Willehad was yet one more missionary that ran afoul of the local folk that he was trying to Christianize–by pointing out to them the futility of their beliefs and the superiority of his and his companions. Butler picks up the story:

At a village called Humark the inhabitants, who were all idolaters, cast lots whether he (Willehad) and his companions should be put to death: but Providence determined the lots, which the people foolishly imagined to be directed by the powers they worshipped, for the preservation of the holy missionaries.

The Humark inhabitants cast these lots (like throwing dice) and acted upon the belief that their god(s) desired to show mercy to Willehad, et al. But Willehad (and subsequent Christians, including Butler) saw these lots as being controlled by the Christian god! So rather than feeling grateful to the divinity of the Humarkers, the Willehad party regarded them as foolish! Like a puppy chasing its tail, one can likewise conclude that had the result of tossing the lots been the killing of the Willehad and his band, then the Christian god determined that these were designated for martyrdom at the hand of Humark heathens…. right?

We might as well cast lots as to which lots we should read Divine intervention into. The tornado spared our church! God at work! New York City or New Orleans or San Francisco hit by disaster? Divine punishment for sinfulness. Ah, but an extended drought, deep in the heart of Texas? One of those unfortunate (but definitely not climate-chaos related!!) things that “just happen”–maybe simply to test our faith.

Assigning good outcomes to God–“good” in the sense that the people you like are saved and “good” in the sense that the people you don’t like are damaged–and assigning bad outcomes to the sinfulness of those you don’t like (as you meanwhile continue glorifying God)–is an idiotically fallacious theology that has enjoyed a very long, strong run for millennia and, alas, shows no signs of abating…not so long as there are victors left standing who can proclaim their status as a shining example of God’s will.

Enough already! Random events are no barometer of personal holiness…or, if no events are random, then we are all in the hands of not simply a mysteriously moving but a downright capriciously cruel deity, thoroughly unworthy of our frankly pointless worship. Stop the Insanity!