What is God really like?

The beautiful image of God making his rainbow covenant with Noah in last Sunday's first reading follows a darker portrayal of God who had just intentionally drowned nearly all of humanity in a flood, a MEGA-punishment for sin. God will later entomb the sinners of Sodom and Gomorrah in volcanic ash and send venomous snakes upon sinners worshipping the golden calf in the Sinai desert. This darker side of God seems quick to anger, harsh and vindictive against sinners. Is God really like that? Some people, even some Christians today, think so…

When the tsunami hit Indonesia in December 2004, Islamic clerics said the giant killing wave was God's punishment for sins. In September Mayor Ray Nagin of New Orleans claimed hurricane Katrina had been God’s punishment for the invasion of Iraq. Evangelist Pat Robertson declared that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s stroke in January was God’s punishment for endorsing division of the Holy Land with the Palestinians. Two weeks ago a Christian group from Kansas picketed the funeral of Corporal Andrew Kemple in Anoka , asserting that his death in Iraq was God’s punishment for our country tolerating homosexuality. Is God really like that...vindictive and punishing?