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 Seeing the wrath of God in natural disasters was once commonplace.
August 28th, 2011
04:56 PM ET
My Take: God no longer in the whirlwind
By Stephen Prothero, Special to CNN As I am riding out Hurricane Irene on Cape Cod, I cannot help thinking about how differently New Englanders in colonial times interpreted these natural disasters. While we speak of the eye of the hurricane, they were ever mindful of the eye of a God who was watching over them, and sending storms their way as punishment for their collective sins. A fierce debate among academics about secularization theory–the view that societies will become less religious as they modernize–seems to have been won by the skeptics. Yes, secularization of a sort is happening, but only in certain places (western Europe, most notably). And it seems to be reversible (see the United States today vs. the United States in the 1970s). So simple versions of secularization theory seem just plain wrong. However, one place where American society, at least, plainly seems to be growing less religious is in the realm of natural disasters. When the Great Colonial Hurricane raced up the east coast and lashed New England in August 1635, its 130 mph winds and 21-foot storm surge were almost universally viewed in supernatural rather than natural terms—as a judgment of God on the unfaithful. We still have Puritans among us today, of course. Pat Robertson is notorious for turning natural disasters such as the Haiti earthquake and Hurricane Katrina into supernatural communications—God’s curse on Haiti or New Orleans for bad religion or widespread abortions. And on the radio a couple days ago I heard a talk show host suggest that the one-two punch of the recent earthquake and hurricane were two thumbs down from God on the leadership of Barack Obama. Still, American society as a whole no longer interprets natural disasters as signs of some coming apocalypse or evidence of some past misdeeds. And those that do (Robertson, for example) we generally regard as cranks and outliers—relics of a bygone age. Some say science and religion are engaged in a battle for the soul of America. I don’t buy that. I know there are bitter divisions over evolution and creationism, for example. But there are all sorts of spiritual arenas where science is mum, and vice versa. Science and religion run on parallel tracks far more often than those tracks intersect. Hurricanes and earthquakes are one arena, however, where the language of science has almost entirely routed the language of theology. Psalms 107:25-33 reads: “For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. . . . He turneth rivers into a wilderness, and the watersprings into dry ground." Today, the overwhelming majority of Americans—including the overwhelming majority of American Christians—believe that when God has something to say He speaks in less dramatic ways, including the still small voices in our hearts and the slightly louder voices of the preachers in our pulpits. When it comes to earthquakes and hurricanes, however, our authorities are geologists and meteorologists. Most of us interpret these events not through the rumblings of the biblical prophet Jeremiah or the poetry of the Book of Revelation but through the scientific truths of air pressure and tectonic plates. As a result of this sort of secularization, we are much better at predicting the course of hurricanes. The Great Colonial Hurricane of 1635 arrived as a surprise and took many lives with it, including, according to the report of the Massachusetts governor John Winthrop, those of eight Native Americans taken by the storm surge while “flying from their wigwams.” So we are better prepared, thank science. Our stories are far less dramatic, however. The overwhelming majority of Americans believe in God. But their God no longer acts out his fury as in Bible days. Our storms have not yet been tamed. But our God has. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Stephen Prothero. soundoff (2,530 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Next »
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  About this blog
The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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Editor's Note: Stephen Prothero, a Boston University religion scholar and author of "God is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions that Run the World," is a regular CNN Belief Blog contributor.
Err, no offense Steve, but riding out Irene on Cape cod was like riding out a spring shower in your living room. Sure it's wet but as long as the roof is in good shape, everything's cool. Ask someone who rode out Irene in the Bahamas what they think the relationship between God and 'The Acts Of' is and you'll get a starkly different opinion. A 110 knot wind can play strange tricks on the ears.
Been through cat 3 ( edge of Andrew). No god's just wind and rain.
Why, oh why does CNN have articles like this. Oh, Oh I know! So that atheists can ridicule christians even more.
Please...don't blame the messenger.
In before petercha can post 'good point, MrHanson, keep on posting!" lol
Claiming a storm is god's wrath or punishment kind of makes you an easy target... Kindly stop giving atheists ammo...
There are no gods, it is not always about you.
It takes little effort to provide 'ammo' for atheists like myself. Religion is just rife with hilarious content.
Easy MrHanson! That's all they know how to do.
