Franklin Graham: A Chip Off the Old Blockhead

[SteveG1]

@Diogenes the Cynic

Let’s enumerate:

1. According to the stated doctrine of the SBC (Graham’s denomination) Everything that happens, happens only by the will of God.
2. Therefore hurricanes happen by the will of God.
3. Therefore, Graham believes that God allowed a hurricane to destroy New Orleans and will now “use” that devastation to create a new city free of all homos and voodoo charms.
4. Therefore, his claim that he’s not saying god sent the hurricane as punishment is completely disingenuous, and not really a denial anyway and is completely contradicted by every single other thing else that he said.

Yup yup, and God “did” 9/11 and that big tsunami, and when the Yellowstone supervolcano goes pop, that will be God judging homos and voodoos and commies again. Except the bastards always backpedal and qibble when called on it. No balls. Fucking pansies.
[God]Smash puny humans[God]

[Good_Egg]

I used to have that problem; if God controls everything, and He lets people get hurt, etc. then He cannot love them. I have found it comforting to believe that shit happens, good and bad. Fundies attribute the good to God specifically, but cannot explain the bad. I think God loves us all, but the bad stuff was set in motion ages ago, and just happens.

[DocCathode]

Katrina was not the work of the Lord of Israel, I Am That I Am. The blame lies elsewhere.

Things were good for a long time. Then, the pale men came in great ships. Still, the children of the Orishas/Loa were faithful. But, centuries later rose up a houngan named Petro. He drank rum flavored with gun powder. His heart was as stony as his name. People began to follow him.

In the old Rada way Eshun/Erzulie is lustful, coquette overflowing with love and granting the bounties of romance and fertility. But the Petro Eshun/Erzulie is the scorned woman. She comes raging and weeping and stretches out her hand to sunder the bonds of love and curse women with barreness. But, the followers of Petro looked on this and found it good.

For centuries, they called the darkness and sent evil workings at their enemies. It was no Katrina, no lady who destroyed the city. It was the red lord of the storm, Chango. Infected by hatred and all the darkness in their worshippers’ souls, the Orishas/loa underwent a sea change. Chango looked on children and was displeased. The Eshun/Erzulie they had called on to tear apart families for so long was deaf to their pleas to guard those they held dear. Legba, guardian of the crossroads, had been shoved aside so often as some vile spell passed by that he ignored Shangos approaching storm and simply held the doors wide.

With greed and hatred and selfishness, the houngans and mambos made a great veve covering the whole city. The spirits answered.
Either that or it’s a whole meteorological thing (possibly made worse by global warming), hurricane season, a gulf state, lack of funds, poor planning, on incompetence by the head of FEMA and a bunch of other people.

[Thudlow_Boink]

@SteveG1

Yup yup, and God “did” 9/11 and that big tsunami, and when the Yellowstone supervolcano goes pop, that will be God judging homos and voodoos and commies again.

No, that one’ll be God judging the bears. Lazy-ass bears, lying around hibernating all winter; and then going around and stealing people’s pic-a-nic baskets!

[DocCathode]

@Thudlow Boink

No, that one’ll be God judging the bears. Lazy-ass bears, lying around hibernating all winter; and then going around and stealing people’s pic-a-nic baskets!

hmm.

@Billy Sol Hargus

I can’t truthfully say they understood me. Or found peace. Or got clean, even. It appeared, in fact, that much like human-being heathens, the bears blamed their misfortunes on someone else. They’d growl and become irritable when I’d say to them, “The Lord asks only that you believe in His Word and accept His Son Jesus into your life. For you are responsible,” I’d shout, "for your own happiness. You, yes, you, have the God-given power to take control of your lives, to rise above the squalor or your present circumstances and do for yourselves as you wish.
But, just like many of us, they threw in the towel, gave up, and starved to death.
Pusillanimous bastards.

From Don Imus’ God’s Other Son. Truly, the second greatest story ever told.

[aamco]

Looks like God couldn’t find 10 righteous people in New Orleans. No wonder they were condemned. :rolleyes:

@Genesis 18

Then the LORD said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me” … Abraham remained standing before the LORD. Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? … What if only ten can be found there?” He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.”