Plenty, But Chance

Public figures often mention their personal god as a potential antidote to anticipated reaction or to divert attention. Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote in Businessweek,

"While I have never denied my sexuality, I haven’t publicly acknowledged it either, until now. So let me be clear: I’m proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me."

Most jarring is the phrase "...the greatest gifts God has given me".

It is testament to human progress that a public figure's use of some personified god in a global business publication is more noteworthy than an admission of sexual orientation.

Would using the word Nature instead of the word God been preferable? And would Nature have been preferred to nature? God irks atheists, while Nature appeals to pantheists.

Nature seems almost as jarring as God because

our gifts are random. 

Our gifts, while plenty, originate from an un-opinionated, stone-cold distribution of chance.


REFERENCES

• Apple CEO Tim Cook: I'm Proud to Be Gay. Businessweek, 30 October 2014.
• Tim Cook Speaks Up. Businessweek, 30 October 2014.