When Christians say that hurricanes that kill 20 people, cause loss of power to 5 million people, and cost $10 billion are a blessing, you really leave yourselves up for ridicule,
you can argue against the existence of God and a spiritual realm, but you can never really prove it. I wasn't much of a believer, but through life's struggles I found that prayer helped, not just because it took me out of myself, but I felt I had gotten an answer, as if God really was listening. I believe now that God sees what we do, knows our hearts and minds, and can influence us. We make the choices, and if we're listening, maybe we can find a better way.
Yes, and perhaps I should write some stories about my experiences, not for cnn, "too wordy"
More of a challenge than "chit-chat" limitations
women with short skirts cause earthquakes. everyone knows that.
... and the gays. Its always the gays.
No no no. The gays cause wars, short skirts cause earthquakes, por.n causes hurricanes and the Democrats are responsible for this economy....
"Professor" Prothero ends his column with "But our God has." not noting that he is a professed "partial" atheist (how can one be part atheist??) i.e. "wishy-washing" the entire commentary.
"Prothero: Some of my best friends are atheists. Some of me is atheist, too. … " http://www.patheos.com/.../friendlyatheist/.../stephen-prothero-talks-about
wish·y-wash·y (wsh-wsh, -wôsh)
adj. wish·y-wash·i·er, wish·y-wash·i·est Informal
1. Thin and watery, as tea or soup; insipid.
2. Lacking in strength of character or purpose; ineffective
I've already been told that the big hurricane was caused by God, who is angry about our president being black. You "christians" are nothing like the guy you worship and venerate.
What Christians are you talking to? :/ Sound nothing like any I know.
Sounds like a few I know. Not all, but there are many.
you all can say and believe whatever you want but Jesus will come back one day and put you where you are suppose to be.
He comes anywhere near me and I'll punch Him in the Holy Nose.
LMAO ... yeah and my DAD will beat up your DAD. (blah blah blah blah)
And then I woke up. The end!
"put you where you are suppose to be"
Buried in the ground or in mausoleums like Christians?
fake
Jesus died a very long time ago, he didn't rise from the dead then and he isn't going to rise now.
I'm just waiting for the Jesus induced end of world zombie invasion. What fun it is going to be! I've got a bat with nails just itching to be used on some zombie skull.
When Jesus comes back, he is bringing his lawyers. He is cosmically P O'ed. (quick, look busy)
Stephen thinks the universe just created itself out of nothing....what a novel concept...
Obviously you dont understand quantum physics or cosmology.
Yeah but my buddy Stephen has more evidence to back up his as.sertion.......
I'm also interested to understand why you despise the idea of the universe beginning from a "big bang" and yet you have no problem accepting that god created himself from nothing (tantamount to scrap metal coming together to form a robot and turn itself on).
I'm not well educated, but thank the Lord I can look out on this world and see all of His marvelous works! If a person chooses to deny that there is a Creator, then (in my opinion) that's OK! I will not demean you for your belief. However, I would hope that people who DON'T believe would be courteous enough to respect my right to believe!
Have a Blessed day!
I agree. No-one should be personally attacked over what they believe. But that does not mean humanity shouldn't continue to be brought our of the dark ages and move away from religion in order that mankind can stand on their own without the illusion and misguided-ness that is religion. Mankind, humanity, life are all beautiful and awe-inspiring without religion and its false claims.
Thanks, you have a blessed day too 🙂
Kebos, I disagree. Life, mankind, etc, are all beautiful. Period. No matter what a person chooses to ascribe them to. Please stop campaigning against those who ascribe them to God. I don't think we are hurting you in any way (or if we are, that's contrary to the Christian spirit).
Yup... we all have a relationship with the Universe and we all are from the Universe. Through our human processes, we manage various energies and aspects of the human condition. When I hold a beautiful sunset in my consciousness, I'm experiencing a magnificent aspect of reality that is pleasurable. There are many contrasts we hold in our consciousness throughout our human process.
Speak to your Christian friends...Atheists aren't trying to prevent people from marrying, athiests don't force Evolution to be taught at Church and Atheists live in a country where the President swears on you holy book. Your statement applies to your faith, not unbeleivers.
I agree, social conservatives are doing some things wrong. We shouldn't force our views on marriage or evolution on anyone else. Really, don't get worked up about swearing on a Bible... You're just promising to tell the truth or be moral.
