BAM IRAN: A rabbi's provocative point of view [Does G-d dispatch disasters to nonChristian nations?]

Chicago Jewish News ^ | 1-7-04 | Rabbi Daniel Lapin

[SJackson]

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[Pan_Yans Wife]

ping

[Voltage]

This might be a good question to ask when the Yellowstone Caldera explodes. If you are further than 300 miles away of course!

[AM2000]

the California quake killed only two people. Dispassionately examined, the evidence suggests a spiritual rather than a seismic explanation for the disparity.

Uh, No. The difference is technological, and one of better planning.

[areafiftyone]

Exactly. The homes in Bam were created out of material that would turn to dust at the slightest quake and also were so close together. People were literally buried alive in their own homes. Alot of buildings in California are made to withstand earthquakes. These people aren't thinking logically when they say things like that.

[SJackson]

Uh, No. The difference is technological, and one of better planning.

That's precisely the author's point, though he's exploring the reasons behind the technology and planning.

Through the materialistic lens so prevalent today, we see a distorted image misleading us into believing that religion is an utterly private and largely irrelevant matter. Thus we block out reality and misperceive the spiritual and material as two parallel universes that never intersect. In this way I can comfortably believe that my neighbor's faith brings me no benefit and my secularism brings him no harm. An honest examination of these disasters suggests precisely the opposite. We ought to acknowledge that each day, every American derives enormous benefit from the faith of our Founders and of their heirs. We ought to acknowledge that our welfare is jeopardized by secular fundamentalism. Those many tragic and largely unnecessary disasters around the world bring out the goodness of Americans in the form of mountains of humanitarian relief. They should also remind us of the source of that goodness.

[CyberAnt]

Excuse me .. are there disasters in Heaven .. NO! According to the Bible it's a great place to live. Soooo .. how can GOD dispatch what he doesn't have ..??

[McGavin999]

Good analysis. The largest part of it is the importance we place on human life. Each disaster is looked upon as a learning experience.

I have often heard that we are at our best when disaster strikes, happily setting up tents, handing out sandwiches and coffee as we all gather together to put the world back to rights. It's true.

[McGavin999]

You missed the whole point of the article. The author states quite clearly that the disasters are the same in number and intensity. It is what results AFTER these disasters that shows why each is felt less in Judeo-Christian countries.

[elmer fudd]

I think there might be a kernel of truth to his arguments, but I also think they are a gross oversimplification. The biggest problem is that all advanced nations tend to prepare for natural disaster. Japan's earthquake preparedness is the best in the world. True, it didn't help much in Kobe, but that was a result of geography, not a lack of preparation. Taiwan and South Korea aren't sitting around waiting to be destroyed by earthquakes or typhoons either and while there may be significant Christian populations in those countries, they aren't exactly what you would call Christian nations.

Then there are the Christian countries that are economic basketcases and make very few disaster preparations. These would include virtually every country in the Americas except the USA and Canada. If an earthquake or volcanic eruption occurred in Chile or Haiti would you expect the Christians there to deal with it better than the Bhuddists of Singapore? Not me.

I think that Christianity probably is more compatable with modern capitalist democracy than most other religions and that this has helped advance our societies in terms of wealth and technology, but I think capitalism and democracy are the real engines of production and disaster preparedness. Hinduism with it's caste system and Islam with it's tradition of theocracy and prohibitions on charging interest aren't as well suited to either capitalism or democracy as Christianity or Bhuddism.

[SJackson]

Excuse me .. are there disasters in Heaven .. NO! According to the Bible it's a great place to live. Soooo .. how can GOD dispatch what he doesn't have ..??

Read the article, that's not what the author is saying.

[SJackson]

You missed the whole point of the article. The author states quite clearly that the disasters are the same in number and intensity. It is what results AFTER these disasters that shows why each is felt less in Judeo-Christian countries.

Essentially the disaster is defined by the death toll. As you note, in Judeo-Christian countries that's minimized, thus no disaster.

[nuconvert]

"Am I suggesting that G-d dispatches natural disasters to punish those who have not embraced Christianity? Most of us would find this answer quite unacceptable."

I don't know what he thinks the answer is, but the question is absurd.

Yet the question does stand: Why are so many more people killed by comparable natural disasters in non-Christian countries? Phrasing it in just this way provides the clue.
What dramatically changes the consequences of natural events such as earthquakes or storms is how a particular society is organized."

And in some countries, the people have nothing to do with how the society is organized. The government controls everything, and the people have no choice. And sometimes the people are kept poor and uneducated by the government.
Is he suggesting that God would punish poor, uneducated, controlled people, because they were unfortunate enough to be born into a screw-up society?

[CyberAnt]

I'm commenting on the title .. is that outlawed now ..??

[CyberAnt]

Again .. I was commenting on the title .. is that outlawed now ..??

[King Prout]

read to the end.
the author starts off in a manner which is deliberately misleading - to grab the attention and shake the complacency of the reader.
He then goes on to make the valid points that the wealth and good engineering and emergency planning and community response which we of the West enjoy stems directly from our Christian (and Jewish) heritage.
reading to the end before commenting is a very good idea.

[King Prout]

he explicitly states that such disasters are natural in origin and essentially random in timing, frequency, and location.

[nuconvert]

Thanks for the ping