This was one of the most grotesque criminal cases I ever heard of: ordained minister of the gospel, a priest, sentenced to prison for distributing child pornography. The thing that makes it so grotesque is his… defense? Is that what he called it?
Where did he get the idea that God would help him win other people’s money at online poker? But then I suppose there have been burglars who prayed the Lord to help them burgle…
Gambling and kiddie porn–it doesn’t get more depraved than this.
Former TV commentator Bill O’Reilly, bedeviled by assorted sexual harassment charges, now blames God for his problems.
So he says, “You know, am I mad at God? Yeah, I’m mad at him. I wish I had more protection.” (http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/bill-o-reilly-blames-god-sexual-harassment-allegations-article-1.3584246)
Adam could’ve told him that wouldn’t work. “Well, gee, Lord! The woman that you gave me, she gave me the forbidden fruit, and I did eat.” No dice, Adam: you’re out of the Garden of Eden.
O’Reilly has paid out $32 million to settle accusations made against him by several women, his co-workers at Fox News.
If we assume the charges aren’t true, we must also assume that a number of women conspired to tell these whopping lies about him so they could get their hands on his money. There aren’t many people who believe that. But even if that were so, then the blame ought to fall on the false accusers, not on God: who, having endowed us with free will, made it possible for us to disobey His commandments. Would O’Reilly rather God had created us without free will?
False accusations of this or that are an everyday tool of politics in our glorious 21st century. Is that God’s fault? Or ours? And He has, after all, given us a Savior who can take away our sins–without taking away our free will.
Bill O’Reilly isn’t the first to blame God for his problems, and he won’t be the last.
The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat… Genesis 3:12
“Y’see, Lord,” said Adam, “it’s really your fault that we broke your commandment and ate the forbidden fruit. I only did it because the woman that you gave me, she told me to do it! If you hadn’t put this woman in the garden with me–well, not this particular woman!–I never would’ve disobeyed you.” (Eve, at least, didn’t blame God as Adam did. She just blamed the Serpent.)
We hear this argument a lot, especially from liberal Christians who crave the secular world’s approval. We would think it strange if a car thief said, “All right, I’m a thief–so what? That’s how God made me! And Jesus loves me just the way I am! In fact, stealing cars isn’t even really a sin. It’s just the way I live my life. And I live a thief’s life because that’s my truth, that’s the life that God intended for me. So if I steal your car, don’t blame me, blame Him.”
We have not yet reached the stage of moral degeneration where we’ll accept this line of booshwa from a thief. But for every conceivable variety of sexual sin, it sells and a lot of us are buying.
I mean, really…
“Y’know what, Adam,” said the Lord, “I made a mistake! Yup, I see that now. Thank you for pointing out my error to me. It’s all my fault. Not yours, not Eve’s, not even the Serpent’s–gosh, I made a mess of things!”
But that’s not our theology–I hope.