On the flip side, as we write this, Christian organizations are providing immeasurable care and relief to needy people around the world. (so are secular organizations, of course). Please stop bashing us. You can keep campaigning against social conservatives forcing their views on you. But religion does a WHOLE LOT of good.
When the religious folk that try to shove it down everyone else's throat stop doing it, I'll have a few good things to say about religion. Until then I intend to make it clear WHY I do not want this drivel forced upon me. That includes identifying religion for what it is. If you publicly proclaim your belief in faeries and insist that others live their lives based on your belief then expect to get ridiculed. And if you happen to believe it but are not one of the proselytizers then you are simply collateral damage. Nothing personal, but I intend to fight for my right to ignore your supersti.tions. You can help by fighting for the separation of church and state. Some religious leaders actually do that. (They get my respect)
If god exists he is very confusing and misunderstood. We can imagine him anyway we want. It seems that he only exists in our head. If you were mentally disabled, you would not know god.
You're delusional if you even think that a god exists. People talk to a person who isnt there and think that he will do things for them. Some people actually think that they hear him talking back. Just plain crazy.
perhaps it is more of a matter of the heart rather than the head
@Pachecosita
Perhaps you have to be mentally disabled to know god.
Many don't believe in God, so the question I am asking is 'do you believe in witchcraft?'
god and devil are the same thing....an invention of the human race
Not at all. I dont believe in anything that has not been shown to be true. Everything else is just magic. And magic is just slight of hand.
What's the difference really?
As a matter of fact...YES! But that probably has something to do with my being a Pagan. 🙂
Witches and gods are for the religious.
Could we view Atheism as the modern day Anti-Christ ?
Is there any evidence of a SOUL energy ?
What is an Aura? What is the Chakra System?
Are thoughts recycled energies ? Where are thoughts stored ?
How do we explain out of body (OBE's) that have happened all over the world?
Perhaps there truly is a spiritual dimension we all come from through our incarnating into human bodies? How do we explain ancient civilizations that were completely separate but all have a common belief in a spirit realm?
Could we view Atheism as the modern day Anti-Christ ?
-Oh yes, I live at 666 Mockingbird lane, kneel before me or die.
Is there any evidence of a SOUL energy ?
-no.
What is an Aura? What is the Chakra System?
-Ideas without any applicable measurable value
Are thoughts recycled energies ? Where are thoughts stored ?
-Brains.
How do we explain out of body (OBE's) that have happened all over the world?
-The brain in an altered state.
Perhaps there truly is a spiritual dimension we all come from through our incarnating into human bodies? How do we explain ancient civilizations that were completely separate but all have a common belief in a spirit realm?
-Supersti.tion is a natural result of some of our instinctual learning mechanisms.
Because it's very easy to write off things we don't understand as being supernatural or incomprehensible. It's also pretty irresponsible seeing as in this modern era, we have the scientific method and tools to investigate the events we don't understand.
Really, instead of pointlessly calling atheism the "antichrist" you could have just gone to Google and researched those things you don't understand for yourself. But that would have been harder than saying "God did it."
MarkinFL.... LOL ... awesome answers! Mostly agree with your views. The OBE's though need more research and thought.
Andrew, true, and agreed. I was just throwing some other spiritual or supernatural questions out other than just ragging on Christians (which becomes rather boring after a while)
How does one explain people like Edgar Cyace and then the findings of Michael Newton ? Would LOVE for someone to do research on these two people and come back with some answers or ideas.
Hmm... I would describe Cyace as a visionary, like Davinci. And as Markin pointed out, altered states of mind can change the way you perceive the world. That's important, because when you have another perspective on something, you can learn more about it than if you were only looking at it from one viewpoint.
Francis Crick comes to mind: he's mostly famous for describing the DNA molecule. A lesser known fact is that he was high as balls on LSD when he realized that the molecule would have to be shaped like a double helix.
I think the most disappointing thing about religion (and I don't mean to offend here) is that it diminishes the idea of human potential. Humans are capable of so much, but we choose to believe that we are not the masters of our own fate and ideas. I think it's a sobering fact that we humans are our own highest authority, but we choose not to believe it.
