religions reply to tsunami

[robtex]

bbc-uk reports
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4138095.stm

Sorry can't cut and paste on this site for some reason..maybe the next poster can do that for me.

This is the bbc uk report on various religions explaining the tsunami.

Which belief falls closest to yours and why?

 

[Rex]

HINDU - RANI MOORTHY


The tsunami brings into question both personal and collective destinies for Hindus. In terms of the latter, we are born in an age of destruction, known as Kali Yuga, an age that lasts for perhaps 1,000 years. This says that we must go through a series of set-backs, obstacles, suffering, eg Aids, and a propensity for natural disasters as nature shows its malevolent side. Mankind goes through this to be renewed.

As for my personal destiny, there is no central text in Hinduism as there is in other religions so it's up to each of us to formulate our own understanding, based on the Brahman - the divine - and the belief that all of us will one day escape the endless cycle of birth and death and be returned to our maker. My belief is that I am connected to all humans and so while I grieve for those that have died in the tsunami, I don't feel sorry for them because they are part of me and part of the divine. Their deaths are a manifestation of karma, the debits and credits you amass through your series of lives.

CHRISTIAN - PAUL CHITNESS


In this litigious age we are always looking for someone to blame and in the absence of anyone else we look to blame God because it is a "natural" event. It's quite clear the world is riddled with inequality but I don't accept the idea that God is sitting up there mischievously tweaking the strings. In the case of the tsunami, we as Christians are challenged to live out our response. We know that Jesus is among us, living through this reality because he said whatever you do to your brothers and sisters, you do to me. By the same token, what you fail to do to them, you fail to do to Jesus. Until now at least, we have not been found wanting in our response. Christian churches have been among those at the forefront of the relief effort.

BUDDHIST - LAMA OLE NYDAHL

The scale of the tragedy has caused some to question their faith

We all die, sooner or later. Some have conditions for living long lives and some for short lives. That is your karma - the total effect of one's actions and conduct. What might have precipitated the tsunami was a lot of people coming together who had the karma for a short life and, to an extent, this is perhaps a reflection that these areas were over-populated.

The shifting of tectonic plates is inevitable, but fewer people in the areas affected would have led to a much smaller loss of life. When watching the TV news, reading the papers or thinking about the tsunami, we are thinking about the Buddha we like the best - perhaps the Red Buddha, the Buddha of limitless light. We do this so that when those who died in the disaster wake up from the shock of dying - we believe it takes about three days to do so - they will be sent up to the Buddha we have in mind. Buddhists think the mind is indestructible so, after a while, if one wants to and is able, they will have the choice to take rebirth in society as beings who help others.

MUSLIM - IQBAL SACRANIE




It is the teaching of Islam that it is through the will of God Almighty that this has happened but then the positive side is the way mankind has reacted. People will question why it is taking place, why the enormity of loss of human life, but it is that aspect which is beyond us and it is our firm belief that any such disaster, anything of that nature happening, is through the will of God Almighty. Allah knows best.

We certainly have the right to question. It's a time for us to really think of ourselves, our deeds, our acts, and we need to ponder over this. It's a sign that none of us are going to live for an indefinite period, therefore it is a sign for us to do something very positive. Death always takes place. When a person is born one thing guaranteed is death but what form it takes is always beyond us. People of faith need to have a very firm belief in God Almighty, that at the end of the day it is through his will and it is for the betterment of mankind at large.



ATHEIST - HANNE STINSON


Religion cannot provide an explanation for the tsunami, and while prayer for the victims may comfort those who pray, it will not provide practical help to the people whose lives have been devastated by this appalling disaster. Science can explain earthquakes and tsunamis, even if we are still unable to predict where and when they will happen. Our response to this and other disasters, as compassionate human beings and regardless of our religious or non-religious beliefs, must be to provide whatever help we can. Faith in god does not protect people from disasters or give the victims what they need to survive and rebuild their lives. We need to accept responsibility for our fellow human beings. We need to put our efforts into practical ways of preventing disasters when we can, preparing for disasters that cannot be prevented, including investing in early warning systems for tsunamis, and helping those affected by disasters. We cannot rely on any god to solve the world's problems. We - the people of the world - are humanity's only hope.

 

[Fluffy]

Muslim for me. It was the "we certainly have the right to question" part that I agreed with the most.

 

[robtex]

I voted Atheist because I can't find the relevance in what divine inspiration had to do with the event after the fact. Reality as it stands says there is post diaster in our world and as a collective humanity we have an obligation to, in a utilitarian sense, a shared responsiblity in the nuturing of our fellow man.

What God has or has not provided at this time isn't a factor in our partipation only what we can do with what we have in terms of finances, time, and resources. Each indivdual who choses to partipates does so in my estimation on his/her own accord and of their own free wills independant of divine aspirations even is still inspired by them.

The notions, of karma, Christs role hindu history and Allah's divine wisdom do not change the reality before us. Each person will chose to act or not act in our present reality and that will have a larger impact in my estimation than a divine intervention or post divine causation.

