Bad theology in the face of tragedy
Early this morning I received a GroupMe message that a coworker's uncle and cousin were killed overnight in a car accident. Immediately there followed a number of posts of condolence as well as the typical 'thoughts and prayers.' But one person posted the following response: "O taste and see that the Lord is good." Of all of the things that a person could post after a tragedy, this seemed pretty vapid to me. What the hell.
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Given the way the world has gone since the coming of Christ, it makes me wonder sometimes why he (Christ) bothered...maybe it would have been better if we'd all been Buddhists...
(Yes, I know - it's more complicated than that).
I cannot remember her story, it is quite possible she had led a life of incredible trauma and that valuing each new day was important to her, but even in those days I remember thinking that it was a quite unfortunate vocal tic.
Reading about Tourettes in the last few weeks I have been wondering if it was something like that, an involuntary utterance that she said so often that it became automatic. I remember another friend of my grandmother who was funny to talk to because she would show she was listening to you by repeating back to you the last thing you said. "I went to Weston last weekend" "Oh that's right, you had a lovely time in Weston last weekend"
I do not use Facebook or similar things but it seems like a place where one might see similar repeated behaviours. People grieve and express condolences in different ways, it is probably best to try not to take offense as they probably do not mean to be hurtful.
Understandably, but I think @Baptist Trainfan makes a valid point. There are some people who try to persuade themselves (and everyone else) that nothing - however bad or tragic - happens outside God's Plan™.
They may, or may not, be right.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4756112/
It seems like there could be other neurological conditions that mean one types inappropriate looking phrases into Facebook pages.
I fortunately do not have a neurological condition like that so unfortunately I have no excuses for my own inappropiate typing.
I think that would be my next step. Send a private message to the person in question, asking what he/she/they meant before I go to another board and ask, "What the hell."
A Shipmate educated me about a thing called "spiritual bypassing". It's something that some people do when they are having doubts or difficult feelings about God and can't cope in healthy ways with that, so they skip immediately to these kinds of obnoxious statements. I have someone in my family who does this, I think possibly because he genuinely worries that he might get smitten or something if he says "That sucks" or expresses anger toward God.
And then there are the people who think you can "manifest" something terrible if you ever, ever verbally acknowledge that bad things happen. And for them, saying this stuff is a way of warding off more evil.
I wish there was some way to prevent it, it just hurts more people. Ugh.
The person in question has no afflictions or dementia. They are outwardly religious, and a source of a lot of God talk.
Do let us know when your opportunity presents itself. FFS.
Sounds like a few clergy I've been acquainted with...
Is that response a sort of equivalent to the 'thoughts and prayers' thing?
How can I? I am not on the app you referenced. You are. What I am asking is why are you bringing a concern you are having on one app to a separate board? The old Matthew 18 directive applies: If you take offense at what your brother/sister is doing, go show them the offense...
Exactly that.