Tsunami and 'God'

[PrincessFiona]

I wonder how everyone here feels about their religious faith after a disaster like the Tsunami. I admit to feeling much closer to feelings of faith again around the holidays and then when the Tsunami hit I was filled with...repulsion at anything religious again. I simply can't wrap it around my brain that an 'omnicient' and 'omnipotent' God would not stand in the way of something like this happening or at least of the massive deaths of women and children. I can't see any purpose in these senseless deaths and those that will come in the next few weeks due to infections, injuries, etc. As if it wasn't bad enought, after the Tsunami there has now been flooding in some areas. What about the survivors of this disastor? Should they feel that they are somehow 'special' to have been spared? Are they better than their spouses or children in some way that made them all deserve a 'miracle' while the victims somehow 'deserved' to die? My mil (devout catholic) would say that the people who died weren't faithful enough as were their spouses. She would say that God was testing the spouses. I find that offensive in every way.

How do you all come to terms with these kinds of disasters?

kris

[SueC]

I would absolutely not agree with your mil. Oddly enough, I hadn't really considered the tsunami as a test of my faith. I just considered it as an ecological disaster and hadn't given it any more thought. It deepens my faith, however, to see people from all over the world coming together to aid those in crisis. We may be praying to different gods, but to me it just proves to me that (most)people are inherently good and will do the right thing in a crisis.

[mommax3]

I don't believe that this disaster (or any other) is a "punishment" from God. I believe that we as finite creatures cannot understand the reasoning of God, who is an infinite being. I believe that the lives that were spared weren't spared randomly, although it appears so. I also believe that our lives here are not all there is, and that the children who were killed are in a far better place today and will never know pain or sorrow. I believe that the magnitude of the loss was so great because of the lack of a warning system, not because of a lack of a loving and omnipotent God.

Kris, the books I have recommended before have really helped me reconcile the tragedies we see with my faith......"Know Why You Believe" by Paul Little, and really any book by Philip Yancey.

Sally

[migirl]

I, like Sue, hadn't really given too much though to the religious implications of such a disaster until I read something in the paper yesterday. I can't remember the exact quote but a monk who had survived said something to effect that the people who perished were not 'faithful' enough. :disappointed: That really stood out at me, because that thought hadn't even come close to entering my mind and I was astonished that people would actually think that way. I'm still having a hard time grasping the enormity of the situation, the death toll is just so heartbreakingly and inconceivably high. It's hard for me to imagine people who are so righteous about their faith that they feel justified in suggesting that others who met a worse fate were less faithful and somehow 'wrong'.

I can't remember the exact quote but a monk who had survived said something to effect that the people who perished were not 'faithful' enough. :disappointed:

That bugs me too, mostly because I don't see how a 3 year-old be judged on how faithful he or she is. But I don't agree with that statement in general. I hadn't given much thought to this as related to my faith either. But I definately don't see this as punishment from God. I don't believe that all those people were so evil or did something so bad that they had to die.

[DCJenn]

Some people need to blame "someone" and the fact that the earth has plates that move and buckle and cause horrible destruction, regardless of religion and belief- blows their minds. If they want to believe that God moved the plates, well, great- but which God or God's, after all there were many of the world's religions represented in those who were killed and hurt.

Jenn

PS- people say stuff when they are in shock that might not make sense.

[PrincessFiona]

These are all very interesting thoughts!

[BonBon]

Re: Tsunami and 'God'

How do you all come to terms with these kinds of disasters?

I find it hard accept natural disasters such as this one, especially when there has been such great loss. I keep thinking of the population in my area and just imagining if everyone died. It is so many people. There is a photo on cnn.com of a baby who is missing and it absolutely breaks my heart.

To me, this is more evidence that we live in a natural world, not one governed by a god or gods. It's easy to see how in biblical times a flood like this could be perceived as coming from god with such mass destruction.

I am just really sad about it.

[mommax3]

I found this on msn today and thought it was interesting in light of this thread.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6791508/

Sally

I found the MSNBC article to be very interesting. Sally, thanks for bringing it to my attention. Ultimately, none of us are capable of understanding why God allows things to happen as the tsunami. But, one could also question why God allows so many good things, or billions of blessings to occur in our lives. Especially when we may turn our backs on God or commit repeated sins. No human is capable of answering these questions, but it is definatley a two-fold issue.

Lauren

[fluffhead]

I'm not usually a big fan of William Safire, but this is pretty good:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/10/opini ... oref=login

[mommax3]

Yeah, that is a good article, Fluff. Thanks for posting it.

Sally