The Fires of Hell

1700 fires were burning in California at one time, according to an interview I read with Arnold. The only one that concerns me at the moment is the Gap fire, the one threatening Goleta and Santa Barbara because I have family there. There's nothing like a personal connection to bring home someone else's natural disaster.

My brother and sister-in-law spent the 4th of July watching the movement of the fire lines, avoiding the smoke-filled air, and downloading evacuation lists. I held vigil with them as I periodically went on the Net and checked on the status of the evacuation orders, or pestered them with phone calls seeking more information. So far, they've been not been under an evacuation warning. Knock wood. Praise Jesus. There is only one God and Allah is His prophet.

Perhaps I'd be better off praying to Kali, the Hawaiian volcano Goddess.

When natural disaster strikes, when the earth revolts on such an incredibly large scale, it's easy to see why the gods are invoked even by non-believers. When I mentioned the startling statistic of 1700 fires burning California to one very liberal friend, she said that God was punishing the gay-lovin', drug usin', free-wheeling, liberal Californians. She was not the first person to make that comment.

The fundis love to see natural disasters as a sign of God's displeasure. I think they really get off on that explanation because it then justifies their whole worldview. It's much more poetic and exciting to think that God is striking down the wrongdoers, giving them a foretaste of the fires of hell that await them if they don't mend their evil ways, rather than the more mundane explanation that California is semi-arid and fire is part of the cycle of nature in the West. Where's the drama in that?

There's no theater in science, which is why apocalyptic worldviews hold sway with the kind of person who has never learned to exercise their critical thinking skills. God punishing the Californians for allowing gay marriage is a narrative explanation that captures the imagination with good guys, bad guys, and awesome visuals of flames licking the heavens. How exciting to have a role in this drama, especially on the side of the righteous. It allows for the illusion of control, too--that I don't have to worry about suffering from a natural disaster because I'm one of the righteous.

Well, it's certainly obvious to those in the path of any fire--or hurricane, or flood--that natural disasters don't pick and choose their victims; it's only a matter of luck and urban planning whether or not you will be caught in nature's upheaval. Let's hear it for the fire fighters who are working tirelessly to minimize the damage, and for the Red Cross that always is there to help pick up the pieces, and to the Humane Society that is there for the animals displaced by disaster. When the earth revolts, the truly righteous are those who use their hands to help, not to point a finger.