# Just curious how drowning a bunch of kids can be considered God's will **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 15, 2025, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-curious-how-drowning-a-bunch-of-kids-can-be-considered-gods-will/1020860 "2025-07-15T01:00:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![mjmartin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3d9bf3/32.png) [@mjmartin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mjmartin)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2025, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-curious-how-drowning-a-bunch-of-kids-can-be-considered-gods-will/1020860/121 "2025-07-15T17:57:15Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > It is a vile OP. Why on earth should religious beliefs be exempt from the same examination and at times ridicule that is applied to any other thoughts? There are a multitude of Christian denominations, but I believe it is fair to say that the concept of a loving and all powerful God is shared by all or nearly all of them. For an all powerful God, preventing these deaths would be trivial. Any other philosophy that made excuses for someone or something that refused to use trivial efforts to save the lives of 30+ children would be mocked and ridiculed. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2025, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-curious-how-drowning-a-bunch-of-kids-can-be-considered-gods-will/1020860/122 "2025-07-15T17:57:50Z")
The only MAGA opinions I have actually seen, as opposed to the anti-Christian bigotry of the OP, is that the Democrats made the flood happen, because they control the weather, and Democrats are servants of Satan. This can be classified more accurately as insanity, not Christianity, ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2025, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-curious-how-drowning-a-bunch-of-kids-can-be-considered-gods-will/1020860/123 "2025-07-15T18:02:50Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > It is a vile OP. I really don’t agree. And here’s why: _"Imagine the people who believe such things and who are not ashamed to ignore, totally, all the patient findings of thinking minds through all the centuries since the Bible was written. And it is these ignorant people, the most uneducated, the most unimaginative, the most unthinking among us, who would make themselves the guides and leaders of us all; who would force their feeble and childish beliefs on us; who would invade our schools and libraries and homes. I personally resent it bitterly.”_ –Isaac Asimov Particularly since this latest development: [**IRS says churches can now endorse political candidates (NPR)**](https://www.npr.org/2025/07/08/nx-s1-5460886/irs-now-says-pastors-can-endorse-political-candidates) It really is #8 in the [**“14 Characteristics of Fascism:”**](https://secularhumanism.org/2003/03/fascism-anyone/), so I no longer think it can be considered as sacrosanct. > **Religion and Ruling Elite Tied Together** > > 1. Religion and ruling elite tied together. Unlike communist regimes, the fascist and protofascist regimes were never proclaimed as godless by their opponents. In fact, most of the regimes attached themselves to the predominant religion of the country and chose to portray themselves as militant defenders of that religion. The fact that the ruling elite’s behavior was incompatible with the precepts of the religion was generally swept under the rug. Propaganda kept up the illusion that the ruling elites were defenders of the faith and opponents of the “godless.” A perception was manufactured that opposing the power elite was tantamount to an attack on religion. Collectively, they’re on offense. I think some measure of public scrutiny is a very reasonable price to pay. I think the last decade +/- proved something to us: faith – the belief in things for which there simply is no evidence – is NOT benign. It can be extremely harmful. It can tear a country apart. It can pave the way for an Authoritarian Head of State. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2025, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-curious-how-drowning-a-bunch-of-kids-can-be-considered-gods-will/1020860/124 "2025-07-15T18:05:25Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > The gods worshiped at the beginning of time have no relation to the gods worshiped today, and all gods worshiped today have little relation to each other. Complete unadulterated bullshit. > [@Czarcasm](#): > > Or you can wallow in your “persecution”- Personally I am a secular Jew. Your delusion that self righteous mockery of the beliefs of others, of the tools that they use to try to make sense of the world, is “questioning and doubting” is pathetic. I’m all on board fighting against so called religious freedom which imposes its beliefs on others. Whatever faith that does it. I am completely on board with contempt for those who would fail to immunize due to a stated believe in God’s will. I am bored by discussions whether or not there is a god. This shit ain’t that. This is tribalism. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2025, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-curious-how-drowning-a-bunch-of-kids-can-be-considered-gods-will/1020860/125 "2025-07-15T18:06:14Z")
The pro-“Christian” bigotry against atheists, agnostics and other sects, both “Christian” and not, _far_ surpasses any supposed anti-Christian bigotry you may find here or, indeed, the outside world. ---
**Author:** ![We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/We_re_wolves_not_werewolves)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2025, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-curious-how-drowning-a-bunch-of-kids-can-be-considered-gods-will/1020860/126 "2025-07-15T18:09:55Z")
> [@DavidNRockies](#): > > Y’ever notice when high profile televangelists do the same thing, but publicly? Like, they blame LGBTQ+ people, or abortion, when natural disasters happen. > > Yet, they’re oddly silent on this kind of thing. > > Seems a bit of a double standard, no? yes, it’s absolutely vile when they do it also. And if this thread was about the double standard exhibited by high profile “Christian” evangelists, I would have no issue with it. But the OP was very much not that, it was a despicable cheap shot delivered in the face of a terrible tragedy. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2025, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-curious-how-drowning-a-bunch-of-kids-can-be-considered-gods-will/1020860/127 "2025-07-15T18:15:16Z")
But was the shot that cheap, considering the self-proclaimed Christians that have declared that there was nothing to be done( like moving away from areas known to flood, or be home to tornados, or home to earthquakes etc.) because it was “God’s Will”, or even to imply that this was done on purpose to bring some sort of spiritual benefit to others? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2025, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-curious-how-drowning-a-bunch-of-kids-can-be-considered-gods-will/1020860/128 "2025-07-15T18:16:19Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > This can be classified more accurately as insanity, not Christianity, So, is the idea here that, if a non-Christian calls a Christian’s belief “insane,” that’s bigotry. But if a Christian calls another Christian’s beliefs insane, that’s okay? ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2025, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-curious-how-drowning-a-bunch-of-kids-can-be-considered-gods-will/1020860/129 "2025-07-15T18:19:46Z")
