I recently started watching the TV show Supernatural, which chronicles the adventures of Sam and Dean Winchester as they battle supernatural forces such as monsters and demons, and sometimes even angels. I'm almost done with season five, the episode where Lucifer is walking the earth and Armaggedon has begun. Sam and Dean, along with their friends Bobby Singer (their surrogate father) and Castiel (an angel of the Lord) are trying to find a way to save the earth and destroy Lucifer. The only person they know of powerful enough to defeat Lucifer is God. Problem is, many angels (God's children) are convinced that God is dead. Nevertheless, Castiel begins a tireless hunt to find God and beg him to help them. Eventually, he finds out that God just doesn't care. He doesn't want to be bothered with his children's problems. Probably one of the most compelling moments in the show is when that information is relayed to Castiel, who had so ardently believed in God and sacrificed for him and searched for him. He looks to the ceiling and says "You son of a bitch. I believed."
I was replaying that scene in my head just moments ago, which soon cascaded into thinking about society's view on God. I realized that how season five of Supernatural portrays God is how many people view him. Like a deadbeat father who took the time to create us and play around with us for a little while, but soon lost interest and now can't be bothered to help us. Or we believe in him, and then tragedy strikes and tears away our foundation. In those moments you can't help but feel betrayed. How could an almighty God have allowed such tragedy? "You son of a bitch. I believed."
This line of thinking soon trailed off in a different direction. The idea of God as a deadbeat father is hardly a new concept. It's probably been around since before recorded history. It's really no wonder that mankind came up with the idea of a "mother earth." She's moody and cruel--hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanos, and tsunamis are a testament to that--but no matter how cruel we are to her, no matter how many oil spills or landfills pollute her, she still continues to sustain us and even provide us with beauty. She's the dependable "mother" we can always count on to love us even when "father's" love is questionable. An analogy of this can be found in David Eddings's The Belgariad series. The hero Belgarion finally succeeds in killing the evil god Torak, a god who had always felt rejected by his father. As Torak dies, he looks to the heavens and screams "Mother!" feeling that mother nature was the only one who ever loved him.
All of this conjecturing about God and Mother Earth resolved with me relating it to the recent tragedy in Japan. Aftershocks continue. The death toll is climbing. The devastation is incomprehensible. It's hard to believe that we have either a loving Father or a loving Mother amidst all this. Why does God allow these natural disasters when humanity does a good enough job of destorying each other all by ourselves? Earthquakes only fuel the fire, as was the case in Haiti not too long ago. The strong preyed upon the weak. People were robbed, women were raped, and in most cases only the strongest got the supplies. "Why should God care?" you might think. Look at the state of humanity. As soon as disaster strikes, we resort to pillaging, looting, and hurting others.
But then you look at Japan. After suffering a massive quake and subsequent tsunami, you wouldn't be surprised to hear horror stories of looting and atrocities committed in the ravaged areas. But that's where Japan is different. Unlike many modern societies, they prize honor and discipline. The average Japanese citizen holds so much respect for his/her country that to leave trash on the side of the road would be absolutely unthinkable. To dissolve into chaos in the midst of a crisis would be more than unthinkable. Am I saying that the Japanese are better than the rest of the world? Absolutely not. They give me hope for humanity. It's not a rule that left to their own devices, mankind will resort to chaos and violence. Mankind does have the potential to rise above.
Does God care that so many people are suffering? I like to think so. I like to think that instead of being disgusted by our base nature, he keeps turning back to us because of our potential to be more. To love our neighbor as ourselves. I like to think I have a purpose for being in this world, as opposed to a purposeless existence subject to the whims of "mother nature." Unfortunately, tonight I can't get Castiel's words out of my head. Would God hear it if I shouted my doubts to the skies, or would my words simply bounce off the ceiling?
