SC - Do Unnatural Acts Cause Natural Disasters?

[Alderton, Philippa]

>  Do Unnatural Acts Cause Natural Disasters?
>
>      Pat Robertson, founder of the Christian Coalition, recently warned
Orlando, Florida, that it was courting natural disaster by
allowing gay pride flags to be flown along its streets.
>
>  "A condition like this will bring about ... earthquakes, tornadoes,
>   and possibly a meteor," Robertson said.
>
>    Apparently he was referring to his belief that the presence of openly
gay people incurs divine wrath and that God acts through
geological and meteorological events to destroy municipalities that
permit gay people the same civil liberties as others. ?(Robertson also
warned Orlando about terrorist bombs, suggesting the possibility that
God may also employ terrorists.
>     Before Pat and his Christian cronies get too carried away promulgating
the idea that natural disasters are prompted by people who
displease God, they should take a hard look at the data.
>     Take tornadoes. Every state (except Alaska) has them-- some only one
or two a year, dozens in others. Gay people are in every state (even
Alaska). According to Pat's hypothesis, there should be more gay people
in states that have more tornadoes. ?But are there? ?Nope. ?In fact,
there's no correlation at all between the number of gay folks (as
estimated by the number of gay political organizations, support groups,
bookstores, radio programs, and circuit parties) and the annual tornado
count r=.04, p = .78 for you statisticians).
>
>   So much for the "God hates gays" theory.
>    God seems almost neutral on the subject of sexual orientation. I say
"almost" because if we look at the density of gay groups relative to
the population as a whole, there is a small but statistically
significant (p .05) correlation with the occurrence of tornadoes.?And
it's a negative correlation r= -.28).
>      For those of you who haven't used statistics since 1973, that means
that a high concentration of gay organizations actually protects
against tornadoes. ?A state with the population of, say, Alabama could
avert two tornadoes a year merely by doubling the number of gay
> organizations in the state. ?(Tough choice for Alabama's civil defense
> strategists.)
>    Although God may not care about sexual orientation, the same cannot be
said for religious affiliation. ?If the underlying tenet of Pat's
postulate is true--that God wipes out offensive folks via natural
disasters --then perhaps we can find some evidence of who's on God's hit
list.
>      Jews are off the hook here: there's no correlation between numbers of
Jews and frequency of tornadoes. ?Ditto for Catholics. But
when it comes to Protestants, there's a highly significant correlation
of .71.
>     This means that fully half the state-to-state variation in tornado
>   frequency can be accounted for by the presence of Protestants. And the
chance that this association is merely coincidental is only one in
10,000.
>      Protestants, of course, come in many flavors-- we were able to find
statistics for Lutherans, Methodists, Baptists, and Others.
Lutherans don't seem to be a problem--no correlation with tornadoes.
There's a modest correlation r= .52, p = .0001) between Methodists and
> tornadoes.      But Baptists and Others share the prize: both groups show
a definite correlation with tornado frequency r= .68, p = .0001).
This means that Texas could cut its average of 139 tornadoes per year in
half by sending a few hundred thousand Baptists elsewhere (Alaska
maybe?).
>     What, you are probably asking yourself, about gay Protestants? An
> examination of the numbers of gay religious groups (mostly Protestant)
> reveals no significant relationship with tornadoes. Perhaps even
Protestants are less repugnant to God if they're gay.
>      And that brings up another point--the futility of trying to save the
world by getting gay people to accept Jesus. ?It looks from our
numbers as if the frequency of natural disasters might be more
effectively reduced by encouraging Protestants to be gay.
>      Gay people have been falsely blamed for disasters ever since Sodom
was destroyed by fire and brimstone. ?(We have been unable to find
any statistics on disasters involving brimstone). ?According to a
reliable source, the destruction of Sodom was indeed an act of God. (see
Genesis 19:13) ?It's destruction was perpetrated because the citizens
thereof were, according to the same source (see Ezekiel 16:49-50)
"arrogant, overfed and unconcerned [and] did not help the poor and
needy"--not because they were gay.
>      Now Pat would have us believe that gays are the cause of tornadoes
(as well as earthquakes, meteors, and even terrorist bombs) in
utter disregard for evidence showing that Baptists are much more likely
to cause them.
      I say "Kudos!" to Orlando. Despite Robertson's warning that
Orlando is "right in the way of some serious hurricanes" (hardly a
revelation), note that it was not struck by the very destructive
Hurricane Andrew a few years ago. And amid the recent conflagrations
(that's fires) in central Florida, which occurred just after Pat sounded
his alarm, Orlando was spared. Keep those flags waving!
>      As any statistician will tell you, of course, correlation doesn't
> prove causation. Protestants causing tornadoes by angering God isn't the
only explanation for these data. It could be that Baptists and Other
> Protestants purposely flock to states that have lots of tornadoes (no, we
haven't checked for a correlation between IQ and religious
affiliation).
>     But if Pat and his Christian crew insist that natural disasters are
brought on by people who offend God, let the data show who those
> people are.


   Janis Walworth July 16, 1998
>   Sources: Tornado Occurrence by State, 1962-1991 1990 Churches and
>   Church Membership; Population by State, 1990 US Census;
>   Gay & Lesbian Political Organizations, Support Groups, and Religious
>   Groups from Gayellow Pages, National Edition, 1987.
>
>   Permission is given to all to reprint this article in its entirety on a
> not-for-profit basis.



Phlip

Nolo disputare, volo somniare et contendere, et iterum somniare.

phlip at morganco.net

Philippa Farrour
Caer Frig
Southeastern Ohio

"All things are poisons.  It is simply the dose that distinguishes between a
poison and a remedy." -Paracelsus

"Oats -- a grain which in England sustains the horses, and in
Scotland, the men." -- Johnson

"It was pleasant to me to find that 'oats,' the 'food of horses,' were
so much used as the food of the people in Johnson's own town." --
Boswell

"And where will you find such horses, and such men?" -- Anonymous