God and the Boy Scouts

The Boy Scouts are reeling from a set of tragedies recently. First, four adult scoutmasters were electrocuted at the Boy Scout Jamboree; then dozens of Scouts were overcome by stifling heat at the same event; now comes word that an adult troop leader and a teenage Scout were struck by lightning and killed in Calfornia.

All of these deaths and injuries are terrible, and the Ivory Madonna sends her sympathy to the families and friends of the unfortunate victims.

These tragedies have a deeper dimension, however. Electrocution, stifling heat, lightning strikes...these are the traditional symbols of divine displeasure. All that's missing is the stench of brimstone and the odd pillar of salt.

If the Ivory Madonna were a religious believer (she isn't, so she wouldn't be allowed to join the Boy Scouts even if she were a boy), she would argue that these tragedies are evidence of an angry God showing His displeasure at an organization that uses His name to discriminate against girls, gays, and atheists.

How odd that our self-proclaimed religious leaders have not made this point. They are quick enough to see the will and word of God in other tragedies -- for example, seeing the 9/11 attacks as evidence of God's displeasure with feminists, gays, and abortion. Why are they silent on the deeper meanings of these Boy Scout tragedies?

-M

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The Ivory Madonna's story is told in Dance for the Ivory Madonna by Don Sakers.