Superstitious Belief Is Not Religious Faith - Or IS Hurricane Isaac a divine message to Republicans to Repent their evil ideology??????????????

Those who believe that some outward ritual, some precise formula, some combination of gestures, words, and physical items are engaging in superstition rather than faith.  There is no special power at the hour of midnight on Halloween in walking counter clockwise in a circle.  This Shakespearean fantasy from MacBeth, below, makes my point.  This is as true of adding the casual oddment of eye of newt as it is praying away the gay or praying away tornadoes, or believing earthquakes hit Haiti because of some pact with the devil, or the belief that Halloween candy is cursed -- or secretly Halal Butterball turkeys will turn you Muslim.  It makes as little sense to assert that GOD is trying to tell Republicans to abaondon their evil ways with a Hurricane - one that has a Biblical name no less, and one of the three great Patriarchs, only child miraculously born to Abraham whom he was directed to kill as a human sacrifice as a test of faith.  I'm sure the religious right will find some crazy way to try to interpret that in terms of affirming their right wing extreme agenda. But that still doesn't make it religious faith, it is still superstition.

First Witch Thrice the brinded cat hath mew'd.

Second Witch Thrice and once the hedge-pig whined.

Third Witch Harpier cries "'Tis time, 'tis time."

First Witch
Round about the cauldron go;
In the poison'd entrails throw.Toad, that under cold stone
Days and nights has thirty-one
Swelter'd venom sleeping got,
Boil thou first i' the charmed pot.

AllDouble, double, toil and trouble; (10)
Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.

Second Witch
Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the cauldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt and toe of frog,
Wool of bat and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg and howlet's wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

All
Double, double, toil and trouble;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

Third Witch
Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf,
Witches' mummy, maw and gulf
Of the ravin'd salt-sea shark,Root of hemlock digg'd i' the dark,
Liver of blaspheming Jew,
Gall of goat, and slips of yew
Silver'd in the moon's eclipse,Nose of Turk and Tartar's lips,
Finger of birth-strangled babe (30)
Ditch-deliver'd by a drab,
Make the gruel thick and slab:
Add thereto a tiger's chaudron,
For the ingredients of our cauldron.

All
Double, double, toil and trouble;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

Second Witch
Cool it with a baboon's blood,
Then the charm is firm and good.

[Enter Hecate, to the other three Witches]

Hecate
O well done! I commend your pains;
And every one shall share i' the gains;
And now about the cauldron sing,
Live elves and fairies in a ring,
Enchanting all that you put in.

Second Witch
By the pricking of my thumbs,Something wicked this way comes.
Open, locks,
Whoever knocks!

So, in that context, I can only scorn Pat Robertson not as a man of God, but as a man of superstition who would make as much or as little sense prattling on about zombies as when he claims more prayer would have averted tornadoes or drought.  A sensible understanding of the ills of global warming, and an honest responsibility for the role of humans in its cause would be more to the point.

From Right Wing Watch:

Pat Robertson Blames Drought on Americans who 'Ignore the Laws of God with Impunity'

Submitted by Brian Tashman on Wed, 08/22/2012 - 12:20pm

Today on the 700 Club, Pat Robertson blamed this year’s severe drought on Americans who infringe on God’s law, although Robertson did not specify which laws were broken. “Somehow in this country we feel that we can ignore the laws of God with impunity, and the truth is we can’t, God always has the last say,” Robertson said, “we need to do some praying.” “The heavens have been shut up and it’s time for those folks in the Midwest to do some serious praying,” Robertson counseled. Earlier this year, Robertson maintained that tornadoes in the Midwest could have been stopped if only people had prayed them away.

So............does this mean Pat Robertson is going to claim that Hurricane Isaac heading towards Tampa represents divine fury, possibly causing the convention to be canceled by the mayor?  OR, is it just one of those Biblical mass baptisms of the Republican party?  Or maybe one of those divine intervention posthumous baptisms the Mormons like to perform on the unwilling, only with extra plywood and plastic tarps?  Michele Bachmann pretended she was joking when she claimed natural disasters was God's way of trying to send a message to Congress.  Does that mean Popsie Bachmann believes GOD is trying to straighten out the ignorance and malice of the GOP?  That will take some doing; I'm not sure this storm is up to THAT job.

Is Christine O'Donnell going?  Someone get her a broomstick! If the wind speeds get high enough, she might get enough elevation for a spin or two around the parking lot around 2nd floor level at the hotel...

It is all so much superstition, on a par with baboon's blood or 'step on a crack, break your mother's back'.  It is time for the adults to step in.