What you believe in affects what you do

“Why do you keep writing about religion?” one of my correspondents asked. “Does anyone care anymore?”

Statistics support his point. I’ve written before about plunging membership in churches. In the white western world, that is — Asia and Africa seem to be flourishing. U.S. evangelical churches have been the exception, until now, but surveys suggest their decline simply lags about 40 years behind the mainline churches.

But that doesn’t make religion irrelevant. It just means that more and more people aren’t aware of what’s pushing their buttons.

And their buttons are their belief systems.

Which may or may not be what’s traditionally called “religious.”

Author Ayn Rand called herself an atheist, but she believed passionately in every individual’s right to live without government interference. Her ideas permeate the U.S. Republican party.

David Suzuki professes no religious beliefs. But in interviews, it’s clear he believes passionately in evolution.

Carl Sagan believed in science; Stephen Hawking believes in mathematics; Sigmund Freud believed in sex.

Beliefs matter, especially for those who still believe in some kind of God. That’s an important descriptor — the “kind of God” they believe in.

Tragically, much of what people believe about God comes from ancient texts of a warlike people fighting for survival. And from what they were taught by people who took those ancient texts as literal truth, people who never needed to reconsider their beliefs, or people who used those teachings to exert power over others.

Cartoons of St. Peter sitting at the Pearly Gates, of angels flitting through clouds on impossibly tiny wings, or of a giant finger delivering thunderbolts, are unlikely to affect a one’s reactions.

But what if you think of God as a superhuman judge? A stern male judge, who’s also jury, forensic researcher, and prosecutor. Keeping track of everything naughty, and dispensing punishment. From which there is no appeal or parole. Ever.

I see that kind of God reflected in the statements made by a variety of U.S. religious leaders, about tragic disasters.

Pat Robertson, founder of the Christian Coalition of America and a former Republican presidential candidate, blamed Hurricane Katrina and terrorist attacks on legalized abortion. Robertson also famously claimed that a “pact with the devil” caused the devastating earthquake in Haiti.

Rick Scarborough, president of Vision America, similarly argued that Katrina was God’s punishment — for homosexuality, bestiality, pornography, and the removal of the Ten Commandments from schools and government offices.

Jerry Falwell — how could I ignore him? — blamed the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center on America’s “moral decay”. Which he attributed to the ACLU, abortionists, feminists, and gays.

Radical views are not limited to Christians. Yehuda Levin, a Jewish leader, linked an earthquake in Virginia to gays in the military. Levin justified his views with a Talmudic teaching: “You have shaken your male member in a place where it doesn’t belong. I too, will shake the Earth.”

Charitably, Levin said homosexuals shouldn’t take it personally: “We don’t hate homosexuals. I feel bad for homosexuals. It’s a revolt against God and literally, there’s hell to pay.”

That didn’t stop Cindy Jacobs, a charismatic preacher with the Generals International ministry, blaming the 2011 Japanese earthquake, tidal wave, and nuclear disaster on the Pentagon’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. As proof, Jacobs quoted the Book of Josiah, which you probably won’t find in your Bible.

I am amazed at the powers that gays seem to have. As far as I know, no other humans can cause earthquakes, tsunamis, and tornadoes.

A congressional candidate in Chicago, Susanna Atanus, explained gay power by asserting that God is punishing America for gay marriage and abortion by afflicting it with polar vortexes, tornadoes, autism, and even macular degeneration.

“God controls the weather,” Atanus told the news media. “God is angry. We are provoking Him with abortions and same-sex marriage and civil unions.”

Maybe evangelical leaders are jealous that gays get bigger reactions from God more than they do?

Granted, I’ve been cherry-picking for inflammatory quotes. No doubt these people are kind, generous, and thoughtful in person.

But I have to ask you. If you believed in a God who loves unconditionally, would you make those statements? If you believed in a God who forgives, would you relish an opportunity to make victims more miserable? If you believed in a God who suffers with us, would you thunder condemnation from a safe distance? I hope not. That’s why beliefs do matter. Especially about the kind of God you believe in.

Jim Taylor is an Okanagan Centre author and freelance journalist. He can be reached at rewrite@shaw.ca