Monday, July 14, 2025

SojoMail - Prophets Don’t Tweet ‘I Told You So’

In this week's SojoMail: a soundtrack for Jesus and John Wayne; why one pastor believes protests work; and a Palestinian student who just beat the Trump administration.

Prophets Don’t Tweet ‘I Told You So’

In this week's SojoMail, Tyler Huckabee writes that if our response to deadly flooding in Texas is that voters brought this upon themselves, God (and Tyler) would like a word:

Everyone loves the story of Jonah and the whale. It’s got it all: drama, danger, whales — or at least “a big fish” as any Bible nerd will point out. And a tidy little lesson at the end about the importance of obeying God.

But the story’s post-whale coda is where things get really interesting. After Jonah finally reaches Nineveh — albeit by a very roundabout route — he obeys God’s command to call the city to repentance. Mission accomplished, he finds a spot outside the city walls with a good view, settles in, and waits for God to smite them. He’s hoping for fire and brimstone and is disappointed when none come. God spares the Ninevites.

Jonah wanted to see a wicked city get what it deserved. But life is not that simple. And neither is God.

As of this writing, the awful floods in Texas have killed at least 120 people, including 27 campers and counselors at Camp Mystic, a private Christian camp. The scope of the tragedy boggles the mind, a tragedy sometimes compounded by the breadth of online reactions.

According to a small but noisy group of liberals and leftists, there’s a cruel logic to this tragedy — a small but pervasive idea among some liberals and leftists that Texas brought this on itself.

Read the full article

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