Religious Perversity: Attributing Wildfires to God’s Wrath

Pastor Kevin Swanson recently demonstrated just how easy it is to place religion in a really bad light. He made the outrageous claim that the fires currently wreaking havoc in California are God’s retribution for the state’s actions to “legitimize the sin of homosexuality.”

Swanson has a radio show, Generations with Kevin Swanson, and he makes money selling his brand of apocalyptic nonsense on his web site, Generations: Passing on the Faith, but his take on religion is very far from the mainstream. And it’s very dangerous as well.

I know from my work with the thousands of clergy members who make up The Clergy Letter Project just how extreme his views are. The clergy members I know and respect understand and preach that:

· Religion is not about hate;

· Religion is not about bigotry;

· Religion is not about ignorance.

These men and women, people from a broad array of religions and denominations who have devoted themselves to their faiths, live their lives secure in the knowledge that religion should be about love, kindness, understanding, compassion and care for the world around us.

Unlike Swanson, they understand that deep and abiding love wherever it is found is something to be cherished and…