(Click on the logo to return to the main blog.)

The Christian Version of "the U.S. Deserved" It Rears Its Head
09/12/2002

Well, I guess I should be surprised that it took so long for me to spot this sentiment on the Catholic blogs that I frequent. But this post on Mark Shea's "Catholic and Enjoying It!" brought the question of whether God really did allow the attacks on America for something that we did or are doing to the fore. Here's a thought that occurred to me and that I left as a comment:

To an extent, this type of "why'd God let it happen" discussion is silly (I'm sure many people would name different things wrong with America from God's perfect point of view).

But I just had a thought:

What if God allowed this to happen in order to raise the ire of the U.S., which would then teach that maniac culture in the desert a lesson and bring it its just recompense for the way it's been acting? For all the talk, in Catholic circles, about Just War, I haven't heard this suggested.

Think of it: Who's apt to have changed more when the dust settles? The U.S. will likely (hopefully) confirm itself in its own purpose and values, but virtue always benefits the virtuous, even as the benefits to the recipient are more visible and tangible.

Which of the two effects is THE desired one, we mortals will never know.

Posted by Justin Katz @ 01:11 PM EST

2 comments

Yeah, that's a great testimony to Transcendence and proof of goodness. Let 3000 people get killed so that another 5-10,000 can bite the big one in a war to the glory virtue.

Well, at least they all went to heaven.

Oh wait....

Jody @ 09/12/2002 07:20 PM EST

First of all, Jody, my comment is meant as an abstract theological game (hence the "silly" comment); I don't presume to guess at God's motives in this way. Even by a numbers game it is impossible to do more than ask "what if"; who's to say that the radical Islamists that the U.S. overthrows wouldn't have gone on to destroy all of civilization.

But it would be pointless for us to argue it because we're beginning with different suppositions. As Dylan said, "just remember that death is not the end."

Justin Katz @ 09/12/2002 09:25 PM EST