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Religion

A WTF? fundamentalist moment

I was in Lansing, MI giving a talk at MSU the other day. Although time was very constrained and I didn’t get to see much of the campus at all, on the way back to the airport, I saw a very odd fundamentalist billboard. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get a picture of it with my cell phone camera; so I’ll have to do the best that I can by memory to tell you what it says.

The billboard said something like this (I could be off considerably in the exact phraseology, but this was the gist of the sign):

Forgive us, O Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Too long we have relied upon the automobile industry instead of Your beneficence, and now we are suffering for it. We turn to You and ask that You hear our prayer and restore prosperity to our community.

So, let me get this straight: Jesus is punishing Lansing by throwing American carmakers’ sales and profits into the crapper just because the people of Lansing (and, I presume, the entire state of Michigan) have supposedly relied on the auto industry instead of God? And, I suppose, He did it by making the Big Three executives fail to realize that, with gas prices going up, SUVs aren’t as popular as they once were, resulting in their continuing to rely on big SUVs for the bulk of their profits. Or maybe God interfered with their car designers so that they produce products that people don’t want to buy. Or perhaps drove up the cost of health benefits for unionized workers to make it hard for the carmakers to be competitive on price. The possibilities are endless. Who knew God was such a micromanager of industry?

Who comes up with this stuff? I wonder if there are more of these signs and, if so, whether Ed has seen any of them?

ADDENDUM: A reader in the comments has found a photo of the billboard in question, and I’ve placed it below the fold for you to check out.

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Yep, I got the gist right, even though my memory of the exact wording wasn’t so hot. On the other hand, I saw it for only a few seconds as we drove by…

By Orac

Orac is the nom de blog of a humble surgeon/scientist who has an ego just big enough to delude himself that someone, somewhere might actually give a rodent's posterior about his copious verbal meanderings, but just barely small enough to admit to himself that few probably will. That surgeon is otherwise known as David Gorski.

That this particular surgeon has chosen his nom de blog based on a rather cranky and arrogant computer shaped like a clear box of blinking lights that he originally encountered when he became a fan of a 35 year old British SF television show whose special effects were renowned for their BBC/Doctor Who-style low budget look, but whose stories nonetheless resulted in some of the best, most innovative science fiction ever televised, should tell you nearly all that you need to know about Orac. (That, and the length of the preceding sentence.)

DISCLAIMER:: The various written meanderings here are the opinions of Orac and Orac alone, written on his own time. They should never be construed as representing the opinions of any other person or entity, especially Orac's cancer center, department of surgery, medical school, or university. Also note that Orac is nonpartisan; he is more than willing to criticize the statements of anyone, regardless of of political leanings, if that anyone advocates pseudoscience or quackery. Finally, medical commentary is not to be construed in any way as medical advice.

To contact Orac: [email protected]

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