Perspective: Is coronavirus a sign from an exasperated God?

FPI / March 16, 2020

Is the coronavirus a sign of an angered God finally losing patience with humanity as in the Old Testament of the Bible when Divine injunctions fell on deaf ears?

In a March 13 op-ed for the India Post, analyst A.Q. Siddiqui noted that St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican City in Italy "is deserted. The Pope, supreme Pontiff has cancelled all meetings and engagements in Vatican City. The world is cut off with Rome."

Meanwhile, "the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has temporarily banned Umrah pilgrims from all over the world. A day earlier, the Kingdom also restricted its citizens and residents from visiting Mecca. Although the Mecca entry restrictions announced are precautionary temporary steps, the Holy Kaaba is a deserted place," Siddiqui wrote.

Is is the first time in history "the circling of Kaaba has been stopped" Siddiqui noted. "The circling to Kaaba was an old practice even prior to the expansion of Islam. The Pagan Arabs used to circle it before entering their homes. Muslims make 7 anti-clock, circles to complete a Tawaf. A strange fact that makes few believe that anti-clock circling of Kaaba strengthens the magnetic grid of Planet earth. The fact that believers in One God are circling holy Kaaba 24 hours / 365 days, non-stop, makes it a unique place on earth where God is worshiped non-stop. There is no other similar place on earth where God is worshiped non-stop. And now there is not a single soul around it except cops on guard."

Bethlehem has been locked down as well. The Church of Nativity, built on the site that Christians believe was the birthplace of Jesus, was also closed on Thursday for worshipers.

"In modern history, it is the first time that worshipers to God are not allowed where they should be," Siddiqui wrote. "Is God unhappy with mankind? According to legends and believers in God, a time will come when the supplications, prayers and worship by mankind will be rejected by God. And when will such a time come?"

Siddiqui continued: "The sages among mankind believe that God will be unhappy when justice will be denied, when atrocities against mankind will increase, rulers will usurp their powers and suppress their subjects, courts will shun justice. Judges will indulge in favoritism. He will be even unhappier when the people will remain silent spectators and watch atrocities on others around them.

"Does this imply if God is unhappy, He is punishing mankind? The Holy Scriptures from the Old Testament, Bible to Quran, have verses warning about the punishment of God. History tells us of the storm of Noah that drowned His earlier creation. But those who firmly believe in God also believe that God is most kind. So, what He will do if He is unhappy? Is He going to punish mankind? What will be the punishment of God? Believers in God believe that if He is unhappy, He will turn away from mankind. And if He turns away from mankind, Satan will take over. Satan will be helping all wrongdoers. And only God can stop Satan.

"Humanity will suffer when justice will be denied when courts and judges will work for favoritism and lack integrity. Hindu Upanishads state, “‘There is nothing higher than justice. So, a weak man hopes (to defeat) a strong man by means of justice as one does through a king’ (Radhakrishnan, 1992:170)[13].

"Let some people stand for the right and injustice against humanity. These people alone will save mankind from catastrophic calamities. And only for such people, God will not turn away from mankind."

The Gospel Coalition cited C.S. Lewis's 1948 essay "On Living in an Atomic Age", only replacing "atomic" with “coronavirus.”

Lewis wrote:

In one way we think a great deal too much of the atomic bomb. “How are we to live in an atomic age?” I am tempted to reply: “Why, as you would have lived in the sixteenth century when the plague visited London almost every year, or as you would have lived in a Viking age when raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut your throat any night; or indeed, as you are already living in an age of cancer, an age of syphilis, an age of paralysis, an age of air raids, an age of railway accidents, an age of motor accidents.”

In other words, do not let us begin by exaggerating the novelty of our situation. Believe me, dear sir or madam, you and all whom you love were already sentenced to death before the atomic bomb was invented: and quite a high percentage of us were going to die in unpleasant ways. We had, indeed, one very great advantage over our ancestors—anesthetics; but we have that still. It is perfectly ridiculous to go about whimpering and drawing long faces because the scientists have added one more chance of painful and premature death to a world which already bristled with such chances and in which death itself was not a chance at all, but a certainty.

This is the first point to be made: and the first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things — praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts — not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies (a microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds.

Free Press International