Where is God during disasters?

[mr.guy]

All these events are circumstantial - some even aggravated by man; I believe the speeding up of the hurricane was due partly to the cold southern currents of the ocean, meeting the warmer ones. Man is responsible for the damage to the ozone layer; the ice melting at the poles is as a result of that. It could therefore (I presume) be argued that the violence of the hurricane was down to man's interference.

Michel...we all know that global warming is a leftist/evolutionist conspiracy theory. Nice try, but it's an all too common communist tactic.

 

[michel]

Michel...we all know that global warming is a leftist/evolutionist conspiracy theory. Nice try, but it's an all too common communist tactic.

Ah! Darn it! I've been discovered for what I am! O.K I own up! Kremlin taught.............:biglaugh:

 

[mr.guy]

That's ok. i'm munching on Lenin cookies right now, anyways.

 

[Melody]

Why does everyone think God is sitting around, waiting to make life as painless as possible and when He doesn't, they accuse Him of being vengeful or not caring.

God created us with freewill and if we are stupid enough to build our homes on unstable cliffs or 6' below sea level in an area well known for hurricanes, then how is God at fault?

Victim mentality......ugh.

 

[mr.guy]

God created us with freewill and if we are stupid enough to build our homes on unstable cliffs or 6' below sea level in an area well known for hurricanes, then how is God at fault?

Good point. I have to laugh at those idiots who thought Sri Lanka was perfectly good place to live. What were they thinking? I mean, the universe IS God's toy after all, isn't it? He can play with it any way he likes.

 

[michel]

Good point. I have to laugh at those idiots who thought Sri Lanka was perfectly good place to live. What were they thinking? I mean, the universe IS God's toy after all, isn't it? He can play with it any way he likes.

No, Mr guy,

Please don't react that way, it does you no favours. look at the Polders of the netherlands - all reclaimed land, just as New Orleans (I understand) was below sea level. Maybe the blame lays on those who built where it was not safe to build............

Tsunamis are a different matter - and, as you know, that one was, I believe, as a result of an underwater earthquake.

In the same vein, I can never understand those who live above the fault line, in California; there is 'Playing it safe' you know......

 

[BUDDY]

All these events are circumstantial - some even aggravated by man; I believe the speeding up of the hurricane was due partly to the cold southern currents of the ocean, meeting the warmer ones. Man is responsible for the damage to the ozone layer; the ice melting at the poles is as a result of that. It could therefore (I presume) be argued that the violence of the hurricane was down to man's interference.

I disagree (big surprise, right). If the polar caps are melting due to mans influence on the planet, it would make surface water temperature lower instead of rise. The warmer the surface of the water, the more likely the chance of large storms such as hurricanes.

Also, it is known that large storms like this run in cycles of about 25 to 30 years. During the 70's and 80's there were very few large storms, but in the 50's and 60's there were quite a few. I think that we are right in the middle of another these cycles and can expect more of these types of storms in the coming years. I don't think man has the kind of power to control whether these storms happen or not and even less power to control how bad they are when they do happen. To think that we do is rather errogant IMHO.

 

[mr.guy]

Maybe the blame lays on those who built where it was not safe to build

but why blame anyone? it was a natural disaster, no?

Tsunamis are a different matter - and, as you know, that one was, I believe, as a result of an underwater earthquake.

I fail to see the grander difference. If i remember correctly, loads of people were aware of the earthquake and subsiquent liability of a tsunami (the tectonic pressure was observed worldwide). Didn't anyone at a monitering station in New Zealand(?) try to contact any authorities in and around Thailand. Absolutely. They TRIED. But no protocal existed to assimilate and act on this information. So we could argue that all affected by the tsunami were necessarily "stupid" for not anticipating the need for their own system or means of access to monitering underwater earthquakes.

In the same vein, I can never understand those who live above the fault line, in California; there is 'Playing it safe' you know......

No, there isn't much playing it safe, really. You can always argue that anything was preventible, providing you have adequate hindsight.

 

[michel]

I disagree (big surprise, right). If the polar caps are melting due to mans influence on the planet, it would make surface water temperature lower instead of rise. The warmer the surface of the water, the more likely the chance of large storms such as hurricanes.

Also, it is known that large storms like this run in cycles of about 25 to 30 years. During the 70's and 80's there were very few large storms, but in the 50's and 60's there were quite a few. I think that we are right in the middle of another these cycles and can expect more of these types of storms in the coming years. I don't think man has the kind of power to control whether these storms happen or not and even less power to control how bad they are when they do happen. To think that we do is rather errogant IMHO.

The water temperature differential is that of the cold water from the antartic stream meeting the warm current from the 'north of the Equator' streams - therefore, the effect on the ocean would be to cause the current to be stronger - and the heat differential to be also greater - that was my point; I think you misunderstood me.

I am not suggesting that man has any control over the sturms; I was inferring that our blundering through nature thinking that we can do no harm is the attitude that brings abut such events - exactly the opposite from the way you understood it.

 

[Sunstone]

I heard on the radio this afternoon of someone who claims that God destroyed New Orleans in order to prevent the city from holding a gay festival, Southern Decadence Days. Was the destruction of New Orleans an act of God? What do you think?

