October 2007

According to the Associated Press, there was a lawsuit filed by a Senator in Nebraska in mid-September. The Omaha Senator, Ernie Chambers, sued God! The lawsuit accused God of causing untold death and horror and threatening to cause even more death still. The Senator claimed that God can be sued because He is everywhere! In his lawsuit, Chambers claimed that God has made “terroristic” threats against him and his constituents, inspired fear and caused “widespread death, destruction and terrorization of million upon millions of the Earth’s inhabitants.” He also claimed that God has caused “fearsome floods . . . horrendous hurricanes, terrifying tornadoes.” He was seeking a permanent injunction against the Almighty! According to him, it is perfectly normal to sue God because everybody is suing somebody.

When I read this news, my reaction was that of a shocking feeling. I was shocked to see someone could be so silly. Doesn’t he as a public servant has anything to do? How ridiculous can it be! This Senator, I believe, represents many people who don’t take responsibility for their actions and instead, put the blame on someone else’s. With global warming, scientists agree that the condition of this world is rapidly changing for the worse. Many so called “natural” disasters are a direct result of global warming. And we all know who caused global warming. It is easier to blame God for causing this “problems” than to fix our problem. The whole world is driven by “greed”, which the Bible labeled as “the root of all evils.” To that end, pollution and global warming resulted in unpredictable changes of weather pattern; food supplies from rivers and oceans are becoming more and more toxic; and the once “fresh” air is filled with toxins. We all know toxic chemicals are major cause of many types of cancerous growth. Sure, there are National and International laws to keep this problem under control, but whenever there are rules and regulations, people will find ways to either break them or find loopholes to get around them.

I recently went to a medical seminar and learned that scientists have identified that many types of cancer such as some types of breast cancer and prostrate cancer are caused by chronic and uncontrolled stress. Now, does God want us to have stress? Not only does He not, He asks us to relax; not to worry about tomorrow because there are enough things to do for today!  

Before I sign off, I would suggest that instead of blaming God for the pitiful condition of the world, we should try our best to do what God expects of us. He wants us “to do Justice”, “to love Kindness”, and “to walk humbly.” To do justice is to do the right things, and not to give ourselves excuses not to. To love kindness is to care not only our own interests, but to extend our generosity to others. Finally, to walk humbly (with the Lord) is to respect God by respecting the things He created and the people He loves. We may not be able to change the global world, but if we do what God wants us to do, we will change our little world.

據美聯社報導，在九月中旬有一名參議員在內布拉斯加州法院提出一個訴訟。奧馬哈的參議員，艾爾斯庭控告神！訴狀指控神造成無數死亡，恐怖和威脅事件，甚至造成很多不明不白的死亡。參議員聲稱神因為是無處不在，所以是可以被控告的！在他的告詞中聲稱神「恐嚇」參議員和他的選民，更鼓吹恐怖行動而引起在世界各地有廣泛的死亡。他還聲稱，神造成「可怕的水災、颶風和龍捲風」。他正在要求一個永久性禁令來禁止「全能者」！據他說，起訴神是完全正常的，因為各人都是各自起訴。

當我讀到這段新聞時，我的反應是一個觸目驚心的感覺。我嚇了一跳，看到有人居然可以這麼無聊。他作為一個公僕沒有更重要的工作嗎？竟然可以如此荒謬！我認為這參議員亦是代表了許多不願意承擔責任的人，不為自己的行動來負責，而總是責怪別人。因全球氣候變暖的原故，科學家們都一致認為這個世界正在迅速的向壞方面轉變。許多所謂的「天災」是直接因全球變暖而造成的。而大家都知道是誰造成這全球變暖的現狀。人們很容易將所有的「問題」都歸咎於是神所造成的。其實整個世界都是以「貪慾」為推動力，而聖經卻告訴我們「貪財是萬惡之根」。為了達到得財這個目的，後果就引至污染和全球變暖的情況越來越嚴重，導致難以預測的天氣變化；來自河流和海洋所供應的糧食則越來越多有毒素；以往一度「新鮮」的空氣亦充滿了毒素。大家都可能知道許多類型的癌症生長都是與這些毒素有關的。我相信已經有國家和國際法律來管理這個問題，但每當有法規，人們都會想盡辦法去違返或尋找漏洞來逃避。

我最近去參加一個醫學研討會，獲悉科學家已經發現許多類型的癌症，例如某些類型的乳腺癌和前列腺癌的起因都是來自長期及沒有控制的壓力所引至的。我們卻知道神是不希望我們有壓力的。祂叫我們放鬆，不要為明天憂慮，因為今天的難處已足夠消耗了我們今天的精力了！

唐若愚牧師