The waters continued to rise, and just as they overtopped the first storey some emergency rescue personnel in a motorboat did a final sweep of the area; when they saw him reading the Bible and praying by candlelight in his bedroom they came by and urged him to get into the boat with them. "No," he said, climbing onto the roof, "the Lord will save me."
The next morning, with the waters almost to the rooftop, a helicopter flew by and tossed him a line down, with a warning over a loudspeaker that things were only going to get worse and he should climb up now before his house was completely swamped. "No," he shouts back, "the Lord will save me!"
Finally the flood rose above the level of the rooftops in his neighborhood and the floodwaters swept him away. And, as he's struggling ever more futilely to keep his head above water, the guy begins to cry. "Lord, Lord, why didn't you save me!?"
At which point a voice booms from the heavens: "Well, my child, I sent you a truck, a boat, and a helicopter ..."
On Sat, Jun 28, 2008 at 8:13 AM, Jesse Lemisch <utopia1 at attglobal.net> wrote:
>
> Some years back, an interesting study in Science found a higher death
> rate from tornadoes in areas where a high proportion of people were
> believing and practicing Christians. In such areas, after warnings of
> tornadoes, fewer people took steps to protect themselves (e.g move to SW
> corner of basement) because, as below, they saw it to be "all in God's
> hands."
>
> Jesse Lemisch
>
> Doug Henwood wrote:
> > <http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/080625-faith-politics.html>
> >
> > Non-Voters: It's All In God's Hands
> > By Jeanna Bryner, Senior Writer
> > posted: 25 June 2008 11:20 am ET
> >
> > People who believe that God is involved in worldly affairs are less
> > likely to participate in national elections than others, according to
> > a new survey.
> >
> > The study, which included nearly 1,700 U.S. men and women with an
> > average age of 53, suggests that a person's view of God is a variable
> > that determines whether he or she will donate money to a campaign,
> > read political news, or even vote.
> >
> > "It can be reasoned that if one believes God determines worldly
> > affairs, then there is little reason for individuals to participate
> > in civic events," study leader Robyn Driskell and her colleagues
> > write in the June issue of the journal Social Science Quarterly. "God
> > is taking care of things."
> >
> > ...
> > ___________________________________
> > http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
> >
> >
> ___________________________________
> http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
-- "The more I practice, the luckier I get." -- Ben Hogan