Why are so many more people killed by comparable natural disasters in non-Christian countries?

Toward Tradition ^ | December 29, 2003 | Rabbi Daniel Lapin

[CyberAnt]

"It's more likely that the Devil was behind Katrina than God."


Exactly! The prince of the power of the air!

[wouldntbprudent]

Didn't Jesus warn against reading into natural disasters (such as a tower falling on a bunch of people) that it happened to them because they were worse sinners than others?

[bella1]

But remember after WWII we helped rebuild Japan and they modeled their economy/society after ours. It took a while, but they succeeded.

[Owl558]

"Older article, but still asinine... "

Thank you! I guess the author doesn't consider Mexican, Central, & South American, or certain African people Christians. Mexico alone has had some horrible earthquakes.

The divide here has more to do with $$ and the POLITICAL system in play than where someone goes to church.

[NMR Guy]

Although I often enjoy Daniel Lapin's commentary, and think he has great things to say, I don't entirely agree with him on this one.

I think this would be a hard pill to swallow for people in largely Christian countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Christian villages in India, or for that matter, *anywhere* a few hundred years ago. In the end, we are at the mercy of God no matter how hard we've worked to secure ourselves. For whatever reason, he allows bad things to happen sometimes, and there's no doubt that we will take a major hit at some point, perhaps sooner than we'd think.

I was born in the 1970's, but I'd bet there are at least a few older... er wiser ;-) people here on Free Republic who could tell stories about times past when things weren't so safe for us, even in the U.S.

Also, Japan was able to industrialize without much of a Christian influence, and I'd bet that it won't be long before India and China have the kind of organization, infrastructure, technology, and economy to protect themselves as well.

I do agree that the influence of Christianity on Western cultures produced the kind of dedication and disciple to develop the technology and organization to improve our lives. Not surprising, since I think God does bless peoples and societies that follow him - just on his own terms, not ours.

[GSlob]

He conveniently omits discussing non-Christian Japan with its typhoons and earthquakes. And the only spiritual dimension in building codes is how enspirited [blood alcohol content] are the builders and inspectors.

[notigar]

I'm put off by religious groups that take money from Abramoff.

[CzarNicky]

I'm willing to bet enforcement of strong building codes has more to do with it than which god is king of the hill in what area.

[LadyDoc]

ummm...hate to tell you,but a lot of the AFricans starving and being killed in various African wars are Christians.

And 40 000 people were killed in the Mexico city earthquake 15 years ago...and 30 000 people in a mud slide from a Colombian volcano...and 5000 people last week from a hurricane in central America...

But the Africans and Latin Americans probably don't count as "christians" since many are Catholic or (for Africans) Anglicans, and we Catholics/anglicans/orthodox aren't really Christians according to this type of thought.

[Doohickey]

No, because every loss of human life is inevitably framed in the context of God's vengeance. It's tiresome and untue. Do we have agency on this earth or not?

[Steve_Seattle]

"How about the Black Death."

Medved's point was not that Judeo-Christian nations are magically protected from disaster because of their faith, but that the nature of their faith causes them to take steps to improve the world and not accept these disasters as the unalterable will of God. Thus, when disaster strikes, we take steps to improve sanitation and hygiene, to develop vaccines against disease, to build dykes and seawalls, to establish building codes that will withstand earthquakes, etc. Medved is saying we do these things because our religious tradition lacks the fatalism of other traditions, not that God protects us just because we believe in Him and our God is true and other Gods are false.

[Steve_Seattle]

"Medved"

Of course, I meant Lapin.

[Churchillspirit]

Possibly because they cannot afford to care for their large families - good housing; food; education etc. yet they have them anyway.

[muir_redwoods]

"But you prove his point. Judeo-Christian societies long ago moved out of "string and dung" buildings and developed. Most, if not all, non Judeo-Christian countries are still in the dark ages. Just look at the Middle East. And if it weren't for oil (ironically discovered and now removed by Western oil companies) the Gulf states would be as backwards as the rest."

I would credit the Roman Empire and it's descendants more than the Roman Church and it's descendants

[oh8eleven]

I wonder about why so many religious people are so put off by secular society.
Simple - the first amendment guarantees freedom OF religion, not freedom FROM religion.

[TruthNtegrity]

Finish reading when I'm awake.

[Brian Allen]

<< For one thing, it doesn't take much of a wind or quake to bring down a building held together with string and dung. >>

And, at least before we were invaded and over-run by pagan-heathen third world relativists and other effective savages and our Judeo-Christianity-descended moral integrity thus systemically debased, the fabric of absolute Trust upon which our nation was founded and stands ensured that our buildings and structures were built to Standards that ensured they contained the contracted ratio of gravel and sand to cement and the minimum quality and quantity of steel - etceteras - to ensure their earthquake and other disaster and/or atrocity preparedness.

[Excluding, of course, practically all of those built by any level of gummint, including in New York by the Port Authority and every inch of New Orleans' and the full-length-of-the-Mississippi's feral-gummint-built fair-weather levees!]