The evangelical Christians and Trump supporters are making their rounds with the same old sickening reaction from a natural disaster: just blame the gays. This type of reaction by religious people is the ‘poison’ that Christopher Hitchens referred to when he famously stated, “Religion poisons everything.” For all the moderate religious people that stick to the good aspects of their faith like love one another, be kind, and help others, this is the other extreme side of your faith. It’s the religious extremists, that in the words of Daniel Dennett, ‘that you provide cover for.’ And guess what, there’s scriptural support for these religious extremists and their blame game. Many moderate religious people don’t think about or are even aware of that because they don’t read the bible and have learned well the cherry-picked nicer portions of scripture only. Pastor Kevin Swanson says, “Unless you repent, you will likewise perish….And repairing your houses in Houston after a hurricane is useless if you’re just going to go to hell.” Ann Coulter, a political hack, says, “I don’t believe Hurricane Harvey is God’s punishment for Houston electing a lesbian mayor. But that is more credible than ‘climate change.’” There’s scientific evidence that are our oceans are warming and hurricanes feed off the warmer waters of our oceans. Scientists have been warning us that storms will become more severe. There’s also evidence that climate change denial is tied to religious belief. To blame innocent people for natural disasters is ‘ultimate wickedness and stupidity.’ These type of statements are ultimately what drove me and many others to abandon organized religion.
“Religion poisons everything, it infects us in our most basic integrity.”
Dispatches from a lowly biologist. 