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01/06/2004 Entry: "Diana, Conspiracies, Blame and Purpose"
The inquest into the death of Diana, Princess of Wales opened today, with claims made by the Daily Mirror that Diana believed that Charles was planning for her to have an accident. The conspiracy theorists have, of course, been having a field day since her death in 1997 and the very fact that a once-reputable newspaper feels able to print that sort of silly nonsense is telling. People seem to have a real struggle believing that she simply met with an accident. Someone must take the blame.
A short step away from this kind of thinking is the determination that many Christians have to find purpose in tragedy. Every incident in life is "caused" by God so every tragedy, whether it be an individual accident or a major incident like 9-11, must serve some purpose of his. There's been a fascinating conversation over at the Gutless Pacificist which proceeds from a piece by Fidler on the Roof which says:
If God chooses not to humble us with a major terrorist WMD attack, then nothing Al Qaeda or anybody else does will matter. God is more powerful then they are, and more powerful then our own troops.It seems to me that this line of reasoning, if taken to its natural conclusion, leads us to inaction and ultimately despair.
I do not believe that God made 9-11 happen, anymore than I believe that God gives AIDS to homosexuals or CJD to meateaters. Bad stuff happens. Sometimes by accident, sometimes by evil design but never (NEVER!) because God has a purpose. Did those thousands die in New York to teach the USA a lesson, or were the tens of thousands in Bam merely God's instruments to show Iran the superiority of Western democracy? No they were not - and it would be perverse to claim otherwise.
Which is not to say that lessons cannot be learned and purpose found in and through suffering. It is our response to tragedy and suffering by which we learn and through which God's will is obeyed. "Why did God allow this?" is a natural, but misleading question. "Where is God in this?" is better because its answer is always the same - right there in the chaos, hurt and mess of our world.
But if a couple SAS soldiers can die in something so mundane as a road accident, there is no need to suppose that a princess cannot too.
Replies: 3 comments
Nice Richard. You said much better what I was trying to say...
Posted by Pen @ 01/07/2004 06:33 AM GMT
I like everything you had to say and agreed with all of it, but you were completely wrong in your thinking that I was "rationalizing" 9/11. Big misstep on your part.
That would be putting God in the same category as Satan.
Posted by Julie Anne @ 01/07/2004 04:05 PM GMT
What a crap theory, mines well better
Posted by Bobby Bones @ 01/13/2004 12:07 PM GMT
