Killing the Omni-god: Part Three (A Response to the Charlottesville Attacks)
In the wake of the Charlottesville protests and terrorist attack, it makes sense that one should end the omnitheology deconstruction with omnipresence. The question of “how can God be everywhere at once,” or the one I’m often asked, “where is God during all this suffering?” Indeed, where is God? Where is God when white supremacists chant “white power!” and violently march with no repercussion from local or federal authorities? Where is God when a Klu Klux Klan and Nazi sympathizer attempts to destroy the lives of people of color, minorities, and allies? Where is God’s presence in these horrific moments and troubling times?
Omnipresence is the characteristic of a god that is everywhere at all times. Again we see the root being omni meaning all or everything, and praesens meaning presence. It’s often attributed to the Holy Spirit which is always everywhere and flowing through all things. It also has given us the image of a god that’s always here and watching every move we make, marking down the sins and acts of virtues for the omnipotent god. But do we find an omnipresent God in the Bible? Well….yes and no.
Psalm 22 begins with a cry out to an absent God:
““My God my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer;
and by night, but find no rest.” ”
If you are familiar with the story of Jesus’ crucifixion then you will also recognize that Jesus says this very thing before giving up his spirit.
““And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ ”
So even Jesus, God incarnate, cries out to God demanding an explanation for God’s absence. Thus we do not see God anywhere during a moment of great suffering. God is then not at all omnipresent, but rather omniabsent! However if we look closer, then we will indeed see God in the suffering as the one suffering on the cross.
This is an important point to understand for reconstructing a omnipresent God, especially regarding theodicy. It is not that God is taking a step back or not stepping in when the going gets rough. God is not watching this world’s suffering from the sidelines as if choosing not to intervene. Rather God is there with the victims and those oppressed. God is weeping with them; shouting and marching in the streets with them; getting teargassed with them; being arrested with them; and also being run over and killed with them.
God is indeed present when we stand up against the injustices seen in Charlottesville—around the nation and world for that matter. God is present among those suffering by suffering with them because God is within us all.
Father James Martin says it best in his response to the Charlottesville attacks.
“Every time you shout ‘white power,’ you might as well be shouting ‘Crucify him!’ And any time you lift your hand in a Nazi salute, you might as well be lifting your hand to nail Jesus to the Cross.”
The prevalent racism and national socialism in America is destroying God and God’s people. God is not present in that hatred and vitriol spouted by white supremacists touting swastikas and confederate flags, no matter what church they belong to or god they believe in. But God is present in the sense that every attack—verbal or physical—by a white supremacist on a person of color or minority is an attack on God.
So to my allies, comrades, and fellow social justice workers—God is with you.
“Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
In you our ancestors trusted;
they trusted, and you delivered them.
To you they cried, and were saved;
in you they trusted, and were not put to shame.
But I am a worm, and not human;
scorned by others, and despised by the people.
All who see me mock at me;
they make mouths at me, they shake their heads;
“Commit your cause to the Lord; let him deliver—
let him rescue the one in whom he delights!”
Yet it was you who took me from the womb;
you kept me safe on my mother’s breast.
On you I was cast from my birth,
and since my mother bore me you have been my God.
Do not be far from me,
for trouble is near
and there is no one to help.
Many bulls encircle me,
strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
they open wide their mouths at me,
like a ravening and roaring lion.
I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
it is melted within my breast;
my mouth is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
you lay me in the dust of death.
For dogs are all around me;
a company of evildoers encircles me.
My hands and feet have shriveled;
I can count all my bones.
They stare and gloat over me;
they divide my clothes among themselves,
and for my clothing they cast lots.
But you, O Lord, do not be far away!
O my help, come quickly to my aid!
Deliver my soul from the sword,
my life from the power of the dog!
Save me from the mouth of the lion!
From the horns of the wild oxen you have rescued me.
I will tell of your name to my brothers and sisters;
in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
You who fear the Lord, praise him!
All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him;
stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
For he did not despise or abhor
the affliction of the afflicted;
he did not hide his face from me,
but heard when I cried to him.
From you comes my praise in the great congregation;
my vows I will pay before those who fear him.
The poor shall eat and be satisfied;
those who seek him shall praise the Lord.
May your hearts live forever!
All the ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the Lord;
and all the families of the nations
shall worship before him.
For dominion belongs to the Lord,
and he rules over the nations.
To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down;
before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,
and I shall live for him.
Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord,
and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn,
saying that he has done it.
Selah.
”