... and you will know my name is the LORD, when I lay my vengeance upon thee
From this story on various people interpreting Katrina as a punishment from God on a sinful city (or country):
Ted Steinberg, a professor of history at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, argues in his 2000 book, "Acts of God: The Unnatural History of Natural Disaster in America," that Americans have often seen divine will in earthquakes, floods and droughts whose consequences have been worsened by improper planning.
In his opinion "as an atheist," he said, Katrina "was an unnatural disaster if ever there was one." By building levees along the Mississippi and draining marshland, he said, the Army Corps of Engineers and local officials hastened the sinking of New Orleans below sea level and destroyed the barrier islands that protected the Gulf Coast.
"Blaming God," he said, "is moral hand-washing."
I remember posting a few years ago about gaps between paradigms and the different ways people process evidence based on their pre-existing belief system. This seems to be a good example.
Ted Steinberg, a professor of history at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, argues in his 2000 book, "Acts of God: The Unnatural History of Natural Disaster in America," that Americans have often seen divine will in earthquakes, floods and droughts whose consequences have been worsened by improper planning.
In his opinion "as an atheist," he said, Katrina "was an unnatural disaster if ever there was one." By building levees along the Mississippi and draining marshland, he said, the Army Corps of Engineers and local officials hastened the sinking of New Orleans below sea level and destroyed the barrier islands that protected the Gulf Coast.
"Blaming God," he said, "is moral hand-washing."
I remember posting a few years ago about gaps between paradigms and the different ways people process evidence based on their pre-existing belief system. This seems to be a good example.