Dear Editor,

It is almost painful reading and hearing the efforts of Christians trying to clear God’s name after it has been spattered with mud and blood in the wake of the Haitian disaster. Is He responsible for such great misery and loss of life? The failure to arrive at a consensus regarding the Divine character and personality, even within the church itself, speaks volumes, and betrays the confusion usually associated with who God is and His role in the affairs of men.

One faction in Christendom claims that God is angry, has taken back His grace, and has reverted to His despotic, fire-breathing, butt-kicking, jealous, Old Testament self; His celestial iron fist smashing nations that violate His first Commandment, “Thou shalt have no other Gods before me”, and issuing warnings via His servants, the prophets, of dire events to befall other stubborn delinquents. So Haiti is being severely punished for having other gods, according to the Pentecostals, Charismatics and tongue-speaking Fundamentalists, whose theology has God wedded to the church, but also having a common-law relationship with other nations. And does he ever lose His temper when He is slighted! These “Fundies” come closest to the Islamic extremist’s concept of Allah, the Destroyer.

Then enter the old mainstream traditional churches, where the still, small voice of God is well appreciated, where He doesn’t intervene so frequently in earth matters, and for whom Darwin is not a demon. For them God gives us freedom, just enough rope to hang ourselves. At least these can understand that in Haiti’s case, tectonic plates shifted to release pent-up pressure, that’s all. For them God is saving up His wrath until Judgement Day.

But to you who are still confused, why are you so afraid of the truth that there is no one pulling our strings, waiting to wreak havoc upon unruly nations, and that yesterday for Haiti, tomorrow for us? Why can’t we just realise that if the Earth couldn’t occasionally release its internal heat and pressure it would blow itself apart? And since the church can come to no agreement on who God is, though everyone claims to know Him, why don’t we just scrap the whole darned thing? We know the church fathers just made Him up to maintain control of the “sheeple”, so why not just accept that the whole idea of a celestial chessmaster is concocted by man, to keep us in line and offer us hope at the hour of our death?

Hunter Gray

The Netherlands

grayhunter19@yahoo.com