Religion: The Great Equalizer

Life is not fair. This is a truism. It can be "acts of God" or "Mother Nature" unfair: Earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, volcanoes, tsunamis, etc. Or it can be acts of "mankind" unfair: Murder, rape, robbery, arson, bigotry, wars, terrorism, etc.

Another aspect of "mankind" unfair is that it has not gone unnoticed that some bad people--some of them very bad indeed--get away with murder, or whatever else they get away with, and die a peaceful death in their dotage. Or, they gain great wealth unfairly and enjoy that wealth all of their lives. While others, good, hard-working, honest people, have bad things happen to them. Why do some bad people get away with it and some good people get the worst of it?

That's where religion comes in. It is the great equalizer. It tells us that the bad people don't really get away with it. They will be punished in the "next life." And the good people will be rewarded for being good. See? It's simple. Justice will be done. Now, don't you feel better?

What I don't get is this. Where is the justice when you, or a loved one gets killed or horrible mutilated by a so-called "natural" disaster...also known, as I mentioned above, as "an act of God." I mean, if someone I know, a loved one, gets murdered, I want justice. If they die in a tornado, don't I have a right to demand justice too? Dead is dead, whether by an assassin's knife or bullet or whether by the consequences of "an act of God." Would my grief be any less? After all, who created the tornado?...or for that matter, earthquakes, floods, volcanoes, and tsunamis?

Oh, I can see some of you now. You think I'm being blasphemous. No, I'm merely being logical, rather than illogically emotional. Okay, as quickly as I can, I will explain the logic. According to Christian dogma, God created the universe, including this world. God is also supposed to be all-knowing. That means It (Is God a he? If so, does that mean he has male genitalia? If so, for what purpose? This "he" stuff doesn't have anything to do with ancient male-dominated desert-dwelling, barely out of the bronze-age, tribal patriarchs...does it?)

Where was I? Oh yes. If god created everything and is all-knowing, then It knows everything before it happens (otherwise It is not "all-knowing", and cracks begin to appear in the visage of god). That means god created--by creating Earth--the natural disasters that kill thousands of people every year. (But also, think of what this means in the good versus evil, god versus the devil controversy.) So, logically, god knows who is going to die, when, where, and how--by "an act of God" or by...well, if god created men and know what they are going to do ahead of time, because It is all-knowing, then men who kill are tantamount to committing "acts of God"...because if you or I create something and know ahead of time exactly what that thing is going to do, when it's going to do it, and how, then wouldn't we be the creators of that action and responsible for it? Should a lesser responsibility be allowed for the "Creator of the Universe?" Or are we just so damned afraid of It that we bow down to It, hoping that It won't hurt us?

But don't let it worry you over much. We'll all get justice in the here-after...except for people killed by "acts of god." I mean, in what court could we prosecute god?