Where is God?

It is difficult to not think about God and religion while reading “Angels In America” by Tony Kushner.. The title itself starts off with a reference to religion with Angels. And after the title, there continues to be a discussion on religion. Specifically the Mormon religion and God. While the play doesn’t take much time to make arguments about what there Mormons think about homosexuality, it does argue the fairness of God and His role in the lives of humans.

Religion is all around us. Whether we claim to be something, such as Jewish, Catholic or Mormon or if we deny that there is a God, religion surrounds us. While reading the play, I couldn’t personally move on from the idea of a God that left us. The Angels in the play seek out Prior because they need a Prophet. Prior, according to the Angels, will make God come back. But we never see God, not even in the end. It makes me wonder about all the times I have personally felt lost and broken in my life, does this mean that God chose to leave me because He no longer believed in humans? Kushner seems to be trying to argue that while people continue to look for God, He is no longer coming back. Kushner makes the bold statement that we humans don’t even need a God. “ If after all this destruction, if after all the terrible days of this terrible country He returned to see…how much suffering His abandonment had created, if all He has to offer is death.. You should sue the bastard... How dare He. He ought to pay.”(Kushner). Kushner is attempting to make the claim that while humans have suffered if God really did leave us all, we do not need him back. If God can’t even fix the problems that he has created, then why would human beings want him back? This statement is very bold and unsettling. Many people, including myself, have grown up with the belief that God is there looking out for each and everyone one of us. However, how does a person cope with the knowledge or the idea that there is not a God up in the sky looking down and making sure that we are safe, loved and happy?

This brings about the involvement of God and the church into the lives of homosexuals. Perhaps, what Kushner is trying to get at is the idea of how homosexuals feel in a world that moves in sync with religion. As I have previously mention, religion is a large part of humanity. Humans seek out an omnipotent being who tells us how to behave. Homosexuals have been denied access into religion and into everyday life. They have been forced to be ashamed of who they are simply because the church has made the claim that God does not love homosexuals. The Mormon Church makes the statement that they do not support a homosexual lifestyle. In the Mormon doctrine, “The Family”, Mormons declare that marriage is only between a man and a woman at least three separate times. Homosexuality is not to be tolerated in any part of the church. In more recent times, individuals are accepting different lifestyles. Homosexuals have the right to marry all across the United States. However, even when humanity is making a step forward, events occur that make it seem as though acceptances of different lifestyles have yet to be reached. Just this past weekend, the Catholic Church released two priest of their duties because they had relationships with men. In a world like today, in which people are divided on what to believe and how to act, it is easy to see how individuals, as well as groups of people feel as though they have been abandoned by God. Kushner seems to be set on this idea of abandonment because not even the worst of the worst, Roy, can’t see a way to defend God for his actions. “I gotta start by telling you, you ain’t got a case here, you’re guilty a hell, no question, you have nothing to plead” (Kushner).  What God did in “Angels in America” is abandon humans, specifically, homosexuals to AIDS, but in real life, God abandoned humans to hatred of individuals who are different. God abandoned homosexuals to the wrath and hatred of the church.

Are God’s actions inexcusable? One can argue that God never physically said that He hated homosexuals, such as when He “created” the Ten Commandments. But God did leave the homosexuals to endure hatred from their fellow human beings. The question that still remains is where is God now?