Where is God during disasters?

[Rex]

Since I live very close to New Orleans this Hurrican Katrina stuff is really disheartening. I mean really bad stuff. BAD.

And I can't help but think, why would anyone's so called God let these type of things happen. And all I here is people saying they thank God they are alive. Well why don't they un-thank God for the people that are dead.

Ugh it just gets me heated up....... :banghead3 :banghead3 :banghead3

 

[Neo-Logic]

1. God is on summer vacation.

2. New Orleans is in God's blind spot.

3. God wanted to kill all those people because it's their "destiny" to be mass murdered.

4. God doesn't really care

5. Apart of the "bigger picture"

6. God doesn't exist.

 

[Mike182]

1. God is on summer vacation.

2. New Orleans is in God's blind spot.

3. God wanted to kill all those people because it's their "destiny" to be mass murdered.

4. God doesn't really care

5. Apart of the "bigger picture"

6. God doesn't exist.

i cant really agree with any of these (except maybe number 5) - sowwy neo-logic :jiggy:

its a difficult thing to come to terms with - how can a god with ultimate power and who loves each and every one of us beyond measure let evil and suffering enter into our lives

i cannot say i have all the answers, but i can speculate and guess, and my guess would be that some good did actually come of the events - and some people are still saved by 'coincidence' in events like this

C_P

 

[ChrisP]

2. New Orleans is in God's blind spot.

:biglaugh: :biglaugh: :biglaugh: :biglaugh:

Maybe he should get that new Nissan Omniscience.

 

[mr.guy]

Let's face it: God is the disaster.

 

[Mike182]

Let's face it: God is the disaster.

i cant help but think that only someone who believes in gods existence can blame him for anything though

C_P

 

[Feathers in Hair]

It's only natural to get heated up, Rex. I've only been through one major hurricane (Hugo), and it really weighs on your soul. I get upset when I think about it, that since so many of my gods deal in peace and healing, I wonder why they aren't protecting the people that are being hurt, or why they 'allowed' the disaster to happen in the first place.

I won't claim it doesn't make me angry and puzzled.

 

[BUDDY]

Since I live very close to New Orleans this Hurrican Katrina stuff is really disheartening. I mean really bad stuff. BAD.

And I can't help but think, why would anyone's so called God let these type of things happen. And all I here is people saying they thank God they are alive. Well why don't they un-thank God for the people that are dead.

While I thank God tonight for keeping my cousins (who are at LSU) safe during this, and praying that we hear something from my aunt and uncle soon, I will include a prayer of thanks that you and yours are safe.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

My theory, a bit cruel hearted, is that the earth is over-populated, and man is using too much land. The earth is fixing the problem.
I can say that Katrina must have been big and strong. I have been seeing the rain from that monstrous storm all day today, in northern Indiana.

 

[KirbyFan101]

Since I live very close to New Orleans this Hurrican Katrina stuff is really disheartening. I mean really bad stuff. BAD.

And I can't help but think, why would anyone's so called God let these type of things happen. And all I here is people saying they thank God they are alive. Well why don't they un-thank God for the people that are dead.

Ugh it just gets me heated up....... :banghead3 :banghead3 :banghead3

That might have been the work of Satan... who God doesn't stop because... well just because!

 

[mr.guy]

i cant help but think that only someone who believes in gods existence can blame him for anything though

Makes perfect sense. Having a God to blame sounds terrific.

 

[Feathers in Hair]

Makes perfect sense. Having a God to blame sounds terrific.

*looks through her closet and hands Mr.Guy a god to pummel*

 

[EnhancedSpirit]

welcoming his children home

You are assuming that death is a bad thing

 

[KirbyFan101]

You are assuming that death is a bad thing

The moment death becomes a good thing is the moment humanity falls to pieces.

 

[Dayv]

If there is a god, the reason it would let that's people die and allow bad things to happen is because that's life. No one can live forever, everyone has to die somehow and someway, hurricanes happen. I have to agree to some degree with luke wolf, but for the most part, people die because they have to, not because they weren't saved or because a god decided it was there time. I know when people greave that ask questions like "why him/her?" and "how could god let this happen?" and, well, don't take it personally, it had to happen to someone.

 

[mr.guy]

*looks through her closet and hands Mr.Guy a god to pummel*

Perish the thought! Honestly, i'd never give 'im anything more than the occasional slap on the rump. Poor little guy...

 

[Neo-Logic]

welcoming his children home

You are assuming that death is a bad thing

And you are assuming that death is a good thing. I've always hated it when people say death is not a bad thing just because of different promises that scriptures and writings that are thousands of years old gives. This kind of mindset really fuels reckless behavior and harm. For example, it gives people unfound courage from unproven premises to do crazy things such as suicide bombings. I know that assuming death is not a bad thing seems convinient and gives hope to those who are in situations where they're about to die, but is it really a good thing to promote?

Yes, we'll all die at some point but saying it's not a bad thing will only make certain people do crazy things that'll most likely harm others in the process in order for them to get there. Death is bad to those who enjoy life. Death is bad to those who knows the person and has to suffer because of the grief. Death is bad to the society because they lose a potentially useful part of the whole.

Why would one assume death is not a bad thing?

An afterlife? Heaven? Nirvana? Nibanna? Eternal Bliss? To be with god?

All these things and others I didn't mention or know of are religious babble that can't be proven. No, all things do not need proving, but to believe in something as unproven as life or anything after death as a basis for one's own justification to be satisfied with death seems ... asinine. When you become satisfied of death then you are more prone to die because you don't try to fight it. Yea you could say when it's your time to go it's your time to go, but that time will be sooner if you don't have the desire to live.

 

[Jaymes]

Since I'm feeling rather cynical at the moment... the same place s/he/it is the rest of the time: Either nonexistant or not caring about us.

 

[jewscout]

I'm not G-d's accountant, i don't know why some things happen, why things like this happen, or how the numbers will ultimately add up in the end. In situations like this I don't spend much time trying to figure out the why's. This is a time when we should think about how we can help those who suffered, to come together and work as one people, one human family.

 

[Engyo]

Since I live very close to New Orleans this Hurrican Katrina stuff is really disheartening. I mean really bad stuff. BAD.

And I can't help but think, why would anyone's so called God let these type of things happen. And all I here is people saying they thank God they are alive. Well why don't they un-thank God for the people that are dead.

Ugh it just gets me heated up....... :banghead3 :banghead3 :banghead3

Rex & all -

I am not sure that Buddhist philosophy is any more comforting........

The Buddhist viewpoint is that these things are natural occurrences; they are a part of life, and we accept them along with life (the First Noble Truth: that life is suffering). We don't have the power to change this, and so our best bet is to do two things; first, to accept this and deal with the consequences as efficiently and quickly as possible, and second, to understand the processes and work to change them as we may. For example, diseases used to be part of this category, but today's medical advances have moved them from a natural occurrence which we cannot do anything about into a category of something we can address.

As to why a hurricane might take one path over another, Buddhism postulates that collective karma may play a role. Unfortunately, without having actually achieved enlightenment, we can't grasp the mechanisms of karma well enough to understand this clearly. Some Buddhist traditions will emphasize this point, while others will play it down. The concept of collective karma roughly says that the more that groups of people work to create more positive causes and less negative ones, the less these types of disasters will have catastrophic impacts on those groups of people. Again, the disease example comes to mind; many of what once were deadly scourges are now nearly or completely controlled. This requires many so-called "positive causes"; first the research to understand the mechanisms of the problem (and how to address them), and secondly the socio-political will to put those solutions into widespread practice (vaccination programs, health education, etc.).