Base stupidity rears its head in the wake of the Oklahoma tornado

Disclaimer: I am aware that the chosen topic is a controversial one. These are my views on a delicate matter and may not reflect the feelings of the masses.

Salamu

Throughout my years as a participant in the media industry I can honestly say that I have seen some pretty weird and wonderful things. However, one thing always comes back to surprise me every single time. That is the level of base stupidity in the world.

The US state of Oklahoma is currently rebuilding after a devastating Twister (or as the rest of the normal world calls it…a tornado) ripped through the state causing all kinds of devastation. The tragic event left many people dead and countless others injured. Those that have survived are now tasked with the burden of rebuilding their lives with the event fresh in their minds.

If you want to read about how tornadoes are formed, I suggest you visit this Wikipedia page which will give you more insight. In a nutshell it is a natural disaster and is not, in my opinion, an act of God.

However, a member of the Oklahoma Baptist Church (in all his cracker ass, hillbilly, redneck wisdom) has come out and said that the tornado is punishment for open support of gay NBA star Jason Collins. Please see the attached image for the wise words of the mayonnaise sandwich loving Fred Phelps Jnr.

This is also not the first time a member of the public who has spewed in what my opinion is complete and utter BULLSHIT. In 2012, chaplain John McTernan linked Hurricane Sandy (and a number of other recent weather-related trends and natural disasters) on lesbian, gay,bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community and President Barack Obama's backing of marriage equality.

"God is systematically destroying America," McTernan wrote at the time. "Just look at what has happened this year."

McTernan similarly linked Hurricane Isaac with the LGBT community, pointing to the fact that the life-threatening storm coincided with Southern Decadence, New Orleans' "Gay Mardi Gras."

"New Orleans is still hosting Southern Decadence with open homosexuality manifesting in the streets of the city," he wrote in a blog. "It could be that God is putting an end to this city and its wickedness."

This is why I say it is bullshit… there are plenty of examples in the Bible of where God was vengeful and sent disasters to cleanse the world. He sent the great flood and even destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. He also rained down fire on Egypt because Ramses II was persecuting the Jews

But there are also plenty of examples of God’s love. During his great mission Jesus preached that of all the commandments that God gave to Moses, the greatest was the new commandment which God sent Jesus to give. That is too love your neighbor as God has loved you. 

The Apostle John says: Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.

I do not claim to be a great student of Theology, nor do I even have any qualifications in Theology. But I feel that this love must apply to EVERYONE regardless of race, gender, religious standpoint or sexual orientation.  It is so warming to see that after all of these years, Pope Francis has finally come out and has said that even Atheists will be offered a chance to enter heaven.

I fail to believe that if Jesus preached love, and if God sent his only son to die for our sins, that the natural disasters discussed above are being sent by God as punishment for something.

It saddens me that people who don’t have a clue about what they are talking about go out and make statements like those made by Phelps Jnr and McTernan. It also saddens me that these people also believe in Christ, but prefer to ignore all the teachings about love and tolerance.

This is a time that the Christian faith should be coming together as a UNITED FRONT to pray for these people. Not show the fractures within the faith.

Surely God would not sacrifice the lives of hundreds of innocent people to cleanse the world of a few people who support a gay sports star? And if the tornado was sent for that purpose (which it wasn’t) why weren’t the people who directly came out in Jason Collins’ support affected?

There needs to be a serious awakening in the Church regarding how we view and interact with society.

I am not here to slam the church or its teachings. But for a long time there has been a particular line of thought regarding homosexuality. And in the modern day and age I think it is drastic. In the past I did think the way the church did about gays. But I became friends with a gay person who works with me, and I can tell you now that he is a far better person than 99% of the population. He has better morals and has a holistic view of society and the world.

For all of the bad things that the Christians have to say about the Muslims and the Hindu’s, they have achieved something that we Christians have not – UNITY. There must be many within Islam and the Hindu church who disagree with certain aspects of their faith, but at the end of the day they come together and ACCEPT that their teachings are law.

I once watched a documentary about Islam and a high ranking cleric came out and said that Muslims are not like the Christians. They live their faith seven days a week as opposed to one. After watching this I was livid and thought that he was being unfair to Christianity.

But how wrong is he? Are the actions of Phelps Jnr and McTernan not proof of this? I bet you these men go into church on Sundays and sit in the front row. They are the first to scream Halleluiah when the word is being proclaimed. They are the loudest to say prayers and join in the signing of hymns vigorously.  And yet they go out and act like this on a non church day.

I am by no means a saint. Far From It! But I ask God every day to help me to live his word and teaching every day. If I can try to follow some of Gods teaching of love and tolerance every day, I have done my bit as a Christian.

God preaches LOVE and TOLERANCE. NOT VENGEANCE. It’s time we as a Christian faith realize this and strive to live everyday with a measure of God’s love. And it’s time for the Phelps Jnr’s and McTernan’s of the world to change their rhetoric.

Mei jua daima kuwa kabla yenu, na vivuli nyuma yako!