LONDON (Reuters) - It is one of the oldest, most profound questions, posed by some of the most learned minds of every faith throughout the course of human history.
It was put eloquently this week by an old woman in a devastated village in southern India's Tamil Nadu state. "Why did you do this to us, God?" she wailed. "What did we do to upset you?" Perhaps no event in living memory has confronted so many of the world's great religions with such a basic test of faith as this week's tsunami, which indiscriminately slaughtered Indonesian Muslims, Indian Hindus, Thai and Sri Lankan Buddhists and tourists who were Christians and Jews.
In temples, mosques, churches and synagogues across the globe, clerics are being called upon to explain: How could a benevolent god visit such horror on ordinary people?
Traditionalists of diverse faiths described the destruction as part of god's plan, proof of his power and punishment for human sins.
"This is an expression of God's great ire with the world," Israeli chief rabbi Shlomo Amar told Reuters. "The world is being punished for wrongdoing -- be it people's needless hatred of each other, lack of charity, moral turpitude."
Pandit Harikrishna Shastri, a priest of New Delhi's huge marble and sandstone Birla Hindu temple, told Reuters the disaster was caused by a "huge amount of pent-up man-made evil on earth" and driven by the positions of the planets.
Azizan Abdul Razak, a Muslim cleric and vice president of Malaysia's Islamic opposition party, Parti Islam se-Malaysia, said the disaster was a reminder from god that "he created the world and can destroy the world."
Sheikh Ibrahim Mogra, a leading British Muslim cleric from Leicester in England said: "We believe that God has ultimate controlling power over his entire creation. We have a responsibility to try and attract god's kindness and mercy and not do anything that would attract his anger."
END OF TIME?
Many faiths believe that disasters foretell the end of time or the coming of a Messiah. Some Christians expect chaos and destruction as foretold in the Bible's final book, Revelations.
Maria, a 32-year-old Jehovah's Witness in Cyprus who believes that the apocalypse is coming said people who once slammed the door in her face were stopping to listen.
"It is a sign of the last days," she said.
But for others, such calamities can prompt a repudiation of faith. Secularist Martin Kettle wrote in Britain's Guardian newspaper that the tsunamis should force people to "ask if the God can exist that can do such things?" -- or if there is no God, just nature.
"This poses no problem for the scientific belief system. Here, it says, was a mindless natural event which destroyed Muslim and Hindu alike," he wrote. "A non-scientific belief system, especially one that is based on any kind of notion of a divine order, has some explaining to do, however."
It is a question that clergy have to deal with nearly every day, not just at times of great catastrophe but when providing consolation for the daily sorrows of life, said U.S. Rabbi Daniel Isaak, of Congregation Neveh Shalom, in Portland, Oregon.
"It is really difficult to believe in a God that not only creates a tsunami that kills 50 or 60 thousand people, but that puts birth defects in children," he said. "Often the first question people ask on an individual basis is that question that that Indian woman asked. Why is God doing this to me?"
In one modern view, he said, God does not interfere in the affairs of his creation. Disasters like the tsunami occur for the natural reasons scientists say they do.
"This is not something that God has done. God hasn't picked out a certain group of people in a certain area of the world and said: 'I am going to punish them,"' he said.
"The world has certain imperfections built into the natural order, and we have to live with them. The issue isn't 'Why did God do this to us?' but 'How do we human beings care for one another?"'
Greek Orthodox Theologian Costas Kyriakides in Cyprus expressed a similar view.
"I personally don't attach any theological significance to this -- I listen to what the scientists say," he said. "God is always the fall guy. We incriminate Him completely unjustly."
(Additional reporting by Michele Kambas in Cyprus, Dan Williams in Jerusalem and Reuters correspondents in New Delhi and Kuala Lumpur)
the answer is simple: why were there no animals deaths? Because animals are not in rebellion. God told them to leave, and they left. Humans are stubborn and do not listen to God.
The answer is very simple. God does not micromanage the earth. The earth is a simply doing what it has and will always do and that is to periodically make adjustments that we may or may not understand.(unfortunately to many who suffer because of such movements).
It was not God that caused the Tsunami just as it is not God that cause Hurricanes, Floods, Earthquakes or any other natural disaster.
