The earthquake off Aceh, like the explosion of Krakatoa and the Lisbon and San Francisco earthquakes seems to be resonating in Western culture, perhaps more than other natural disasters. Krakatoa was within sight of Batavia, the Dutch colonial capital of Indonesia, and the relatively primitive media of 1883 carried the story to the world. Simon Winchester's book (and his recent articles) have underlined the fact that this event is going to change the way billions of people feel and act about God, life and society. Something has been swept away.
The tsunamis from Aceh destroyed the affluent guests of Thai resorts and poor peasants. The waves were recorded in amateur videos, and the relief effort is being recorded by the world's media.
Strong believers - religious and atheist - have not been hesitant to find meanings in the waves. I hope that we will do better, because some of what I am reading brings little wisdom.
The Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas is on the extreme fringes of the American social conservative movement, and it interprets the Bible as supporting its socially conservative rejection of homosexuality. The domain name for its Web page is godhatesfags.com. It has a web site called God Hates America, proclaiming that God punished New York City for its acceptance of homosexuality by the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers. It has a related site called God Hates Canada. It has put itself in the news by peristently picketing against gay marriage and the repeal of anti-sodomy laws and by its persistent and vicious intrusions into the grief of families who have lost loved ones to gay-bashing violence.
It has discovered the hand of divine retribution against Sweden in the loss of Swedish tourists in the Indian Ocean disaster of December 26, 2004. It has opened a new web site called God Hates Sweden. It has a particular grievance with Sweden because of the case of Pentecostal preacher Ake Green who was convicted in Sweden of the crime of hate speech against gays and lesbians for a sermon criticizing gay marriage and homosexuality delivered in his own church.
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