Were You a Survivor in a Fatal Accident? Please Do Not Thank God for Saving You
Does our Father in Heaven Choose Who Lives and Dies? Absolutely Not.
In my novel The Secret of Fatima there is a passage in which Father Kevin Thrall is having a conversation with Katie, his girlfriend before he became a priest. They are talking about a theological subject I believe in and which you may agree with or not. I look forward to hearing your views. Here is the crux of the argument.
Often we hear commentary from survivors of a fatal accident as they relate their horrifying experience. This might have been a car pileup on the highway, a bus that veered off the road, a sailing accident, or even a plane crash. As often happens, some die, some survive. In cases where the accident involved a public conveyance, there is the inevitable news coverage.
We’ve all seen it: a reporter interviews a survivor of a tragic accident where there were some casualties. In the interview, the survivor will often thank God for sparing his or her life. I cringe when I hear that because that is the last thing I want to hear from a survivor. But why? You might ask. Do you not believe in God? Au contraire, I very much believe in God which is why I don’t want the survivor to thank Him!
You see, if I am the survivor in an accident where others die, by thanking God for sparing me, I am also implying that God made a choice. Indeed, if he chose to let me live, that means He also chose to let the others die. There can’t be any other explanation. So if I got saved, why did the young mother and child die? And what about the others? What did they do to deserve to die while I got to live?
Perhaps you see the incongruity of this situation. God doesn’t make choices like that. He didn’t decide I should live and the others should die. In fact, he had nothing to do with it. It was an accident over which God had no control, or over which He chose not to have control. Indeed, if God weighed in on all these situations, why would He let an innocent person be injured or die who did not deserve such a fate? I’m afraid the only answer is that God doesn’t make these decisions because either he cannot do so, or chose not to do so.
So I ask again, if you your life is spared in an accident where others were hurt or died, consider yourself lucky, and please leave God out of it.
