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| Iron Man fights Thanos in "Avengers: Infinity War." |
In "Avengers: Infinity War" (2018) we follow the villain Thanos as he gathers all 6 infinity stones in order to gain the power to destroy half of the life in the universe. He explains that the universe doesn't have enough resources, and by eliminating half the population, the other half will be able to thrive. He doesn't see himself as a villain; he believes he is saving the universe. And in the end, he does collect all 6 stones, and snaps his fingers, causing half of the people in the universe to suddenly disappear.
Then, in "Avengers: Endgame", the Avengers work to undo Thanos's plan and bring everyone back. They use time travel to go back to various points in the past and collect the infinity stones themselves. Unfortunately, when they go back to 2014, the 2014 version of Thanos discovers their plan and travels through time himself, to 2023, to fight them.
2014!Thanos is angry because he just wanted to save everyone from the threat of overpopulation, and they should all be grateful! He says:
I thought by eliminating half of life, the other half would thrive. But you've shown me that's impossible. As long as there's those who remember what was, they'll always be those who are unable to accept what can be, and will resist. I'm thankful, because now I know what I must do. I will shred this universe down to its last atom...and then, with the Stones you have collected for me, create a new one. Teeming with life, that knows not what it has lost, but what it has been given. A grateful universe.And because I am a huge bible nerd and an ex-evangelical, what immediately popped into my mind, sitting in that movie theater, was this passage from Genesis 6:
The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.It's the EXACT SAME THING. In the story of Noah's ark, God decides that the population of the earth is just too evil, and needs to be completely wiped out so he can start over. In "Infinity War" and "Endgame", Thanos first eliminates half the population, then discovers that the remaining half is ungrateful and sees him as a villain for some reason, so he decides he needs to wipe out everyone and start over.
Thanos realizes that his plan to get rid of half the people won't work, because the other half will remember and grieve for their friends and family who were lost. He needs to create an entirely new population, who doesn't know anything about what happened before. And in the same way, God chooses Noah and his family to be the only survivors of the Flood. He chooses them because they believe what God is doing is right. They won't grieve for all the people God kills. They will be heartless, and grateful.
"Noah's ark" is about a genocidal God who's just like a movie supervillain. It's a story about genocide, and good Christians are supposed to agree that the genocide was good and right. Because all those people were evil anyway. Hmm, that's awfully convenient, since none of them are here to tell their side of the story. Awfully convenient how the story is told from God's and Noah's point of view... don't you think they may be a little biased?
But we treat "Noah's ark" as a cute little story for children. Look at all the animals! Two by two! How fun! Let's paint it in the church nursery! Such a nice story about obedience and trusting God.
That's disgusting. (How will I explain this to my children...?)
God in "Noah's ark" is Thanos from "Infinity War" and "Endgame." Only, in the bible story, there were no Avengers to take a stand and fight him. No one willing to do "whatever it takes" to stop him. No one who said "this is the fight of our lives" and "we owe this to everyone who's not in this room to try."
No, only Noah, who "did everything just as God commanded him" and built the damn ark.
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Related:
Noah's Evangelism (a fanfic where one of Noah's sons questions God's "justice")
Thanos Tested
It Was Beautiful When Star-Lord Rejected the Gospel
Dr. Strange's Ways Are Higher Than Our Ways
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