Providence? Really?

I know, I know, I have been a horrible unfaithful blogger. But I haven't fallen out of love yet. I have only been a little misguided by a few furniture projects. I am sorry. It will never happen again...

Nevertheless, I find it imperative that I write a little about something Rose stumbled upon while telling me about the plane crash that happened in San Diego late last night over the phone. You can read the whole story here.

What really shocked us both was a quote by a neighbor down stuck in towards the end of the story:

"'It's just providence,' said Johnson, who was at home with his daughter and grandchild when the fighter plane crashed two houses away, sending them fleeing out their back door. 'Thirty feet higher and the plane lands in our living room instead of theirs.'"

Wait a minute. Providence? Really Mr. Robert Johnson? I am sooo sure God provided that a plane falling from the sky would fall thirty feet short to miss your house. Right, because God looks out for you in just that special way that he obviously doesn't for Mr. Dong Yun Yoon, the Vietnamese immigrant who now has to deal with the loss of his wife, two children and mother-in-law. I am so glad you are such a faithful man Mr. Johnson.

And the printing of this quote raises the issue, one which Rose has been turning over all semester at the Washington Journalism Center, that of how the media reports on religious issues. I am sure in this case, the journalists didn't realize the full intent of such a quote, trying to convey a sympathetic and somber mood in the piece for such a devastating incident. Unfortunately, this quote casts faith and God in a "bless me over my neighbor" light.

Journalists not understanding religious issues and language? I can let that one slide, for now. But the bigger issue, the one of this guy and his views on God's providence? It is such a pervasive and perverse attitude that afflicts so many faith believing individuals, I just hope I could give a little more encouraging of a quote if I witnessed such a tragic accident.