Gone but not forgotten

I hate to speak ill of the dead. I don't even get into death pools, despite my affinity for fantasy sports and recreational wagering, because I believe it's bad karma to celebrate anyone's death.

So far be it for me to dance on Tammy Faye Messner's grave. I loathe what the woman, and her creepy ex-husband Jim Baker, stood for. Their list of crimes against humanity are too long to list here, but as the great Bono once said, "The God I believe in isn't short of cash, mister!"

But Tammy Faye's passing causes me to ask this simple question: Did God give her cancer as payback for fleecing the public in His name? I only ask this because so many of her kind -- like the late Jerry Falwell and the increasingly senile Pat Robertson -- are so fond of the concept of divine retribution. Remember when AIDS was God's punishment for the hedonistic behavior of the gay community? How about when God sent the al-Qaeda attackers to punish our tolerant society on 9-11? And who could forget God's fury raining down on the sinful citizens of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina?

Yes, these arguments all were voiced by right-wing Christians (and I use that term advisedly) to help "explain" these monumental tragedies. So, why aren't these same religious leaders pointing a bony finger of shame at Tammy Faye?

Could it be hypocrisy? Nah, those guys are many things, but they couldn't be hypocrites.

Could they?