What kind of nutcase God would create the stomach flu?

Here is a dilemma for Creationists.

I'm bleary-eyed this morning because my wife caught the new stomach flu that's going around, and was sick the whole night. Two nights before that, it was my step-daughter, so sick she was barely coherent. And the source of this flu was probably their trip to Disneyland two days before that – lots of strangers, lots of crowds and lines.

Now I'm sitting here, more-or-less waiting to get sick, hoping I won't, but the odds are bad. I HATE vomiting, more than just about anything else in the world. Several decades ago I did a lot of sailing in the South Pacific, and early in the trip (before I had my "sea legs") we hit some strong weather and I got REALLY seasick. That was the only time in my life I didn't care whether I lived or died, and a couple of times dying seemed like the right choice.

So while I'm waiting for this virus to hit me, I have to wonder how a Creationist would view his/her impending dual with a virus. Since there's no evolution, (or to take the "liberal" interpretation, there is mutation, but not speciation), that means God must have created this virus. Why? What possible purpose could a stomach virus serve? God created insects that plague us, but they have a role in the ecology. Large predators try to eat us, but they're important in the ecosystem too. Fungi, bacteria, algae, ... most of the millions and millions of species (God was busy, wasn't He?) seem to have SOME purpose.

But a stomach virus? If God really created it, He must have a pretty cruel sense of humor. It serves no purpose. If it's God's punishment for something – Eve's transgression? – then God picked the wrong person when He infected my step-daughter. Her life is hard enough, as she faces a lifelong challenge with mental health, and she is the most innocent, loving, sinless person I can imagine. What possible purpose can a stomach virus serve in her life? Other than to amuse a sadistic God?

How can a Creationist see a stomach virus as anything but a cruel joke played by a cruel God on His innocent creations? Did I miss some passage of the Bible that explains this?

Creationists have a real dilemma on their hands. If the Evolution Science is wrong, then their God is sadistic and evil.

Donate food, schoolbooks, or a Christian education?

A bizarre, but cool, catalog arrived in the mail yesterday: The World Vision Gift Catalog ("Meaningful gifts that change tow world"). Instead of ordering stuff for yourself, you buy stuff for people around the world who need our help. It's really a pretty good idea: Charity, packaged for modern consumers.

Among the items you can buy are:

• $100 – 8 chickens for a hungry family (or 4 for $50)
• $100 – A goat + 2 chickens
• $2000 &ndash 28 farm animals, including 2 cows, 2 sheep, 2 pigs, 2 goats, 20 chickens
• $70 – One llama ("a godsend for a family in South America")
• $150 – Stock a school with books ("Matching corporate grants multiply your gift x14, $2100 total value")
• $575 – 2 Oxen and a plow
• $60 – 10 fruit trees ("sweet smiles on kids' faces")
• $20 – Mosquito nets for one family
• $96 – Education for 3 children (tuition, supplies)
• $240 – feed a child for a year
• $18,000 ‐ drill a deep well for clean water
• $64 – Christian education for 2 children ("in former communist countries")

WTF? A "Christian education" is on the same list as food, water, and malaria-fighting mosquito nets??

I can't think of anything less useful to a developing country than Christianity. It doesn't feed anyone, it doesn't cure or prevent disease, it and doesn't improve nutrition. In fact, Christianity, especially the Roman Catholic church, is to a large degree responsible for much of the overpopulation, failure to control the AIDS epidemic, and the resulting famine and death that are currently decimating parts of Africa.

I applaud the motivation behind the The World Vision Gift Catalog, and hope their unique marketing technique is a big success. And I'd like to think that inclusion of a "Christian" education is simply a way to appeal to even more contributors. But I have to wonder: Is there any true Christian who might not contribute to this good cause, but upon seeing "Christian education," decided to contribute? I surely hope not – that would be a very un-Christian attitude, wouldn't it?

In fact, I find it fairly detestable that any Christian would put proselytizing over the food and health of children around the world. I hope this "gift" is one of their least-popular items.

Tags: poverty education food charity christian christianity atheist atheism religion virus