Everyone says "christians" are to blame and that government shouldn't be mixed with religion, ok then let's look @ history and FACTS.... We started as a "christian" nation and prospered for almost 200 years, then we started taking "GOD" out of shcool, off our monuments, and pretty much out of everything, even our current president covers up all the words "GOD" at any place he visits like on walls and other places. and after all of this were now in economy problems and natural disasters and our country looks like its falling. to me looking back at history it seems when we had "GOD" in our nation we did great but now................ just my opinion
Yes, your opinion. And you're a very bad student of history. We in now way started as a christian nation.
We actually started as a secular nation, we went along for a little, had a civil war which killed a bunch of people, went merrily along for a few more years, got mired in 2 more world wars, then inserted GOD int he 1950's into the pledge and on the money to protect ourselves from communists (because that somehow protects us from communists) and then we've been going along ever since. Let's ignore the 1990's where we had a surplus and our economy was doing great, crime was going down, people were opptomistic, because that would clash with your world view, right?
TRUTH... I'm guessing some people on here will correct you that we didn't start as a 'Christian Nation'. Even the words "In God We Trust" didn't go onto the American money until the recent 1950's. It's true though that we need to keep ANY religion out of our government laws. Can you imagine Hindus or Buddhists trying to slip their religious agendas into our government laws? People would be OUTRAGED, and yes, even the self-righteous Christians
THERE IS NO GOD ONLY A FROG AND HE IS ANGRY – REPENT OR BE TOAD
Ever heard or READ the Magna Carta, Declaration of Independance, etc.....
I think Buddhists are pretty peaceful, we could use their laws. I dont really like the whole Hindu caste system though.
You conveniently left out the Crusades and witch burnings. Try owning up to what religion has done to this world.
crusades were catholics and the so called "witches" were christians burned for their faith... but the whole argument goes on and on and its ok to belive what you belive in the end we'll all find out what lies "AFTER" death. I agree with most here that "christians" try to FORCE their belifs down everyones throats. most do and they give everyone else a bad rep but every "religion" does as well, i don't have any religion i just try to do what is right and help others i think these simple practices would help the world out more than anything else. But history repeats itself and the people who are power hungry will always want to fight and never be happy
Goodness, all the differences in the ideology of religion, atheism, and God "the tyrant". Why so hateful and snappy? We can all bring our ideas together without insulting religion. There are good people who do not believe there is a God and good people who do believe. There are religious bigots yelling out about hell on the streets sometimes, and there are ignorant atheists who worship their brains and education but can't find cures for cancer or resolve basic scientific questions. And atheists are also yelling out and getting a little pushy and boastful as well with their own non-beliefs. Mockery? Yes, it is – if you believe in the God of Science and Intellect, then you are also religious, aren't you? That is worship. Atheists worship the science and logic of things that are also unexplainable. Well, gee Mr. Atheist get your science out and cure cancer because prayer and faith will not. Yet, I really have seen miracles of prayer and faith and am awaiting science. they both work and they both fail. Let's all try to be happy whilst we await the coming of the son of man, and at which time, every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. And in the meantime, we are heavily relying on the intellect of the atheists to use their God given giftings (which are wonderful, byu the way) to work harder on cures for disease, than just focusing on religion. Which, by the way, you are all so intellectual that you should know, you cannot categorize every sect of Christianity into the street corner bigots. There are differences. And so are there different types of atheists that aren't insecure and angry.
Don't agree. Religion is an insult to humanity so it's high time it received what it has dished out for a few thousand years.
I have some wonderful snake oil to sell you. I also have some wonderfully crafted imaginary stories to get you to believe so I can control your behaviors and choices in life, taking away your self-empowerment. C'mon over here, lets chat. (wink)
Nice try, tlc. "Good people" who happen to be be Christian prove nothing about the origins of a man-made belief system. Shame. Good people who happen to be atheist prove nothing about the non-existence of a god. The behavior of the believer or non-believer has nothing to do with the story...and the story is certainly extraordinary...which, by the way, requires extraordinary proof. Where is it? NONE. He, our benevolent GOD has required, upon pain of hell, that we believe something with no evidence. How's that for a benevolent god?
Upon the slightest reflection, God’s wrath in the annual spate of Carribean hurricanes quickly disappears. In 1635, the night forest was haunted by demons and the the crushing force of the weather could wipe out an entire village in a heartbeat. In the absence of the knowledge that hurricanes are nothing more that the heat generated by an ocean baking in the Summer heat coupled with the correolis effect, people could be forgiven for assigning cosmic importance to the events.
