The Scourge of God: Difference between revisions
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**** For a [[Replacement Goldfish|certain value]] of [[Any Torment You Can Walk Away From|happy ending]].
* Lincoln suggests this was the divine purpose behind [[The American Civil War]] in his second inaugural address. The speech is chock full of biblical references, and this passage hammers the point home: "...if God wills that it [the war] continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said 'the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.'" It's a pretty chilling speech, considering most people on both sides of the war thought they had the blessing of the Almighty on their side (see: Battle Hymn of the Republic).
** Some people (including U. S. Grant) also saw the American Civil War as a divine punishment for the preceding war against Mexico. To be fair, [[Heel Realization|the Alamo was a tragic failure of America to defend its own with reinforcements too]], not [[Did Not Do the Research|a heroic last stand]] as many now believe due to [[Rule of Cautious Editing Judgment|various causes]].
* [[C. S. Lewis|CS Lewis]] [[Deconstruction|deconstructed]] this sentiment by saying that while this may indeed be true, if we desire to have [[Satan|the devil's]] job, we must be ready for [[Hell|his wages]].
* Aversion. Many Christians (and
** Judaism traditionally teaches that one should treat one's own suffering as presumably a consequence of one's sins, and should therefore repent and improve one's behavior, but that one should not assume that about others' suffering. There is a little bit of a grey area insofar as that this teaching can also apply communally: if suffering should befall an entire community, that community should assume it is a consequence of sin by the community as a whole.
** This is why some ultra-Orthodox Jews say The Holocaust was God's punishment on the Jewish people for an overall failure to abide by religious laws strictly, understandably angering others.
*** To be fair, [[Useful Notes/Germany|those communities]] who were [[The Revolution Will Not Be Civilized|angered]] were riled up by... [[Those Wacky Nazis|certain bad faith actors]]... and try to take responsibility for their part to this day. [[Humans Are Bastards|If only that happened more often]].
* Invoked by Ronald Schaefer who wrote a history of the strategic bombing campaign of [[World War II]] called [http://www.amazon.com/Wings-Judgment-American-Bombing-World/dp/019505640X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1293159760&sr=8-1 ''Wings of Judgement''].
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