To qoute Echo and the Bunnyman, "Cos man has to be his own savior" (from the album ocean rain song title Silver)

 

[jewscout]

Before i vote i thought i'd throw up something from a Jewish website:

The mind reels. The tears flow. This is not supposed to be the way the world works. And yet this is our reality. Just as the biblical Noah, we witnessed the devastation of a torrential flood -- but this time we received no advance warning. In Noah's time a greater percentage of world population was stricken -- as only Noah and his family were spared -- but in raw numbers the contemporary tragedy probably ranks on a higher scale. Survivors are already called modern-day Noahs. The boy who clung for two days to a coconut tree is today's version of the biblical ark.

But it is precisely in this equation that I perceive an extremely troubling element. And it has already begun to raise its despicable head in some ostensibly "religious" publications. How could this have happened? It seems there are those who do not hesitate to assume the mantle of the prophet, to publicly assert their knowledge of divine intent as clearly as if G-d spoke to them "face-to-face" as He did with Moses. In the aftermath of tragedy, the false prophets of our times don't waver even for a moment as they pronounce judgment upon all of the victims.

The common denominator of these, as well as hundreds of other efforts to solve the riddle of a good G-d coexisting with an evil world, is the realization that not every victim is a criminal. Yes, at times sin does cause Divine retribution. But we are not prophets, and the Talmud exhorts us: "Do not act as judge alone, for none judges alone except One" (Avot 4:10).

So let us grieve for the victims of the tsunami and spare them our condemnation. Let us maintain our faith in G-d not because we can justify His ways, but because His ways surpass our comprehension. And let our primary question in the wake of this tragedy be not "Why did it happen?", but rather "What can I do to help?"

http://www.aish.com/spirituality/philosophy/The_Tsunami_and_God.asp

 

[michel]

I voted Buddhism; I believe that we are so limited in our knowledge and ability to have faith in a macrocosm that, as humans, we could not possibly have the wherewithall to understand that which is beyond our unferstanding(ie what would have been called magic- merely that ability to understand events beyond our perception), that to have our trust in our Deity questioned by recent events is perhaps a reflection in our lack of faith. I believe in a Deity (whom I see as a mixture of many Deities of differing religions), and the two only effects in life-growth or decay. We have the choice to see everything around us as we wish to.
One last point; if some of us (who thankfully have lost no one as a result of the dreadful tsunami ans earthquake have our faiths tested; then what about those actually there?- what of the little boy who has lost his entire family?)Think on that.

 

[meogi]

We - the people of the world - are humanity's only hope.

Sounds about right to me.

 

[Bastet]

I voted athiest, it's the closest to what I feel. The tsunami was caused by the shifting of the earth's plates under the sea - it's not the first time it's happened, and it won't be the last. The victims were not suffering the wrath of God, and, while their faith may provide them comfort, I don't see God lifting a big ol' finger to help in the aftermath. They were victims of a freak of nature, nothing more, nothing less. It could just as easily have hit Australia, had the plates shifted the other way. We were just bloody lucky.

 

[lilithu]

Which belief falls closest to yours and why?

This theist votes for the atheist response. As the Book of Job proves over and over again, there is no adequate response to the problem of theodicy (how to justify human suffering while maintaining the belief that God is good and all powerful). I personally believe that God exists and is good. I also believe that people (and other animals) suffer and often there is no apparent good reason for it. I do not try to reconcile the two. Suffering just is. How do we try to make it a little less so for each other?

 

[No*s]

I voted "Muslim," but I agree very strongly with Jewscout's post...

 

[arthra]

Being a Baha'i I suppose we have a degree of kinship at least historically with Islam so I voted "Muslim" as being closest. There are nontheless many differences however between the Baha'i Faith and Islam as far as our ordinances and worship and so on... Also, depending on our individual background we can feel closer to any of the faiths listed..

- Art

 

[Mike182]

i voted christian but agree with a lot of the points on the others aswell

but the passages about doing unto others and failing to help others is failing to help jesus strikes me on a personal level - and the church has been a fron runner for aiding those who are suffering from the afteraffect of the tsunami

 

[robtex]

My complication corrupt_priest with the christian theory on this is that areas hit are primarly buddhist and hindu which would lend creedance to the theory of inheriting the wrath of god in occordance to the first commandment that states "thou shall have no other gods before me".

The magnatude of the incident is worthy of a biblical event as much as the parting of the red sea and or the flood of 40 days (both involving water). Today we realize that the tsunami was caused by plate techtonics but to have a god that makes all things happen for a reason (as the christian god is thought to have) it creates a supernatural motive and the obvious conflict of non-compliance by the people of those areas by not accepting jesus as their savior.

 

[michel]

Looking at this again, I think the Christian angle (and the jewish one provided by JewScout) are nearest the mark - but all have validity.

IMO, there is no relevency in the location of the disaster - Rob; it might have happened anywhere on Earth - I think it was an act of nature - certainly not one of God.

 

[Theodore]

“Their deaths are a manifestation of karma, the debits and credits you amass through your series of lives.”

That was the only snip that was salvageable from the “Hindu” reasoning.

We are no longer in the Kali Yuga, that ended over 300 years ago. We are now in the Dwapara yuga, 305 Dwapara to be exact. Read Swami Sri Yukteswars “ The Holy Science” for a complete explanation of the Yuga cycle.

I don’t know who the idiot was who wrote that article but he doesn’t know squat.