Such excuse hardly suffices today. I takes an act of jaw-dropping ignorance to believe in such Dark Ages supersti.tious clap-trap in the 21st Century.
Let me make a prediction. The next time there is a tragedy anywhere in the world, be it in India, China, Iran, the United States, Egypt, South America, or anywhere else, the worst educated of the local population will proclaim that it is the wrath of their own god(s). Over the next 12 months, there will be punishments from God, Brahman, Vishnu, Allah, Yahweh and scores of other contemporary deities.
Who knows, perhaps competing gods are all sitting up in the sky, watching the Earth and selectively intervening to punish human beings in the geographical areas of the planet where their believers enjoy a majority and ignoring all other parts of the world. Perhaps the many Hindu gods are drumming up typhoons in India and Allah is intervening with earthquakes in Iraq, while God punishes Americans with hurricanes and Celine Dion. Gods carving up the worldwide believers market in flagrant breach of the anti-trust laws.
Or perhaps, just perhaps, all this is just plain silly. Isn't it more likely that the "punishments" we imagine and the gods who conjure them up exist solely in our minds? Human Psychology 101.
I like to think of it as God, Allah, Brahma, Buddha, Zoroaster, etc.... are all up there betting on who loves them more (We know god does this already in Job so it's not too much of a stretch) and each one is like, "I bet if I kill a shi.tload of people they'll still love me, see POW! Earthquake. Now watch, everyone I didn't kill will either blame it on science, satan or say I work mysteriously and I have a plan. How kicka.ss is that?! I screw with people and the blame gets heaped on everyone else"
There are people who believe that all of the Gods exist and that they kind of work together. I didnt know that until someone on here pointed it out to me LOL
Seeing as how religion is an opinion....PERIOD.... I would say that makes this article moot.
To God death isn't as serious as it is to us. What you do with your life is far more important to him than the date of your Earthly death, your going to die anyways. It's not 1 man, 23 people died that affected the lives of millions.
The neutrality of CNN's Belief Blog is usualy off. In this article are a few examples.
1 "However, one place where American society, at least, plainly seems to be growing less religious is in the realm of natural disasters." //// An unsupported statement. One quote could help
2 "Still, American society as a whole no longer interprets natural disasters as signs of some coming apocalypse or evidence of some past misdeeds. " /// Conclusion statement of (1) unattempted to be proven. Notice the elevation in the statement: plainly to as awhole. This elevation usually occurrs when the writer asumes the reader is convinced.
3 "Hurricanes and earthquakes are one arena, however, where the language of science has almost entirely routed the language of theology." /// Another statement followed, not by supporting evidience, just poor evidence favoring the contrary.
4 "Today, the overwhelming majority of Americans—including the overwhelming majority of American Christians—now believe that when God has something to say He speaks in less dramatic ways." ///// Here the reader continues to expand on our presumed conviction.
5 "As a result of this sort of secularization, we are much better at predicting the course of hurricanes." /// Cause-effect statement that implies the reverse is negetive. Meaning that a religous society would be worse at predicting the path of hurricanes. The Auther attempted to combine this with his escalation.
6 "So we are better prepared, thank science" ///// while a fine statement on it's own, the auther offers it a a conclucion statement of (5)
7 "Our storms have not yet been tamed. But our God has." A most Anti-Christian statement if there was any. Unsupported. Total belive in conviction. Raw escalation from previous sentence. Not even Hitler the Wheatherman would say this unless he was in a room full of atheists.
It's ironic to me how insulting atheists are, calling people who have faith in God or a god "ignorant". They talk about the need for a god based out of fear of the unknown. Yet it's their own ignorance of God that drives their fear and hatred of those who do believe in God. As a follower of Christ, I do believe in science and know it's value for humanity. I've studied it, learned as much as I can about it. How about you who don't believe, try actually studying what the Bible really says about God rather than regurgitate what you've heard from other people who don't know much more than you.
How can you learn as much as you can from science when they breakthroughs everyday? Sorry, i think you've invalidated your point right there.
On the other hand, I have read the bible, a couple of times, being both a believer (when I read it the first time) and an atheist (when I read it about a year ago. I gleaned a couple of lessons from it, the basic golden rule, don't murder people, don't steal. I also got some neat stories from it, but scientific breakthroughs has furthered my knowledge of the world and universe around me, given me the tools to think critically and not just "go with the flow"
Reading the Bible and studying Christianities past and present is why I'm a non believer today.
