Greetings,
Jacob Drollinger <[log in to unmask]> asked:
> Was I that much of a sinner before P.D. that God felt he must
> inflict me with an illness as horrible as this one . . . ?
There are lots of people with Biblical views about illness. One
famous example is the Rev. and PWP Billy Graham, whose response
before a large audience to the question, "Is AIDS a judgment of
God?" was "I could not say for sure, but I think so." (He later
thought better of this and retracted the statement after seeing
letters which were critical of it.)
The Old Testament tales of plagues (Blood. Frogs. Vermin. Beasts.
Cattle disease. Boils. Hail. Locusts. Darkness. Slaying of the first
born!) as instruments of divine punishment seem quaint today*. But
we also find in these tales a lot of underlying Us vs. Them
references ("My people and Thy people" - Exodus 8:19), suggesting to
me that the Almighty One, blessed be He, was used as a
rationalization in a political struggle.
Diseases have so long ravaged humankind, since Adam (or Lucy), that
it almost seems to come with the territory. I suppose if one has a
religious world view, then an interpretation of even chance events
may be required. I won't ask, Jacob, what terrible things you did,
but isn't it enough to have the misfortune of an illness without
combining with it a burden of guilt?
My parents could be moralistic about illness. It's how they got me
to wear my galoshes. "You caught a cold? What did I tell you?"
Family politics.
Views learned early in life do seem to endure.
Phil Tompkins
Hoboken NJ
60/9
* BTW, does anyone remember the Vincent Price (another PWP) film
with the 10 plagues?
