Christian Fortune Tellers: Judgment, America and the Prophets of Doom

Men who don’t want to look foolish don’t call the game in the first quarter.

by Rod D. Martin
December 31, 2001

So was September 11th God’s judgment on America or not?

It’s a good question. In the immediate aftermath of the horrors of that day, Christian commentators fell all over themselves to join Bill Clinton in pronouncing just that. And in the shock of the moment, it certainly seemed right: America’s sins are many, and repentance is surely the greatest need of the day.

But then the impossible happened. In just a month and a half, America (supposedly in the hands of an angry God) romped and stomped and did what no one had ever done in all of history: completely defeat and overrun Afghanistan, with no casualties to speak of and hardly any ground troops at all.

“Now who did you say was getting judged?” the outside observer might ask. And the prophets of America’s doom seem to have no reply, especially the obvious one, which is: “Oops, wrong country. Our bad.”

Now don’t misunderstand: America’s sins are many; the pastors who called us to repentance are absolutely c…