VIII.  WHEN TOWERS FALL
“Those 18 on whom the tower of Siloam fell, do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who dwelt in Jerusalem?” (Luke 13:4)
        Like all scripture, this text should be read in context. We should ask who wrote it; whether it was Jesus, or the gospel writers who came after him. We should ask why they wrote this incident. It appears that the point has to do with repentance as a defense against evil.
        Again we see the old biblical understanding of evil as punishment for sin. It’s hard to escape. Even when we don’t believe in such consequences, we find ourselves asking, “What did I (or we) do to deserve this? Why Me?”
        When we think about it and tell the truth, there are probably dozens of things we have done and gotten away with that are worthy of punishment. And the question is, “Why not me?”
        Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, in a knee-jerk reaction (some simply said, “Jerk reaction”) said that the terrorist slaughter in America was God’s punishment for toleration of abortion and homosexuality and the American Civil Liberties Union. As odd as it sounds, those preachers are following a way of thinking that is in the Bible and deeply imbedded, especially in conservative Christianity and folk religion.
        In the midst of this story is a head-on questioning of this kind of mentality. It is so radically different from common thinking that we have to believe that the core idea traces back to Jesus. He asks. “Were they any worse offenders than all the others...?”
        It’s a rhetorical question. His answer is dear. “I tell you, No.”
        I can’t think of a text, but there ought to be a text that answers those who are saying that this disaster is another “sign” that the end times are at hand and that the Jesus is coming again soon. “No one knows the time...” is one answer. The other answer is that this is an ancient expectation held by the early church that didn’t happen.
        When the World Trade Center Towers imploded into rubble, crushing out the lives of some thousands of people of all ages, nationalities and religious beliefs, only religious zealots could dare claim to blame the hand of God. Only religious zealots could claim that this was direct punishment of any and all of those individuals who worked there or went in to attempt to rescue those who worked there. Only religious zealots could claim that God was punishing those people for the sins of the nation toward others in the world.
        Whether Jesus said it, or his interpreters, the disclaimer view is profound.
        Were they worse sinners? No.
        Were they also sinners? Yes.
        Was fall of the tower punishment? No.
        The troubling part of this story is a part probably included by the writer and not by Jesus. “Unless
you repent you will all likewise perish.” This doesn’t make sense in the context of the story, for Jesus has
already said that the falling of the tower had nothing to do with how good or bad those people were.
Repentance may be desirable, but won’t do anything to prevent falling towers. I’m sure there were many,
many victims of those events in New York City and Washington, DC and Pennsylvania were up to date in
repentance. Many had probably been to Mass that morning and made their confessions. Many were born
again. They died along with the heartless terrorists.
        “The rain falls on the just and the unjust alike, and likewise shines the sun,” said Jesus. The same
is true of towers. They fall on the just and the unjust alike.
        Bad things happen to good people as well as bad people. Goodness is a value to be cherished,
not as selfish insurance against terrorists. Goodness is to be valued for itself. God, if God is anywhere, is
in good and not evil. When towers fall, there are no exceptions to the consequences. It’s an evil. Blame
an earthquake, blame poor design or construction or blame crazed zealots. But do not blame the poor
souls whose happenstance at those fateful moments put them in the way of falling towers.
        Life is a precious wonder, continuing in this world through every possible terror and grief, leaving it to those who survive to walk in the world for those who do not.
  — Art Morgan, September 11, 2001