with our fortunes rationally and there is no reason to cite god or gods in such earthly affairs as floods and shootings etc. And so it is for that reason that I concluded that in these end times, as they are called, we must have grown up a bit since Pat Robertson warned us about looking at exposed female breasts. I am very grateful for the Reverend Robertson looking out for my interests, but I must assure him that in my condition, I didn’t see one single breast in that whole episode. Perhaps we have shown maturity in the last few years since the Mardi Gras parade. If that is the case, I would say that this country is fortunate in not blaming god or gods for our misfortunes.
When we start to solve our own problems with the mental faculties that each of us possesses, we will then be in a position to mark another great step forward. This modest essay is a tribute to the good fortune in dealing with catastrophes without invoking the thought that the end times are just around the corner.
E. E. CARR
August 16, 2010
Essay 486
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Kevin’s commentary: Good (or not so good) God, 2010 was a mess. I guess this does mean that we’re growing up somewhat, though I’m pretty sure I remember more natural disasters being blamed on the gays in the last few years.
What we haven’t grown up much with, though, is doomsday predictions. People see all this craziness and continually predict the end of the world. There have been several recently, including the whole Mayan thing at the end of 2012. I guess those will just keep coming, but I feel bad for that small subset that believes them every time and uproots their whole life because a crazy person says so.