An Act Of God?

I have an annoyance that I will discuss here for a minute. Listening to talk radio and the T.V., I heard this phrase used more than I wished to hear:

"An act of God."

This of course was in reference to the infamous Hurrican Katrina, which I have no interest in following anymore. Go ahead, call me callous, insensitive, tomorrow night even, but it's all I see on TV now and I'm tired of it. Yes I have sympathy for all those people that have suffered great losses at the breath of nature, even someone in my men's choir has been affected. His son and his son's family, who just bought a house down in Mississippi, lost everything in the storm. I feel bad, I wish I could do more, but I'm inundated with images, stories, and sadness from the south, and I don't want it anymore.

But why, I ask, is it called an act of God? All these people declaring God's actions and intentions have inside information that God did this. Do they have a reporter embedded in heaven? Maybe Geraldo signed a pact with Satan that if he shaved his moustache, he would get an exclusive on God's personal doings. Far be it from me to determine these people's spiritual knowledge, but not all of them are experts in theology. How is it that they feel enlightened enough to attribute this to someone they know little about or cannot even fathom? One certain radio host, which I greatly enjoy, admits that he is not a religious man and knows little about religion, yet still attributes this storm to God, as if God stuck his finger into the ocean and swirled it about until a dainty little hurricane formed and meandered around the gulf. My apologies to all these experts in God's will and activities, perhaps I didn't get the memo of his schedule.

Why is it that only horrible, natural disasters are given the lovely label "an act of God"? Today is an absolutely beautiful day, and you know what, it's an act of God. When the weather is perfect, God isn't mentioned, until a thunderstorm comes, or until a hurrican arrives. Look at the sun, feel the gentle breeze cool your skin, smell the fresh air as it picks up the scent of a soft petal on a delicate flower. Act of God? Not according to the media. Heaven forbid God should do something right, or something good. This week has been one of the nicest weeks in recent memory, and you know what, it's an act of God dammit.

And why do you choose God? Whatever happened to Mother Nature? Did she go on vacation? Why can't we blame it on her? How about El Nino, that was one of my favorites. Just blame it on El Nino, no one knows what the hell it really is anyway, so I'm sure it could be responsible for a hurricane. Since everyone is so convinced that the hurricane has to be blamed on something or someone, let's pick something different. Of course it couldn't just be a random event or a normal part of nature. Hurricane's have radar's on them in order to avoid cities and people. And they have these new sensitive clouds that feel bad about destroying anything. (If you didn't notice the sarcasm, then, well, you have no hope, sorry.)

But since popular opinion is so anxious to blame this catastrophic event on a higher being, since it's the easiest way, let's blame it on someone else. Blaming it on God usually gives an impression that it's the Christian/Catholic God, and unfairly places the blame in that sector of religion. Act of Satan? Sure, why not. How about Allah? Or would that be religious profiling and racist of me to blame it on Allah. I'm sure there are a ton of other religions we can blame it on. And so I propose this:

The hurricanes get different names for each new one. I think we should attribute a religion and supreme being at random with each storm as it forms, just so we know who to blame if those sensitive clouds don't work properly. How easy it is to point a finger rather than extend a hand. And how easy it is to point a finger at something you can't see; something you don't even believe in. *sigh*