Judging from the numbers of recent aggressive articles and angry letters to the editors of newspapers, it is my probably biased judgment that old Satan is getting a bum rap. Fair play is fair play. He is being accused of such dis-similar events as the spread of AIDS, purse snatchings, fixing the football playoffs, and trying to inject secular ideas into the Christmas spirit. Fortunately, the $63 million Inaugural went off without a hitch, so Satan got a pass on that one.
My research holds that in the King James version of the Bible, in Revelations 12:7-9, that Satan and other so called fallen angels became the tempters of men and the source of evil in the world. The Christian church also holds that the fall of man was the result of Satan’s actions. So Satan leaves the starting line under a tremendous handicap.
As an uninvolved observer of religious affairs, it seems to me that old Satan has been accused of just about all the sins of mankind. There are some fair minded people in New York City who speak a smattering of Yiddish, who might say, “Enough already.” Perhaps those who don’t speak Yiddish would express the same sentiments. But it now appears that Satan is being blamed for the tsunami disaster. This is on top of shoplifting, stealing kisses and other heinous crimes.
My thoughts about the tsunami disaster would be for the world, and especially Americans, to demonstrate sympathetic understanding, not to fix blame so soon. To a dismaying degree, however, some Americans have said to the Southeast Asians that it serves you right because you are Muslims or Hindus or Buddhists. This old essayist was not prepared for such a response. What ever happened to compassion? What ever happened to live and let live? Christmas religious activities also seem to provoke some angry sentiments, even if it was only a non-partisan editorial in a local newspaper. It is becoming more difficult every day for non-believers to believe that Satan has had a hand in just about everything that turned out wrong in the past year. So this old essayist says, “Enough already!”
Let us take the tsunami matter. Being born in the American Midwest, my education about tsunamis was largely minimal. Of course, the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers flooded from time to time, but the floods rarely killed anyone in contrast to the 220,000 residents of Southeast Asia who appear to have recently lost their lives. With my Midwestern mindset, it was assumed that tsunamis are a secular development and can be explained by science. But from all appearances, some Americans see tsunami disasters as a religious matter devoted largely to Satan of Revelations fame. So it appears that tsunamis have both a secular as well as a spiritual aspect to them. That is, if you believe the angry letter writers.
Susan Agee, who writes a column for the Detroit Free Press, wrote an article in early January, having to do with whether any God was involved in the tsunami disaster. Ms. Agee wondered, “We raged at terrorists who killed a much smaller number of people on 9/11, but we feel only sadness at what is called an act of God. If God is all powerful, how can he, she or it wash the earth with such trauma and grief?”
Ms. Agee did not have to wait long for responses from her readers. Lori Stuit of Royal Oak was convinced she knew exactly what had caused the tsunami to occur. Ms. Stuit declared, “God did not cause the recent tsunami to occur. Satan did. While there is an all powerful God of this world, there is a God who is all evil: Satan. I am surprised at how many people don’t take time to think about this. I feel bad for people who are lost and confused.”
Do you think in matters of evilness, Satan can trump God? If God did not cause the tsunami, did he permit it to occur? Did he care one way or another, or was it a case of yielding to a higher power in old Satan? Ms. Stuit seems to say that Satan is “an all powerful God.” Is that where the matter rests? Is Satan the most powerful person in the universe? Ms Stiut seems to concede on that point.
Richard (Skip) Parker had a good bit of ecclesiastical information to share with Ms. Agee. Parker said, “God does not cause bad things to happen. He is in control and has the power to stop anything if it is his will to do so. Therefore, if bad things happen, he must have allowed it. What God does is always in our best interests even when we can’t understand it.”
In effect, Brother Parker contends that God could have stopped the tsunami if he or she or it had wanted to do so. And we are told that maybe the tsunami was in “our best interests” even if we don’t think that is the case right now. Many people will gag at Skip Parker’s reasoning. On the other hand, Skip did not blame old Satan outright, but we all know, he reserves the right to hang the tsunami on the main fallen angel.
Tim Long took a different tack. He wrote, “So you think God killed those people? I thank God that he gives me life every day. I am a National Guard soldier in Iraq. God protected me from harm. Are you a Christian or not?”
When Susan Agee asked Tim Long, “Why didn’t God protect your dead comrades from harm?,” Long did not reply. Tim only wanted to get his two cents worth in on the tsunami issue.
Do you suspect that Long believes that being a Christian is a safeguard against harm? Do you think God protects Christians and says for everybody else, “You are on your own.” Is that the way it works? How is this all going to work when the Iraqi troops are trained. They are virtually all Muslims. Will George Bush’s God protect the Christians but not the Muslims? Do the Iraqi troops know that they are unprotected by the Christian God?
Long’s sentiments are close to another reader who did not sign his or her name. That respondent said, “The Bible tells us that countries who forget God will pay a price. These countries that just got hit are almost exclusively Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu, religions that worship pagan Gods and ignore the one true God. It won’t be long until this country pays a price as well, and we will have people like you (Susan Agee) to thank. The tsunami is just another sign of prophecy being realized. Maybe someday you will get it, but I doubt it.”
The reader who did not sign a name must have been an angry person. From all indications, he or she must have confused his beliefs with historical facts. We will see some more of this attitude when we deal with the Christmas editorial. In this case, Susan Agee who posed a question about the tsunami was judged by some readers to be a full fledged infidel because the question was posed in an objective fashion which reporters use. In every case, it seems to me that, one way or another, old Satan is the culprit. There are those of us who believe he or she or it is taking a bum rap for an undersea earthquake over which Satan has no control. It must be suspected that Susan Agee has had enough of the tsunami business for awhile.
But that did not prevent one angry television commentator, Michael Savage, from offering a December 31, 2004 broadcast wherein he cleansed himself of these thoughts:

“You could take the argument that it’s God’s will, it’s too bad and let’s move on. And then let others help them. They’re not in our sphere of interest. Primarily, they hate our guts in plain English. All right, well the argument is, well, if you send them money, they’re gonna like us, show ‘em we’re not anti-Muslim. That is such rubbish. That is such rubbish. They’re gonna hate you anyhow, no matter what we ever do.”
“If you are a God believing, God-fearing person, I am sure at some point you ask yourself, wait a minute: The epicenter of this earthquake and the resulting tidal wave was adjacent to the sex-trade island of Phuket, Thailand…and then it knocked out many, many regions of Indonesia, some of which are the most vicious recruiting grounds for Islamic terrorists…”
“Many of the countries and the areas in these countries that were hit by these tidal waves were hotbeds of radical Islam. Why should we be helping them destroy us?”
“We shouldn’t be spending a nickel on this, as far as I’m concerned…I don’t want one nickel of my money going over there…I am sick of being bled to death by every damn incident on the earth.”
Source: Media Matters for America at www.mediamatters.org

Well, many of us believe with the scientists that an undersea earthquake took place with a resulting shifting of the plates of the earth’s surfaces. Shifting the plates caused tremendous waves to occur and hence, the tsunami. Scientists don’t think Satan had much to do with it. In none of their reports have we seen his name mentioned, nor is the CIA looking for him. So while there is no love for Satan in this corner, it is disturbing to see an innocent bystander get side swiped, even if it is the evil Satan. My book says Satan had nothing to do with the tsunami and that Michael Savage needs psychiatric advice.
So much for the tsunami. Let us more on to a Christmas editorial.
In spite of family feuds and fights, Christmas is generally believed to be a time of joy. Allegedly, the sentiments of peace surround us. For Christians, it is the time to celebrate the birth of Jesus to what we are told, was the Virgin Mary. Joseph, Mary’s husband, is often overlooked at Christmas time, but he was the other half of this couple.
Christians at Christmas have visions of eternal life spent in ecstasy in a heavenly kingdom. With all that to look forward to, why are some Christians so defensive? It is a wonderment, but John P. McGee of this town is a pretty good example of my wonderment.
Millburn is a town with Catholics, Protestants and a large serving of Jews. There may even be some non-believers. Attracted by the excellence of the school system, property is now being bought by the Chinese and Indians. Some day soon, we may have temples devoted to the worship of Hindu and Buddhist gods to go with our churches and synagogues. The editor of our weekly paper, The Item, is painfully cognizant of the religious diversity of Millburn. As far as is known, the various religions reside here in peace with a little harmony thrown in.
The Item never denigrates any religious observance. However, when the editor composed her Christmas editorial, she included these fateful lines:

“…more and more Americans are questioning the place of religion in
Christmas.”

Clearly, her reference was to the commercial aspects of Christmas when we are deluged by ads to buy diamonds, fancy watches, fur coats and expensive cars.
But John P. McGee took offense. Reading those lines must have incensed him as he said, “I realized it was time to take up the pen and express my resentment at the demeaning description of Christmas….”
Now some nay-sayer may believe that Mr. McGee “took up the pen” under the influence of holiday alcohol. Far from it. He reports that with all the shopping done and with his house appropriately decorated, he looked forward to some down time on his sofa as he read The Item with the inflammatory editorial. He reports, “I could now relax and enjoy the final approach of Christmas Day. I fixed myself a soft drink, settled on the sofa and started to read…” So you see John Barleycorn had nothing to do with his angry response. The villain at work was decaffeinated Coke or Pepsi, or most likely, old Satan.
His letter goes on at some length to site his religious beliefs as historical facts. There is a juxtaposition between the McGee letter and the thought expressed earlier that religious beliefs had much to do with the tsunami. Perhaps, it comes under the heading of, if we believe it, it must be a fact. Nice try, but historical facts are one thing; religious beliefs are quite another.
Well our neighbor, Brother McGee ends his diatribe with the thought that, “If the silent majority would sit up and speak out you would find that the facts are otherwise.” All of this over an editorial in a neighborhood paper aimed at offending no one.
It is fairly clear that McGee would tend to blame old Satan for writing the offending editorial. It must be suspected that he would find Satan’s hand in the tsunami disaster as well as in the fender benders that take place in the darkness of the Christmas season.
No one has arranged for me to meet John McGee. His name suggests he is a fellow Celt and in the end, he may appeal to me. But in the meantime, if McGee states his case for the “silent majority,” it is clear that Satan will never be reformed enough to satisfy some folks who see the world only in black and white terms. Can Satan be reformed or redeemed? Around here, not on your life, even if he is being unfairly maligned. Satan should accept the unfair accusations coming his way with good grace and humble gratitude. And he should refrain from saying, “Merry Christmas.” If Satan adopts such a forgiving attitude, he may, in time, emerge as one of our national heroes on the order of Santa Claus or Bernie Kerik. Then he will be fully redeemed.
E. E. CARR
January 25, 2005
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Every mention of theodicy reminds me of this comic, and more specifically the phrase “God works in mysterious, dickish ways.” Because how else do you pretend that a tsunami is ultimately in everyone’s best interest? I also love how these same people, when tsumanis and hurricanes hit Christian nations, are likely to then turn it around and blame it on gays in those countries. (Bonus comic)
So basically the argument goes “so long as >5% of a given population is not exactly like me in every respect, that population deserves to get hit by a hurricane.”