Faiths Ask of Quake: 'Why Did You Do This, God?'

article said:

Traditionalists of diverse faiths described the destruction as part of god's plan, proof of his power and punishment for human sins.

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We have SUCH a worldly view of death. We punish by killing the body, so we assign the same motives to God. We try continually to define God with human attributes.

First off you gotta realize... NO ONE is getting off this rock alive! We are all gonna die. Some may physically die sooner than others, but we are all destined to die once.

Secondly; Spiritual death is what we should concern ourselves wth! We take all sorts of meds and vitamins, visit doctors, spending all sorts of time and money to nurture our physical life. Most people don't do jack with their spiritual lives. Why? Beause they are already DEAD.

That doesn't stop this from being a tragedy of epic proportions. I feel for these people. I gave to the Red Cross. I have even prayed for them.

Matthew 6:27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life ? 28 "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, `What shall we eat?' or `What shall we drink?' or `What shall we wear?' 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. NIV

First off you gotta realize... NO ONE is getting off this rock alive! We are all gonna die. Some may physically die sooner than others, but we are all destined to die once.

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The scope of the power and punishment of the destruction goes far beyond the death of human beings. Personally, I have come to terms with death and have no fear of embracing it when my time comes. However, I can imagine that I would experience great pain if I were left homeless and starving without my mother and father. It is not death I fear - it is suffering. So it is not entirely fair to say, "Well, people died, but it does not mean much since we all die eventually." I believe it is more important to concern ourselves with the pains of the living than the dead.

Most people don't do jack with their spiritual lives. Why? Beause they are already DEAD.

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Yet the people in the article at hand seem to very concerned with their spiritual lives. Could you explain why you would bring this up?

See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.

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Well, to be fair, Jesus, human beings have a far more complex physiochemical and psychological makeup than simple flowers. There is not a single community on this planet that could sustain itself with putting forth some degree of labor. He of all people should have known this.

Yet the people in the article at hand seem to very concerned with their spiritual lives.

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I'm sorry, but I didn't get that at all. I saw people wanting to assign God human motives. This is merely a scare tactic to guilt people into following God. It's not right and it's not productive. It certainly is an inaccurate description of a loving God.

As for the lilies of the field... it wasn't about men not working. It IS about getting your priorities straight. Seek FIRST the Kingdom of God and it's Righteousness. The other stuff will come, and it's really not that important.

Please do not miscontrue this as a plea to NOT HELP the sick and dying in the far east. On the contrary, we should do ALL that is humanly possible to alleviate their heartaches and pain.

But in doing so, let's not try to put God or his followers on a guilt trip over what happened. Just because you and I can't understand the purpose therein does not mean that there is no purpose.

I saw people wanting to assign God human motives.

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"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?"

And I just see people looking for answers. If you are talking about the opinions given by the Jewish, Hindu, and Muslim speakers, I do not see them behaving any more presumptuously than any Christian group. The Jew said that the world is being punished for "wrong-doing," and in the Old Testament, Yahweh certainly made it a point to destroy entire cities left and right due to their sins. The Hindu said the disaster was caused by "pent-up man-made evil," and the Bible is rife with stories of calamaties being wrecked upon people for their evil deeds. The Muslim said that God created the world and therefore has the right to destroy the world, and Christianity expresses similar sentiments of Yahweh being able to do as he pleases with creation:

Job 1:21
"And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD."

Romans 9:21
"Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?"

So I am at a loss to see what is so different about these men's ideas from those of a Christian's.

Seek FIRST the Kingdom of God and it's Righteousness. The other stuff will come, and it's really not that important.

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But Jesus did not say "put Yahweh first and work later," he flat-out ordered his followers to "take no thought for the morrow." I have yet to meet a Christian who lives by these words.

When i first heard of the quake, i thought it was a punishment of some sort. Im not sure why god would punish those people, who seem innocent enough, but in the Bible the same thing happens, like the flood that overtook the world, with Noah surviving in his ark. Im not sure what they did to get that but im just stating my opinion. My heart goes out to all those who have suffered because of this however, no matter what i believe.

I just hear a clip from Fox... where a gntleman of a certain religion blamed the entire episode on Christmas, since it happened the day aftere Christmas.

Why did god do the quake? This is WHY!

THe field of gods crops is almost ready for harvest, but during the final time of growth a burglar in the night known as satan has been destroying his crops out of jeallousy.

As he arives here to harvest, the burglar is startled and leaps to his feet and intentionally takes some crops of the mighty's with him. FOr he is jeallous about the crop.

Now that the burglar of the night did this, all the crops see are the father before them and not the sneaky *******. They question the father, so what has he to say to them. What would you say in his position.

The father has basically told us: Look, help eachother, find that good feeling that comes out of t hat, that is the will of me, and once you follow this you WILL find the happiness youve been seeking, your harvest will be glorious, and the burglar is jeallous, dont EVER let him make you think otherwise, What your seeing now is a battle of people earnestly helping others and people scamming and speaking falsely. Just as i have described, Which follows the concept of the bible, Which speaks of these days as the final, So they must be? Will the great suprize of all of this really being hte final days be part of the AWESOME heavenly pleasure many will recieve? Wouldnt it be required to happen like this for something as magnificent as "heaven"

Zionic86 said:

Wouldnt it be required to happen like this for something as magnificent as "heaven"

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No.................

TripleHelix said:

When i first heard of the quake, i thought it was a punishment of some sort. Im not sure why god would punish those people, who seem innocent enough, but in the Bible the same thing happens, like the flood that overtook the world, with Noah surviving in his ark. Im not sure what they did to get that but im just stating my opinion. My heart goes out to all those who have suffered because of this however, no matter what i believe.

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How can 147,000 people, including thousands of children, deserve to die? Surely, there had to be many innocent people among those thousands, and many thousands more who were no more guilty of sins than people anywhere are. Furthermore, if God was behind this as punnishment, why didn't he punnish sinners everywhere?

Personally, I don't feel that God micromages our world so I don't believe that God caused the tsunamis. I believe that he lets the laws of phsyics do their job and unfortunately, this sometimes results in tragedy.