 

[BUDDY]

I heard on the radio this afternoon of someone who claims that God destroyed New Orleans in order to prevent the city from holding a gay festival, Southern Decadence Days. Was the destruction of New Orleans an act of God? What do you think?

I think it is absurd, hateful and totally without an merit. I wonder what scenario they come up with when something bad happens to them.

 

[Scuba Pete]

If you can honestly look at this disaster and not blame "your god" then denial must be stage in your thought process.

Pretty harsh there Rex.

I agree with EH. The important life is the eternal one. If only people cared as much about it as they do this transient one. Contrary to one poster, but a belief in God makes you ever so careful that you don't contribute to ending a life before they are reborn.

We all have benefitted from the wonders of our earth. The mountains, the oceans, the meadows and the coast. We love these areas so much that we move there. But the forces God put in motion to create and maintain these wonders are still present. You can't have one without the other.

 

[Katzpur]

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

Hi, Rex. I've been wondering if anyone on this forum lives in the Gulf Coast area. My heart sincerely goes out to you. I can't even begin to imagine what you're going through.

I believe that God created a world that operates according to natural law (which law He also created). Since it does, there are going to be times when some pretty horrible things take place. As far as your original question is concerned (Where is God during disasters?), I believe He is in heaven, watching to see how well we care for one another during difficult times, hoping that we will offer a helping hand and a compassionate heart towards our fellow men.

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

The land under New orleans has been sinking for years and years,all this time they have been buildiny the levies bigger and bigger. the land is now 6 to 20 or so feet below water level.
The engineering department had its budget cut this year to pay for homeland security, by washington.
In similar circumstances in the Wash are of England they have decided it is no longer economic to protect the land that has sunk to more than 20 feet in some parts. This will be allowed to return to nature. Peat will re-establish over the next 500 to1000 years and raise the land naturally to its former level when it can be re drained. (very long term planning)
In the medium term New Orleans is in an un-tenable position as are other nabouring districts.
Some one must bite the bullet and make some very unpopular decisions. The oil infrastructure must be maintained in the short term, but that to may need to be thought about pretty soon.

Terry
________________________________-
Amen! Truly I say to you: Gather in my name. I am with you.

 

[EnhancedSpirit]

It is a terrible thing, and the more I watch, the worse it gets. Here in Florida, we had troops and cops on every corner the day after the storms (all four of them). But for some reason, the help has taken more than 5 days to reach the people trapped in New Orleans. If this was truly an 'act of God', then it was a test, not a punishment. A test of will, and compassion.

I do not so much mourn the loss of the ones who died, for they are in a better place, but to see the survivors is truly heart renching. To see others suffer. To see others pushed to the point of desperate measures, then abandoned and left to struggle for acting out in fear and desperation. The way the government has handled this disaster is really upsetting to me. We got water to Sri Lanka faster than we got water to New Orleans. This has nothing to do with God, it has to do with people. People who make decisions, and the consequences of those actions.

We must all learn what we can from this terrible ordeal, and at the same time we must realize that in the grand scheme of things, 'this ain't nothing but a thing, chicken wing.' And this too shall pass.

 

[cmotdibbler]

I heard on the radio this afternoon of someone who claims that God destroyed New Orleans in order to prevent the city from holding a gay festival, Southern Decadence Days. Was the destruction of New Orleans an act of God? What do you think?

Sickening, how do these people sleep at night?

 

[michel]

I heard on the radio this afternoon of someone who claims that God destroyed New Orleans in order to prevent the city from holding a gay festival, Southern Decadence Days. Was the destruction of New Orleans an act of God? What do you think?

No - It wasn't (IMO) it was just plain old 'Mother nature' doing her bit. The ones who crawl out from under stones claiming that New Orleans was destroyed as a result of God's fury against Gays ought to crawl back under their stones. Oh, and at the same time, they could have a think about their own judgemental attitudes............

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I heard on the radio this afternoon of someone who claims that God destroyed New Orleans in order to prevent the city from holding a gay festival, Southern Decadence Days. Was the destruction of New Orleans an act of God? What do you think?

I think thats nuts. There was also much more in New Orleans than gay festivals. Its not like New Orleans oked gay marriage like Massachusets. Saying God destroyed New Orleans so they couldn't hold a gay festival holds as much credibility as saying God destroyed New Orleans because he doesn't like the Vampire Chronicles, and for those of you who haven't read it, it has many scenes that take place in New Orleans, and the main character, Lestat, made his American home in New Orleans.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

I believe that God created a world that operates according to natural law (which law He also created). Since it does, there are going to be times when some pretty horrible things take place.

To say that an omnipotent and omniscient God created the rules governing/directing natural disaster is nothing more than a sanitized way of saying that God inflicted that disaster.

 

[Melody]

Good point. I have to laugh at those idiots who thought Sri Lanka was perfectly good place to live. What were they thinking? I mean, the universe IS God's toy after all, isn't it? He can play with it any way he likes.

Neither irony or sarcasm is argument.
--Samuel Butler