Chiki Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 (edited) How does religion explain the existence of natural disasters that kill thousands of people? Edited June 27, 2013 by Chiki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deleted35362 Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 As far as I know, it loosely predicted them or just spoke of them. I have no idea whether or not these disasters were already happening when they were written of in the Bible, though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rehab Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 (edited) Come to think of it, I don't actually remember any particular reference to destructive natural disasters as expressions of divine anger or anything (at least from, say, the big three), despite that being the assumption I jumped to. I'm not even vaguely literate religiously, though, so +1 blank slate here Edited June 27, 2013 by Rehab Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chiki Posted June 27, 2013 Author Share Posted June 27, 2013 Divine anger seems a little wrong to me. It'd be evil and hypocritical for God to kill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Original Alear Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 (edited) Come to think of it, I don't actually remember any particular reference to destructive natural disasters as expressions of divine anger or anything (at least from, say, the big three), despite that being the assumption I jumped to. I'm not even vaguely literate religiously, though, so +1 blank slate here In the Torah, the 10 plagues are sent to the Egyptians to get the Israelites free, Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed because they commit crimes of Sodomy and...Gomorrahty (sp?), and I believe the earth swallows up some of the people on the trek through the Sinai desert because they're rebelling against god or the other jews or something. There could be more but I am not sure of it. The one against Sodom and Gomorrah is a sort of "death from above" kinda thing, and it may be more of a divine disaster, whatever that means. Edited June 27, 2013 by SeverIan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rehab Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 Divine anger seems a little wrong to me. It'd be evil and hypocritical for God to kill. Let the record show that Chiki said it first :p I mean it's the kind of thing I'd expect to hear from, like, a stereotypical westboro baptist type In the Torah, the 10 plagues are sent to the Egyptians to get the Israelites free, Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed because they commit crimes of Sodomy and...Gomorrahty (sp?), and I believe the earth swallows up some of the people on the trek through the Sinai desert because they're rebelling against god or the other jews or something. There could be more but I am not sure of it. The one against Sodom and Gomorrah is a sort of "death from above" kinda thing, and it may be more of a divine disaster, whatever that means. Well yeah, should've mentioned that, but I mean I'm having a hard time remembering if in addition there's like a section that goes "consult this list of geophysical-phenomena-to-divine-instruction translations to understand how God's feelin' right now" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pride Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 If by "religion" you mean the the three largest monotheistic religions, then I can only speak from a christian knowledge base, as that's all I'm really versed in. As stated already, there are a few occasions in the Bible where God expresses his wrath on people through some kind of calamity, but natural disasters in and of themselves are just that. Natural. The ol good book doesnt ever say that all disasters are manifestly God's will. I suppose that with the usually prescribed qualities of being omnipotent and omniscient you could say that they must be, but then that goes down into the generally fruitless line of thought that tries to understand why God does things the usual answer being that we dont know on account of God being incomprehensible to the human mind Divine anger seems a little wrong to me. It'd be evil and hypocritical for God to kill. Evil? Hypocritical? Why? Divine wrath is perfectly in-character for a God who one of his own premiere prophets (Moses in Deut. 2:24) described as "a consuming fire" who "hates evil". Old-testament God messed up anyone who crossed him, and even people who didn't, like in Job, just to prove a point he just that kind of guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Constable Reggie Posted June 27, 2013 Share Posted June 27, 2013 iirc, it's Absol that causes these things, not god. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chiki Posted June 28, 2013 Author Share Posted June 28, 2013 If by "religion" you mean the the three largest monotheistic religions, then I can only speak from a christian knowledge base, as that's all I'm really versed in. As stated already, there are a few occasions in the Bible where God expresses his wrath on people through some kind of calamity, but natural disasters in and of themselves are just that. Natural. The ol good book doesnt ever say that all disasters are manifestly God's will. I suppose that with the usually prescribed qualities of being omnipotent and omniscient you could say that they must be, but then that goes down into the generally fruitless line of thought that tries to understand why God does things the usual answer being that we dont know on account of God being incomprehensible to the human mind Evil? Hypocritical? Why? Divine wrath is perfectly in-character for a God who one of his own premiere prophets (Moses in Deut. 2:24) described as "a consuming fire" who "hates evil". Old-testament God messed up anyone who crossed him, and even people who didn't, like in Job, just to prove a point he just that kind of guy How do modern day religious people avoid that explanation though? