“My God doesn’t act that way”

The above was the headline in an article in our local paper referring to a minister conducting a service after the tornadoes that struck Massachusetts on June 1, 2011. He went on to say that his God is a god of love, caring and compassion. This is like a plane crash in which everyone was killed save one person who declared “God saved me!” One has to ask why didn’t God prevent the plane from crashing in the first place or asking why didn’t God prevent the tornadoes in the first place. Doesn’t He care?

These declarations are typical of people with a religious bent who tend to see only what supports their beliefs. It's call selective justification. It’s like saying that you believe there are a lot of Ford Mustangs on the road and you support that belief by noting every Mustang you see without ever noticing the total number of cars you see. If the total car population was accounted for then the belief of many Ford Mustangs fails. We remember the hits and forget the misses. It’s just the way we are wired.

Also it just maybe a guttural thing. When faced with a disaster like a tornado we need some thing to hang on to and even though we deep down know it doesn’t make sense, we appeal to an Almighty.

It’s curious but not surprising that the concept of God is different to different people. I remember in school the nuns who said that the Old Testament described a wrathful God while the New Testament describes a loving God. So it’s not surprising to hear a preacher saying “My God doesn’t act that way.” I guess God can be molded how ever someone wants Him to be. Remember God was made in mans’ image not the other way around. Think about it.