Theologians weigh in on natural disasters

Posted on Fri, Oct. 14, 2005


Theologians weigh in on natural disasters

RACHEL ZOLL

Associated Press


They're sometimes called "acts of God" and, when disasters strike, it's not unusual for people to read a divine punishment into earthquakes, floods or other natural cataclysms.

Now, with the unrelenting devastation of the last few months, a few religious thinkers have done the same in response to the Indian Ocean tsunami, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, mudslides in Guatemala and the earthquake in Pakistan.

They have proclaimed these events as heavenly retribution for sins ranging from legalized abortion to U.S. support for Israel and the war on Iraq. Conversely, one Israeli rabbi said the American storms came because the U.S. government pressured the Jewish state to withdraw from the Gaza Strip.

The vast majority of theologians reject this thinking, however, and The Associated Press decided to examine why this is so. What follows in question and answer format is a summary of the prevailing thought on the question of God's place in disasters, based on interviews with some theologians and public statements of others:


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http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/12904560.htm

I take something bad that happens to them and blame it on their sins. God's personal revenge against people who sin. It really pisses people off and I get a good chuckle out of it.

playing the blame game.

other than love. Even in their interpretation, how is this reconciled?

I will take a concept of perfection who tells me "what man among you would when your son asks for bread give your son a stone, how much more would God give to you?" How can God then punish and hurt and kill his/her own creation? The whole concept of payback just doesn't jive.

I think that they are mentally ill, I think that they are afraid to think for themselves and thus condemn themselves to hell on earth and then insist we go with them. :shrug:



edited for Freudian slip

... for having royally trashed the paradise that ALL could have shared.

No, silly me, the theologians make their money from defending their own
excesses and blaming "the others" for the same thing.

This a result of people not being able to get a grip on the fact that Mother Nature doesn't give a damn about us.

I really don't get how these people worship something that they believe has such disgusting morals.

They don't find it disgusting at all.

"The nice thing about citing god as an authority is that you can prove anything you set out to prove."

He has some great ones on religion.

"Men rarely (if ever) manage to dream up a god superior to themselves. Most gods have the manners and morals of a spoiled child."

"It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so, and will follow it by suppressing opposition, subverting all education to seize early the minds of the young, and by killing, locking up, or driving underground all heretics."

I love Heinlein.

had a huge effect on me when I was young, it exposed me to a lot of new ideas.

was more than happy to feed me a diet of Heinlein, Asimov, and Bradbury as well as others, when I showed an interest in science fiction at an early age.

to give my son once he's old enough. Those authors all promote critical thinking and encourage the thirst for knowledge.

When faced with phenonmena they couldn't explain. Of course nowadays they attribute the phenomena to other peoples' 'sins' so they can scapegoat and justify more bigotry, prejudicial laws and hate crimes.