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rehab Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 The things I most commonly remember hearing (from people who aren't misanthropic assholes) trended towards "He works in mysterious ways/has a plan, don't question it+do your part and you'll see the big picture will turn out alright later" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anouleth Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 punishment for gay marriage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rehab Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 Or that yeah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chiki Posted June 28, 2013 Author Share Posted June 28, 2013 I was hoping I'd get a somewhat rational answer from a religious person. I guess there isn't one. I am disappoint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narga_Rocks Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 I think it's "blame sin" as in fall of man, corruption of the world He originally created, etc etc and then God doesn't step in to say "NO" to the earthquake because He's allowing the world to (mostly) go on without much interference on his part. Maybe something like that? The general idea being that the world is degenerating as a result of the original sin rather than on an upward path, so this kind of thing is to be expected and God's not going to prevent every little or big thing that could harm people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadykid Posted June 28, 2013 Share Posted June 28, 2013 punishment for gay marriage nails it sadly, this wasn't close to the top of the page Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eclipse Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 I was hoping I'd get a somewhat rational answer from a religious person. I guess there isn't one. I am disappoint. I felt that no good would come from responding to the issue the topic raised. This is why I choose not to answer it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fire Emblem Fan Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 I was hoping I'd get a somewhat rational answer from a religious person. I guess there isn't one. I am disappoint. Well... I felt that no good would come from responding to the issue the topic raised. This is why I choose not to answer it. That. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chiki Posted June 30, 2013 Author Share Posted June 30, 2013 Here's an even better question. Why did God kill 1/3 the population of Europe with the Black Plague in the Middle Ages? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadykid Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 Here's an even better question. Why did God kill 1/3 the population of Europe with the Black Plague in the Middle Ages? letting those heathen gays mar- oh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwall Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 Judaism and Christianity would explain this by appealing to the Book of Job: the short answer is that God's ways are thought to be beyond our understanding. Whether this is in actuality an incredibly profound insight or a lame-brained apology is a mystery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narga_Rocks Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 (edited) Here's an even better question. Why did God kill 1/3 the population of Europe with the Black Plague in the Middle Ages? Loaded question. Good job. Consistant. Here's an even better question, "have you stopped being a(n) (enter derogatory term here)?" Edited June 30, 2013 by Narga_Rocks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chiki Posted June 30, 2013 Author Share Posted June 30, 2013 It's "consistent." I'm genuinely curious because I'm taking a graduate level class on religion in a few months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narga_Rocks Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 It's "consistent." I'm genuinely curious because I'm taking a graduate level class on religion in a few months. Then ask "What is religion's answer to the black plague" or "Why did god allow or cause the black plague" or something. Don't just state in your question that he did something when that portion is in debate as well. Same answer as I gave before, btw. Crap happens, and God doesn't see fit to prevent it. As for the why He doesn't see fit to stop certain things? No idea, you'll have to ask someone more willing to attempt to step into His mind than me. I don't actually think the Bible says why God allows stuff to happen. It says why He does some of the things He does take credit for, but since I'm assuming God didn't reach down and spread the virus the Bible probably doesn't have an answer for it. But it's a simple chain, Original Sin -> Fall of Man/the world -> bad stuff now exists -> that stuff can spread in natural circumstances like rats and other stuff. I don't see why every bad thing would have to be caused by God, unless you give God credit for the OS, which is fine because lots of people lay the blame/credit on His feet for that one. And I usually double-check spellings, but ent/ant often gets me in the place where I think I've got it when I don't. Oh well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Espinosa Posted June 30, 2013 Share Posted June 30, 2013 I'm genuinely curious because I'm taking a graduate level class on religion in a few months. I expect a lot of fun on the forums after that course then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chiki Posted June 30, 2013 Author Share Posted June 30, 2013 (edited) I don't see why every bad thing would have to be caused by God If I'm not mistaken what you're trying to say here is that it isn't his fault if he didn't cause something to happen, like natural disasters and so on? Say you were walking down the street and you saw a woman getting gangraped by 3 men. You had a mobile phone and you knew the address of the place you were in so you could call the police if you wanted to. Would you be wrong not to help? Same logic applies to God, an omnipotent being, who can interfere and stop anything he chooses. Why doesn't he choose to stop the deaths of millions of people due to natural disasters and such? According to our laws, God is a criminal (he's an accessory to the crimes that go on in the world). An accessory is a person who assists in the commission of a crime, but who does not actually participate in the commission of the crime as a joint principal Does he assist in the commission of a crime even though he doesn't participate in it? Yes. God probably has hundreds of times more deaths than Hitler on his shoulders. Edited June 30, 2013 by Chiki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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