This is a little off the track of your post Neal, but I see what you mean in this context. Zealots and sometimes other believers make an aweful lot of assumptions about God's will or Judgements. Too often some think of bad things happening to people they don't like as God's hand smiting the wicked. That's terribly arrogant, since we all are sinners in God's eyes.

I'm not a theologian, but it says a lot that the arab muslims consider themselves God's only true followers, yet have had nothing but failure for hundreds of years. What does that say about God's judgement on them? Wouldn't that suggest they are doing something wrong?

Needless to say, I don't really believe in omens. People are too easily fooled or too readily grasp the easiest answers for me to accept them.

Ummm, waitaminute, it's coming to me... Next time fly Boeing?