Framework...

I suppose it could be possible to blame just about anyone for a disaster. Heaven knows the gay community has been blamed before: you know, it was the gay people in New Orleans that brought God's wrath (aka "Katrina") on the city, it was the gay people in the World Trade Center that brought God's wrath (or was that Allah's wrath?) upon the people there....and on and on. People struggling to find meaning in life often look for a scapegoat.

So I'm preparing myself for what's sure to come: you know, all those anti-Prop.8 folks out today must have caused all these devastating wildfires.

But, once again, it seems God has a bad aim. A lot of these homes that are burning, especially in Orange County, might just belong to folks more likely to have voted "YES" on 8.

Then again, maybe it IS a sign of God's disfavor on gay people: seems the demonstrations have been eclipsed in the news by smoke and ash. God is, well, stealing our fire.

See, that's the problem: if you choose to frame historical events in terms of divine intervention, you have to be selective, or sooner or later you will find yourself the victim of a wrathful God--and who wants to believe THAT?

The danger, of course, is not that we live under the wrath of an angry God (sorry, JE!) whose rage is hair-trigger, as unpredictable as a shifting wildfire. The danger lies in that we want to make the judgment our own, for the sake of convenience, depending on our own p.o.v.--and in doing so we send a very clear message: that we believe that God's will and our own are the same.

Our thoughts, these days, are with those who have experienced loss...be it of house, home, or basic human rights.