God's Lack of Compassion

“’There is no God,’ I say. ‘If there is a God, why is such as this? What have these men done that they live like rats in a garbage heap? Why does He make them live like rats in a garbage heap?’”

Tom Kromer’s account of his trials and tribulations during the Great Depression does not differ terribly from the anticipated injustice we have seen in other writings of this time (i.e. Grapes of Wrath and the like.) However, he brings to light one issue that we haven’t explicitly come across before: religion and loss of faith.

Church, shelter, what's the difference?

Kromer is not particularly religious, rather he views churches as a “flop” (place to sleep) rather than as a house of worship. To me, this is perfectly acceptable: churches are known for providing shelter and food for the down-and-out, but unbeknownst to some, it comes at a price. Kromer has learned that the only way to get a bed in a mission is to sit through the sermon. He is an old-timer, and hard times have taught him that God is not a safety net: “Once in Denver I kneeled at the mourner’s bench till I had blisters on my knees. I prayed for a job. I thought for sure I’d get me a job. Well, sister, I didn’t get any job. I got throwed in their lousy can for sleeping in the park. No, we cannot fall for that stuff. (…) We are on to your little tricks.” (Kromer, 34) The fact that he calls the minister’s call to the mourner’s bench a “trick” completely delegitimizes the goal of the church during this time. Preachers summon in “stiffs” as if to fill a daily quota of converts, knowing that these “converts” are only inside to get out of the cold. The chaplain’s own moral compass is seriously compromised because he (or she) is exploiting the faith (or lack thereof) of the jobless and homeless. These men and women are so hopeless that even once-fundamental beliefs cease to provide solace. They have suffered too much the cruelty of society to have faith in anything.

Interestingly enough, during today’s recession, the opposite seems to be happening, at least on Wall Street. Financiers suffering from the economic downfall are seeking help from above, or as this article puts it: “no, not the CEO with the top floor office: God.”