Minister Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam (NOI) is no stranger to insane comments, so let’s get right to it. In an article from the sect’s Website, the headline reads: “‘Acts of God’ – Severe, costly, unusual weather bludgeons America.” The story reported that “severe thunderstorms spawned tornadoes in southeast Louisiana.”

Bad weather also hit other parts of the U.S. Storm Stella unexpectedly hit many parts of the country. Thousands of flights were canceled. Avalanches occurred in Pennsylvania. Some states were buried in snow and there were reports of several traffic accidents.

Farrakhan claims to have predicted most of the mayhem. (Since 1930, the NOI has been predicting the “coming destruction of America.” Similarly, since WWI, the Jehovah’s Witnesses have maintained that “we are living in the final days.”)

According to the story:

The reason for the divine chastisement, according to the Teachings of the Hon. Elijah Muhammad, is that America is being punished for the slavery, suffering and death Blacks endured at the hands of Caucasian people.

Fulfilling biblical and Quaranic scripture, the divine Supreme Being today is using the weather as a weapon to destroy America until she relents and lets Black people go free – and gives justice to the American Indian for genocide against them. It is time to separate from the open enemy just as the children of Israel had to separate and leave Pharaoh and Egypt in the Bible.

God is punishing White people for slavery? If anything, he should be thankful that many of them helped eradicate Bible-sanctioned slavery through abolitionism and war. In any case, slavery was officially abolished in 1865. The actual slavers have long since died and many of them might even be in Heaven now. Aw, gee! That’s what happens when God procrastinates.

There are many other problems with this religious madness. For example, was God punishing “Caucasians” when he inflicted so much suffering upon Black people via Hurricane Katrina? What about when Hurricane Mitch obliterated the infrastructures of five Central American nations in 1998, killing thousands and leaving hundreds of thousands without homes? And let’s not even get started on the poor Haitians and Filipinos who cannot seem to catch a break.

If it is true that God is punishing White people with hurricanes and so on, should we help the survivors? After all, according to Farrakhan, they had it coming.

Should we have international celebrations to praise God for bringing forth divine justice?

We should ask: Does God really kill innocent people, including infants and toddlers, just to make a point? Does he really harm and wipe out puppies, kittens and bunnies just to get back at White people?

If God behaves in this way, this is not punishment. He is abusing his power and abusing the earthly children he professes to love. It is just that many theists are too afraid to admit this and/ or too dense to recognize it.

This raises another question. Has God ever been pissed off at the NOI? Did he permit the destruction of Temple Number 7 in Harlem after Malcolm X was murdered? Did he afflict Farrakhan with cancer? Was God responsible for Farrakhan’s son’s drug addiction? Was he responsible for Elijah Muhammad’s poor health? Inquiring minds want to know.

The NOI claims that God is punishing America until she “lets Black people go free….” This is utter madness! Black people can go anywhere they want to. Indeed, they have. Freed African American slaves settled in Liberia in 1821. There is a thriving community of African American expatriates in Ghana. Farrakhan knows this very well because he has NOI representatives there. Blacks such as

W.E.B. Du Bois have moved to Africa (Ghana.) African Americans such as James Baldwin have lived in Europe. Black U.S. military veterans and other retirees can be found living all over the globe. We are free to go whenever we wish, so what on Earth is Farrakhan talking about?

Farrakhan needs to kick the Moses fantasy to the curb with the quickness. Unlike the Hebrews and the Egyptians, Black and White theists throughout the history of the U.S. have worshipped the same God. So, this ain’t no modern day Exodus story!

Farrakhan could use a little knowledge about meteorology. According to National Geographic, hurricanes, for example, are natural – not supernatural – disasters. According to the site:

Hurricanes begin as tropical disturbances in warm ocean waters with surface temperatures of at least 80 degrees Fahrenheit (26.5 degrees Celsius.) These low pressure systems are fed by energy from the warm seas.

All natural phenomena have naturalistic underpinnings. All people need to do is a simple Google search to fill in gaps in so much of their knowledge. Instead, however, they lazily posit a God of the gaps.

But what about divine prophecy? There is nothing there. There are only vague words ideally suited for retrofitting. There are no specific dates, or usually, even names of cities, states or countries. There is no specificity, and therefore, no genuine prophecy of which to speak.

Someone once noted that it is in very poor taste to do theodicy after a natural disaster has occurred. But theists like Farrakhan just don’t get it. They will continue to exploit every opportunity to promote their ultra-reactionary and superstitious worldview no matter whose feelings are hurt.