God. What a Dick.

It should be noted right up front that this story comes from a local news station reporting with only the bare minimum of detail on an incident that supposedly happened in China. In other words, this is probably crap, but it makes for an interesting thought experiment all the same. According to reports, two Chinese men were arguing about a debt. One owed $75 to the other, who claimed that he didn't owe a damned thing. During a thunderstorm, the alleged indebted gentleman held an iron bar over his head and proclaimed that God would strike him down if he actually owed the money. Almost immediately, he was fried by a bolt of lightning. Let's assume for a minute that all of this is completely true. This seems like quite the dick move on God's part. Sure, the guy was lying, but to hold an iron bar over your head during a thunderstorm speaks to an almost brainless level of faith, which God is supposed to admire. Maybe it's a mixed message, but I don't see much difference between this cheap bastard and Abraham, who nearly murdered his own son during one of God's practical jokes. At the very least, this man's faith should have canceled out his sin of dishonesty. Seems like instead of striking him with a lightning bolt, God should have just charged him up with enough static electricity to make his hair comically stand on end. You know, let him off with a warning. Less details here.