You can all argue with me on this point all you want but this is one argument you will never win.
Karma, you take care of it and it will take care of you.
Given what is written in the Bible about the apocalypse, I can certainly understand why some people would think the tsunami catastrophe is God's way of punishing the sinners. Since December 26th, I have also wondered whether this could be the beginning of the apocalypse. There has even been some talk about this being God's way of population control. I don't subscribe to the notion of this being "population control," but the idea is currently being tossed around by some theologians and non-theologians, alike.
Having been to some third world countries, I am familiar with the differences between western life and non-western life. If this is God's way of punishing the sinners, He certainly has His societies mixed up. If we want to judge what a sinner is based on the Biblical meaning of "sin," then my only question is: why did this devastation happen anywhere other than western society? We are the cradle of all sinful behaviour known to mankind.
About the animals sensing the impending doom and fleeing to higher ground...I wonder if it might be a sign that humans have been far too presumptuous in our claim to be the more intelligent species.
Animals don't rely in the internet to pass information. Their senses are keener than humans and their responces are immediate. They warn each other in advance of coming danger. Elephants can hear a human 3 miles away.
Lions can feel a human walking a mile away. Birds sense the change in atmospheric preasure.
The shudder from an eathquake is felt way before we feel it.
The US only had 20 minutes to notify anyone of the wave.
"Those who know nothing of Islam pretend that Islam counsels against war. Those who say this are witless." ~Ayatollah Khomeini
I really don't believe the tsunami was God's judgment or punishment.
If it were we would have all been annihilated a long time ago...not only the poverty stricken and tourists off of these coasts....
First, it shows us that we are not in control.
Secondly, it shows the Word of God coming to pass.
Jesus gave these signs of the last days and His return:
Luke 21:11, 25
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;
Does anyone remember this earthquake in China in 1976?
"Animals also gave a warning that something was about to happen. One thousand chickens in Baiguantuan refused to eat and ran around excitedly chirping. Mice and yellow weasels were seen running around looking for a place to hide."
"The night preceding the earthquake, July 27-28, many people reported seeing strange lights as well as loud sounds. The lights were seen in a multitude of hues. Some people saw flashes of light; others witnessed fireballs flying across the sky. Loud, roaring noises followed the lights and fireballs. Workers at the Tangshan airport described the noises as louder than that of an airplane."
the_way_it_is said this in post #4 : If this is God's way of punishing the sinners, He certainly has His societies mixed up. If we want to judge what a sinner is based on the Biblical meaning of "sin," then my only question is: why did this devastation happen anywhere other than western society? We are the cradle of all sinful behaviour known to mankind.
Well...at least according to some people's Bible we are...
But good point!!
Animals do sense things we dont...I know HECK already talked about that...and I too had a cat when I was in an earthquake while living in California...he was under the bed 5-10 minutes before it happened. I think its either something they feel under their feet, or something they can hear that we cannot.
BUT...Everytime something of any magnitude happens, some people start screaming that its the end of the world. Its such an old and boring statement already.
Of course thats just my opinion....I could be wrong. (Dennis Miller)
"You might be the toughest little whacker. . .but in my world, you're about as worrisome as a cloudy day." (Dutch Dooley)
Well...at least according to some people's Bible we are...
But good point!!
Animals do sense things we dont...I know HECK already talked about that...and I too had a cat when I was in an earthquake while living in California...he was under the bed 5-10 minutes before it happened. I think its either something they feel under their feet, or something they can hear that we cannot.
BUT...Everytime something of any magnitude happens, some people start screaming that its the end of the world. Its such an old and boring statement already.
So true! It does get very old! It's like the story of the little boy who cried wolf.
The little boy seems to have been crying wolf since our ancestors were children!
But, I still found myself entertaining the fleeting thought of the earth's destruction after seeing the news footage, maybe more for environmental reasons.
Why did god do this? Well... Considering that god is another name for physics, I'm sure one of the super-computers could do the math and figure it out.
as soon as professional scientists start mentioning ridiculous words like "sixth sense" to try to describe why there were no animal deaths, I feel perfectly justified in saying the word "God" in a scientific discussion.
01-03-2005 03:36 PM