I have read it. Fairly simple-minded book, actually. If this was written by the same god that created the heaven, earth and all living things in 6 days then he ought not quit his day job to be an author.
I find the arrogance of those purporting to know that mind of god to be astounding. I do not call it hate, and it sure is not fear. It is more humorous than anything
What does it mean to be "a follower of Christ"? Are you loving? Or vengeful? Did you create a heaven for those who play by your rules and a hell for those who don't? Why did you do that? Forget it. You never get to these questions because you are a "follower"...how empty.
I don't need a god or a jesus christ or a mo to be a loving, caring human being. And anyone that does I treat suspect.
Being a follower of Christ simply means I live and love people like Jesus did. Or try to at least. As far as heaven and hell, I'm certainly no one's judge. I'll leave that up to God.
Booooooring
Atheists persecute people of faith, namely Christians (the easiest target given their tendency to forgive) with a RELIGIOUS convicition and zeal. Just go agnositc and be done with, and let the rest of the world believe.
And Christians persecute all others with their evangelizing, speaking of religious zeal
why did you capitalize the word religious? Are you saying the atheists that "persecute" christians (which by the way......how may I ask) do so with the same zeal as a religious person. Does this mean that you're saying that a) religious people are nuts and atheists are getting on their level or b) that atheism is somehow a religion because they stand by their lack of a belief in a god?
You call massacare of 2 million people in Iraq forgiveness ? meh..Please dont forgive me 🙂
Christians, your life should be your witness, not your words. Your confidence in understanding god's intentions (i.e. storms are god's wrath) is unsettling...
I agree with per secula we should all just become agnostic. Some of us believe strongly there is a god, some believe strongly there is no god. Some have peaceful religions and some have violent religions. They all pretty much cancel each other out right?
I agree with greebo as well.
When we learn that everyone persecutes everyone, instead of pointing fingers, we can figure out how to stop it altogether.
Greebo's right on. Good kitty. Christians are ready to sell your cow for a handful of magic beans any day of the week.
Per secula seculorum
Christians with a tendency to forgive are not the ones who decree that we atheists are going to Hell just because we don't believe in the same things they do. Honestly, do you consider disagreeing with people and wanting to discuss that disagreement a form of persecution?
Just go agnostic? How can anyone live without making a decision on this? I mean, it takes a whole lot more effort to sit on a fence than stand firmly on either side of it, right?
I know it's hard, but you can't blame God for disasters. When 18 people died in a tower collapse (Luke 13:4), Jesus doesn't say that it was "God's will" or that they were worse people than anyone else. Rather, he turns it back on the questioners – are you ready for death? What's the state of your heart? Faith is hard, that's the point.
I am ready for death and I have no faith. Why? Because death is a state of nothingness. When one dies, they do not know it. A dead person exists in the same state they were in before they were born. A nothingness for eternity. But it's not like one is able to know or experience the nothingness once they are dead. They can't, they're dead. Bottom line, enjoy life on this planet to its fullest because that is it. This is actually a great message and one once realized and applied, brings each day of living such a joy.
Kebos, that's possible. We'll see when we're dead :). I have faith in Christ, but I also live life to the fullest and don't diminish it at all. Keep on loving and serving others, and I certainly won't judge you. Have a good one.
Maybe Jesus knew that God has nothing to do with life or death and it's you "Christians" that have overstated God's case. Maybe he knew that God Only lives in a person's mind (heart if you prefer), and is no more real than any other thought in someones head.
Then why do people credit God for sparing them from disasters through miracles then? I mean, if you 'knew' there was a God who saved people as surely as you know there is a fire department in your area that does the same wouldn't you question either of them for failing to respond to your emergency?
If not, then the proper stand for Christians should then be to just consider themselves lucky for surviving, like the rest of us do. From there you can take a moment to reconsider how you are spending your days but, again, you really don't need to be a god believer to do that. Brushes with mortality tend to bring those emotions to the surface naturally.
@Brad
Don't you find it the slightest bit odd that entry into Heaven is predicated on selecting the One True Religion out of thousands of options with blind faith as your only guide?
You'd better hope you chose the right denomination since the penalty for getting it wrong is eternal damnation.
What would you do if you'd been born in India and raised by Hindu parents?
Do you believe that Christ would speak to you even then, pushing Vishnu out of your heart?