Religion and the Tsunami Asia Crisis

Some co-workers and I, of different cultural and religious backgrounds, were discussing the horrible events of the SE Asia Tsunamis crisis and it's difficulties in associating it with Religious beliefs and faith in God/s.

"How? Why?" were intially asked.. then it progressed into "why so close to Christmas" and eventually "perhaps they're being punished by God?"

Was their a reason be? Does Religion/God have anything to do with the Tsunami crisis? Punishment? Cleansing?

Or, perhaps this would be a good time for the world to collectively believe in science? If you're a religious person, is accepting a scientific theory the easy way out?

Originally posted by syntaxer


Or, perhaps this would be a good time for the world to collectively believe in science?
If you're a religious person, is accepting a scientific theory the easy way out?

I think that science is not an easy way out. It is because of Science We know that the plates of the earth move to cause presure to build and be released.

You could still see it as an act of god, if you like. You would have to believe to God made the plates move to kill.





[edit on 28-12-2004 by SpittinCobra]

Connections can be found to just about anything if you look hard enough. That is not to say these 'explanations' have any validity, but instead that we want to believe in these connections at some level.

As per it happening on christmas, there was a 1 in 365 chance of it happening on that day so why not. It was bound to happen on one of those days if it was going to happen at all.

Originally posted by syntaxer


Or, perhaps this would be a good time for the world to collectively believe in science? If you're a religious person, is accepting a scientific theory the easy way out?

This is confusing......your blaming a god for this!? Does being religious now mean you don't believe in natural disasters!? That's what it was....you do know this, right? There's also a lot of threads already oin here about this.....I'm not a mod...just letting you know

The Earth does not have any kind of giant clock inside it or any supernatural calendar (and since the beginning of time, there have been many "official calendars".... even our calendar got adjusted by nearly two weeks in George Washington's time.

If you have a calendar with religious holidays marked on it, you'll find that every day in the calendar has some sort of religous significance to one or more religions.

Finding patterns in things is part of human behavior and belief. That's how we advance science and knowledge; by finding repeatable patterns.

But we also find patterns where they don't really exist (pictures in clouds; omens in the flight of birds.) Many religions and psychics take advantage of this (you see John Edwards doing this with his "i'm getting a message from someone whose intials are J B. Does that mean anything to anyone here?") to engender your belief in them. If you believe, you will give them resources (money, support, etc.

If you look throughout the centuries, you'll see that there's no real pattern. No divinity strikes down an opposing religion at all their festivals, etc.

It's just life.

Does that preclude you from religious belief? Only if you have a deity who micromanages Earth and who does evil things to people. If the deity is some being who is on a spiritual plane but lets Earth to itself, there's no conflict.

Well I think if this had happened a few thousand years ago people would have thought it was indeed the wrath of God or Gods. But we have science now that explains how these things happen. Its quite natural things like this have happened long before humans and will keep happening long after we are gone.

[edit on 28-12-2004 by ShadowXIX]

Originally posted by LadyV

Originally posted by syntaxer


Or, perhaps this would be a good time for the world to collectively believe in science? If you're a religious person, is accepting a scientific theory the easy way out?

This is confusing......your blaming a god for this!? Does being religious now mean you don't believe in natural disasters!?

That's what it was....you do know this, right? There's also a lot of threads already oin here about this.....I'm not a mod...just letting you know

This thread is directed towards religion and the Tsunami crisis. For people of faith it's very difficult for them justify 60,000 dead souls without turning to religious beliefs.

So keeping that in mind. was it a natural disaster (science) or the act of a God/s.

I find that pathetic to blame a natural disaster on god because is better to blame it on somebody else that to find an intelligent reason as why.

I remember when the same kind of comment came from a well known religious figure after 9/11.

Originally posted by syntaxer
For people of faith it's very difficult for them justify 60,000 dead souls without turning to religious beliefs.

So keeping that in mind. was it a natural disaster (science) or the act of a God/s.

Lots of people have faith and still understand that this is a natural disaster....it's not the first time and if you read some of the other threads...all this is in there..all the religious stuff etc....
Date----------Location-----------Magnitude--------------Deaths
April 18, 1906------San Francisco-------8.3--------------------503
Aug. 16, 1906-----Chile-------------------8.6--------------------20,000
Dec. 16, 1920-----China------------------8.6--------------------100,000
Sept. 1, 1920------Japan-----------------8.3--------------------100,000
May 22, 1927------China-----------------8.3--------------------200,000
March 2, 1933-----Japan-----------------8.9--------------------2,990
Jan. 15, 1934------India------------------8.4--------------------10,700
Jan. 24, 1939------Chile------------------8.3--------------------28,000
May 21-30, 1960--Chile------------------9.5--------------------5,000
April 10, 1972------Iran-------------------7.1--------------------5,350
July 28, 1976-------China-----------------7.8 to 8.2------------242,000
Sept. 16, 1978-----Iran-------------------7.5 to 7.9------------15,000
Sept. 19, 1985-----Mexico----------------8.1--------------------9,500
June 21, 1990------Iran-------------------7.7--------------------35,000

The only connection that I could possibly make is where it says in the Bible that more of these natural disasters are going to happen at the end of time. I would have to look it up, but it says something along the lines of being like 'birth pains'. i.e. when a women is in contraction, the closer the baby is to being born, the closer the contractions. This means we should start seeing more and more natural disasters and wars.

I read on the news that Tokyo is due for a major earthquake soon. When something like this happens in a major city, this is really going to have much more of an impact on society, the economy and possibly political movements.

This is just a taste of things to come.

In one way I guess you could call it religious.

Since we were thrown out of the Garden of Eden we have been subject to natural disasters.

If indeed we are in the end times then other rules apply I guess.

I vote for natural disaster.

We live in a reality where death can come for us at any time. We all know this and live with it everyday. You might walk in front of a bus or a plane might crash into your building or you might simply have a heart attack or choke on your tongue as that football player did a few days ago. Sleep apnea kills.

That tsunami did not discriminate. It killed Muslims, Jews, christians, Budhists. satanists, and i'm sure a few spiritual anarchist which is my own path. It killed children, the elderly, the young and robust and the people who were in the prime of their life.

If you believe God deliberately did this then you would have to believe in a god that takes lives indiscriminately and just for the hell of it. I cannot believe any divine being would take such a horrible action.

This is a part of our reality. Just because death happens does not mean it was the direct action of a cruel god.

Love and light to each of you,

Wupy