Fucktard was not saying that God did this, he was saying that God withdrew his protection which has enabled the Devil to reek havoc; that is, arsonist were acting under the devils guidance, not the big G’s

Fucktard also put his money were his mouth is – he did make a prediction before the event (although he couldn’t have chosen a worse time to say ‘I told you so’).

I guess what I’m having trouble with here is, if you accept that there is a god as described in the scriptures; the one that brought the great flood that covered the earth, that burnt down a city, punished all of mankind at Babel, and closed a recently parted sea over what may have been thousands of soldiers whom were just following orders; then surely been forsaken can’t be beyond the realms of possibility. Of course, we could all choose to be New Testament Christians (it does seem easier to decide just to ignore half the good book rather than live according to the rules of the Old, except, maybe, the 10 commandments, we’re happy to accept them, just not those pesky rules about what we can eat and when (hang about, we do that in lent, don’t we? Maybe we’ll just ignore them for some of the time). So anyway, we are all New Testament Christians and are happy to pass judgement on those that still accept the Old Testament. That’s cool.

But then we don’t do that entirely either, do we. If we argue that a bush fire is clearly not an act of god, and that it is a combination of severe environmental factors, then why do we thank the Lord for his blessings or pray for the health of our children? Surely he would not choose to involve himself in that when he is not saving others.

I guess that is what I disagree with most about organised religion; it’s the picking and choosing what to believe to suit your own agenda and what exceptions you are prepared to tolerate.

As can be clearly seen, I’m not a believer. All my family are, and so are most of my friends, many of whom have been patient and generous when sharing their beliefs and fielding my questions. But no matter what questions get answered or how long we share are thoughts, it always comes back to this: it is a leap of faith. So if we are prepared to ‘leap’, then how can there be boundaries? If I accept that the intangible god exists, then why should I not accept that miracles occur or that severe and savage signs are given? Why did we all respond so angrily to Fucktard?

“To link the death and the suffering of bushfire victims to other political events is appalling, heartless and wrong. Those who have suffered deserve every support and sympathy. It is beyond the bounds of decency to try to make moral or political points out of such a tragedy.” Peter Costello

That same quote is running in the traditional media too, Nalliah’s extremism is in full view now and I expect that he will be treated like a pariah.

http://catchthefire.com.au/blog/2008/11/07/stop-press-urgent-prayer-needed-regarding-australia-especially-the-state-of-victoria/

I can only assume that the Pastor’s comments were made to insinuate that ‘they’ deserved it, which is despicable and can never be rationalised, but who is the ‘they’? Surely it can’t be the victims merely because they are Victorians because so is he. Therefore he must mean the state legislative, in which case he is flinging accusation of death and destruction as we all did against Bush/Cheney. Furthermore, is he just not enunciating what any firm believer of the Old Testament truly accepts; that God is vengeful? And if so, who are we to determine when god is or isn’t acting?

I agree entirely that this is not a time for politics, even Americans waited 5 days before politicising Katrina and much longer before the then opposition scored points off a war, but is it ever the time to set aside your religious beliefs?

As the smoke continues to rise, we shall pray to god for his salvation and that he guide our ‘heroes’ through the blaze to safety; and when the last ember dies, we shall pray that he restore our communities and give the injured good health and we shall give thanks that things did not get so much worse. Tell me, when is it a good time to bring the Lord’s word into the debate?

“Anja Feb 10th, 2009 at 3:23 pm

I never thought that Christianity could sicken me any more than it has today. These fires have nothing to do with your mythical deity, and to suggest so shows me what loathsome creatures you are.

These fires are due to a combination of severe weather conditions and in some cases arson. So, God’s the world’s biggest arsonist, is he? Well, there’s a perfect reason to abandon any faith in a murderous deity.

The name of your ministry is quite ironic. I hope you do ‘catch it’ and it destroys your heinous ideology.

Yours in reality…”