The Age of Stupefaction

After Hurricane Katrina had created its toll of human misery, I was moved to write a short editorial comparing that devastation with the earthquake in Lisbon in 1755. What interested me was the reaction to that catastrophe of various Enlightenment intellectuals. Voltaire, in particular, like so many at the time, found it difficult to reconcile the existence of a benevolent deity with the suffering and death imposed on so many tens of thousands, the good and the wicked together. By contrast, the British newspaper, the Daily Mail, February 2, 2009, reported that Gerhard Wagner, later appointed Bishop of Linz by Pope Benedict XVI, had said that the hurricane was divine punishment for the permissive sexuality in New Orleans (he also characterized the Harry Potter books as “satanic”). So much for God’s dialogue with Abraham where He would have foregone the destruction of a city (Sodom in that case) if it had contained ten good men. Similar sentiments were expressed in this country. In fact, the widely followed Pastor John Hagee said, “All hurricanes are acts of God because God controls the heavens. I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God and they were recipients of the judgment of God for that” [NPR Fresh Air, 9/18/06], reported in the Huffington Post, February 29, 2008.

Well, the incomprehensible level of suffering occasioned by the earthquake in Haiti has also caused a seismic increase in the level of schadenfreude that can be found around the world. Sadly again, some of it appears in this country. Pat Robertson, not wanting to leave any doubt that his comments about the world scene are inane and should be dismissed by any right thinking person, made remarks suggesting the Haitians, during their long and tragic history, had made a pact with the devil to rid the island of the French and thus were now paying the price. There is a short YouTube video wherein he says the same and actually paraphrases the response that the devil apparently gave the Haitians. There are times when it is hard to believe that there ever was an Age of Enlightenment which provided the inspiration for the American revolution.

This has always been a religious nation but at the same time it has always been a pragmatic nation. We are going through one of our periodic upheavals of religiously based superstition and ignorance which is causing and, in the short term, will continue to cause much mischief. It is my belief that the American people will not allow themselves to be drawn into a vortex of know-nothingism from which they cannot escape. It would be a great pity if we entered history on the wings of Enlightenment and left it on gusts of stupefaction.