Someone on social media referred to the anecdote of a man who refused life-saving assistance (a longer version here), claiming that God will save him, only to die.... and when he got to heaven and asked God why He didn't save him, God said "I sent you two boats and a helicopter, what more did you expect?"
It was funny, though, because the person telling the story clearly thought it took place during Hurricane Katrina... and I know I've heard the anecdote long before that.
I was thinking of this, and the Battle of Hattin, which I've talked about before. I wanted to add a little bit of something new this time, though, so here goes:
Doubting Thomas is a figure in the Bible who refused to believe that Jesus was resurrected until he saw Jesus for himself, and was able to touch him (and his wounds). Growing up Catholic, well...
I always understood the implication of "don't be a Doubting Thomas. Don't insist on proof for your faith." After all, blessed are they who have not seen (for themselves) and still believe.
But I was thinking about it, I don't know, some months or a year ago?, and there's a very different lesson you can take from the story.
Even though Jesus said 'blessed are they who have not seen', he also said that Thomas was blessed.
That is to say, Jesus answered Thomas's skepticism, was okay with having to prove himself. It wasn't like he said Thomas was going to be cast into the fires of hell for doubting. No.
Thomas was also blessed.
Sure, I think we generally took the implication that people who didn't require proof were more blessed... but is being blessed a matter of degree? Or is it binary? You're either blessed or you aren't, right? Or do the non-doubters somehow get more... I dunno... the equivalent of a bigger house in heaven.
And really, when you look back on the Bible, you see similar responses throughout. Sara laughed at the thought that she'd get pregnant, and God did not smite her for her temerity.
More problematic was the story of Zechariah, who doubted he and his wife could bear a child, and was struck dumb until the birth as proof. Like - was that punishment for doubting? Or the sign he asked for?
Anyways, I bring all that up because that mentality is, I think, at the heart of the evangelical willingness to continue acting in risky ways even if it means catching COVID-19.
It's sort of this 'God will protect me, I will not doubt Him, and believing in science and expecting proof shows lack of faith' mentality, which comes (I think) with a certain level of arrogance. Well, that and other things. Like the story I opened with, of the man who died in a flood, they are willfully ignoring the current equivalent of rescue boats and helicopters. Trusting in some sort of divine miracle to rescue them from their own actions.
Like the Battle of Hatin shows, I don't think God saves us from our own stupidity. I mean, He gave us brains for a reason, gave us the ability to plan and think... and if we go ignoring basic things (like making sure we have adequate water before fighting in the middle of a desert), He's not going to step in and save us.
The sad thing is, there is a large part of our population that really does seem to expect that sort of thing. And they'll go to church on Sunday, and particularly Easter Sunday next week, and someone attending will probably have COVID-19, and will probably spread it to other attendees, and it'll be just like that choir in Washington but on a much larger scale.
It is completely predictable, entirely avoidable, and will probably happen anyway.
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