Are the parents of the children who died, anyone involved in the camp, even the idiots actually gutting our ability to predict, warn, prevent, and respond to disasters, actually saying that in this case? Seems like the only motivation in this case is that it was a a Christian religious camp. So mock the deaths! ---
**Author:** ![We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/We_re_wolves_not_werewolves)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2025, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-curious-how-drowning-a-bunch-of-kids-can-be-considered-gods-will/1020860/130 "2025-07-15T18:26:18Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > considering the self-proclaimed Christians that have declared that there was nothing to be done who among the “folks that ran that camp in Texas” (OP’s words) has said that? ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2025, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-curious-how-drowning-a-bunch-of-kids-can-be-considered-gods-will/1020860/131 "2025-07-15T18:26:19Z")
And no I don’t consider describing the event using the phrase “act of god” counts. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2025, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-curious-how-drowning-a-bunch-of-kids-can-be-considered-gods-will/1020860/132 "2025-07-15T18:34:23Z")
It’s just a coping mechanism to help the mind deal with the unimaginable horror those children experienced and what the survivors are dealing with. The randomness can’t be explained by rational thought, so people turn to their deity to help them cope. Those who don’t believe in a deity realize that the world is a random place and that there is often no explanation for what happens. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2025, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-curious-how-drowning-a-bunch-of-kids-can-be-considered-gods-will/1020860/133 "2025-07-15T18:35:41Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > “Bad things and suffering happen so how can there be a god!” is not the “gotcha!” that some here think it is. Sure it is; the “Problem of Evil” _has no solution_ that matches what the vast majority of religious people want to believe. It’s just that believers ignore that and instead scream about how awful it is that anyone dares criticize their beliefs in any way. The believers have no answer, so they try to shout down everyone else instead. Because they’d rather see the world burn than admit they are wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2025, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-curious-how-drowning-a-bunch-of-kids-can-be-considered-gods-will/1020860/134 "2025-07-15T18:37:45Z")
> [@](#): > > “It was her time on Earth,” the translator said the parents told her. “They believe she’s better off where she is now.” Make fun of those people? No. Be disgusted by their stubbornly destructive views? Yes.. > **[Parents of Texas child who died of measles stand by decision to not vaccinate](https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/20/texas-measles-family-gaines-county-death/)** > > The measles vaccine has been proven to be safe and effective against the disease, which is highly contagious and can be life threatening. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2025, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-curious-how-drowning-a-bunch-of-kids-can-be-considered-gods-will/1020860/135 "2025-07-15T18:42:26Z")
Unless you are an agent of an insurance or governmental agency, it certainly does count. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2025, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-curious-how-drowning-a-bunch-of-kids-can-be-considered-gods-will/1020860/136 "2025-07-15T18:48:11Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > believers ignore that and instead scream about how awful it is that anyone dares criticize their beliefs in any way. I am not a believer. I am up for discussions about the “problem of evil”. I am up for intellectualalizing about the human need for comfort in the face of tragedy. Why as a species we make up the myths we do. This is not that. > [@Jackmannii](#): > > Make fun of those people? No. Be disgusted by their stubbornly destructive views? Yes.. Not a quote of a parent of a child who died in this tragedy. You found one of many ignorant fools. Yes that person is disgusting. AND anyone who said that negligence in this tragedy is okay because we trust god and shouldn’t do things to protect ourselves is disgusting. Any cites of who those people in this case with deaths are? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2025, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-curious-how-drowning-a-bunch-of-kids-can-be-considered-gods-will/1020860/137 "2025-07-15T18:48:42Z")
“The couple, members of a Mennonite community in Gaines County with traditionally low vaccination rates, spoke on camera in both English and Low German to CHD Executive Director Polly Tommey and CHD Chief Scientific Officer Brian Hooker.” This is a case of Christians actively following the will of the god they follow and dying for it. This isn’t me mocking at them or laughing at them. This is me pissed off at those that either follow beliefs like theirs and others that would shut down conversations about situations like these because their decisions were “spiritually founded”. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2025, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-curious-how-drowning-a-bunch-of-kids-can-be-considered-gods-will/1020860/138 "2025-07-15T18:50:40Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > The pro-“Christian” bigotry against atheists, agnostics and other sects, both “Christian” and not, _far_ surpasses any supposed anti-Christian bigotry you may find here or, indeed, the outside world. So that makes it okay? ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2025, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-curious-how-drowning-a-bunch-of-kids-can-be-considered-gods-will/1020860/139 "2025-07-15T18:52:52Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > The believers have no answer, so they try to shout down everyone else instead. Because they’d rather see the world burn than admit they are wrong. When you can distinguish between people of faith and people who have really stupid rigid ideas about faith, I will be able to listen to you. Believers have no monopoly on rather seeing the world burn than admit they are wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2025, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-curious-how-drowning-a-bunch-of-kids-can-be-considered-gods-will/1020860/140 "2025-07-15T18:54:17Z")
I could waste time worrying about the mouse scurrying about the china shop because they could be a bit of a problem, but that tribe of wild elephants running through seems to have distracted me just a bit. Funny, that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-curious-how-drowning-a-bunch-of-kids-can-be-considered-gods-will/1020860.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-curious-how-drowning-a-bunch-of-kids-can-be-considered-gods-will/1020860.md?page=8)