Why Don’t Religious People Hold God Accountable?

I suffer from insomnia. I actually have many conditions, foibles and quirks. But most of them involve the infliction of suffering on others. Insomnia is the one thing I have which actually causes me to suffer.

On average, two-three nights per week I find myself just staring at the ceiling long after my wife Jen has drifted off to sleep quietly murmuring “Why? Why?” over and over again, which I interpret to be her quiet rumination on how she was lucky enough to wind up with me.

Usually, when I’ve tossed and turned long enough, and I’ve grown weary of planning revenge against all of my enemies, I resignedly get up, go downstairs and watch television until I finally doze off, usually about eight minutes before the alarm goes off.

A few days ago, my late night channel-surfing led me to a weird confluence of programming. On one channel I found the muculent, oleaginous television preacher Joel Olsteen, and on another channel I saw the early reports of the horrific earthquake in Turkey in Syria which has, as I write this, claimed over 20,000 human lives.

Olsteen preaches in the arena where the Houston Rockets used to play. He actually sells more tickets than they did, although, to be fair, he probably has a better jump shot than anyone on the 13–42 Rockets.