In fairness, they’re nuts who claim to be Christians

There’s a great moment in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown when Brown discovers the Christians in his New England village worshipping Satan. It’s a tale of obsession, clearly–men and women so panicked about evil that they kind of like it. I’m reminded of Hawthorne following every American disaster—September 11, Hurricane Katrina, and each time California shakes or burns. Your Daily Briefing reminds you that some Americans believe the wildfires roaring around us today are evidence that God hates California (“cesspool,” “Devil’s playground”), and a few of these Americans are our neighbors.

A guy (maybe a gal; can’t say) on one site ends his news story on the California wildfires with a citation from Amos—that suggests, you know, that God started these fires. A commentator on another site writes, “That Hollywood bunch needs a good heavenly spanking. I WOULDN’T BLAME GOD FOR LOWERING THE BOOM ON THE ENTIRE STATE! We lived there, we know.” On another message board, “Sandra P” ends her jeremiad, “California is on fire now, God is not mocked!” Not mocked, but ashamed of his followers, maybe?

UPDATE: Turns out that CNN Headline News host Glenn Beck has entered the firestorm: on his nationally syndicated radio show yesterday, he said, “I think there is a handful of people who hate America. Unfortunately for them, a lot of them are losing their homes in a forest fire today.”

Tags: apocalypse, California, Christian, CNN, glenn beck, God, hurricane katrina, Malibu, nathaniel hawthorne, Satan, wildfires