In the Irra Waddy Delta of Myranmar 78,000 people were killed and 56,000 reported missing from a May cyclone. On May 12 an earthquake in China’s Sichuan Province killed 41,000 with 32,000 missing and massive destruction of property. Many natural disasters occur around the world every day—such as the severe storm through Newton County in Southwest Missouri on May 12 leaving thirteen confirmed dead. The death toll and property loss is staggering. No matter how one considers these tragedies they are meaningless in terms of some overarching higher purpose. Not that the loss of one’s home and loved ones are not significant. The loss of even one life from the human family is significant, and it is multiplied if the loss is personal. In the long sweep of history, however, such events are insignificant. They have temporary significance due to the loss of life and property, but in long term they make little impact on those not directly involved. Massive natural disasters eventually become artifacts of our ancient past, like the eruption of Vesuvius in A. D. 79, which buried the Roman cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae. They were only rediscovered in the early 1700s. Business resumes as usual and memories fade.

       Some tragic events do have lasting significance, however—for instance a soldier’s self sacrifice in combat is commemorated by a nation—like the battle of Thermopylae in 480 B. C. The Spartan general, Leonidas, and his 300 soldiers died defending Athens against an overwhelming force of Persians. Such acts of personal heroism are remembered because they remind us that human beings can overcome the instinct for survival for values cherished higher than life itself. But loss of life due to the blind force of nature cannot be so easily rationalized into some higher purpose—such as the will of God, for example. China, Myranmar, and Newton County remind us that we are not masters of our environment. We are always at risk in a capricious world that we cannot control, whether by prayer, religious devotion, or science.

       Other tragedies we cause ourselves. Although some dark human reason may lie behind them, in the light of day such “purposes” appear irrational. Terrorist bombings and unnecessary wars fit this category. Can any political purpose justify such senseless taking of human life? Consider the recent discovery of mass graves in South Korea containing thousands of skeletons. Early in the war, when the North Korean army pushed south, the South Korean army and police “emptied South Korean prisons” and slaughtered the detainees. It was an action by the “U.S. backed regime,” but “U.S. military officers were sometimes present.” It is estimated that as many as 100,000 died in the blood bath. Such an inhumane act clearly warranted more space in the newspaper (News-Leader, 5/19/08, 9A)! This event does have meaning, however; it reminds us that normally civilized human beings possess the capacity for incredibly cruel acts! Such tragedies we wish to forget—hence the short report in the newspaper.

       Looking for a rationale to fit natural disasters and depraved human conduct into some overarching divine plan is a futile exercise, since they challenge God’s benevolence—no matter the rationale. They make the saying “God’s in his Heaven and all’s right with the world” less than trite. God may be in his heaven, but clearly things are not right in God’s world. The single theological issue of the twenty-first century is how to distance the concept of a benevolent God from the capriciousness of nature without having Mother Nature’s ethical blindness stick to God.

       Natural disasters are not caused or permitted by God, and our inhumanity to our fellows in the human family should not be dignified by appealing to God’s permissive will. The fact is we live in a world controlled by nature’s blind force, along with the best and worst of our species, and are always at risk from one or the other.

Charles W. Hedrick
Professor Emeritus
Missouri State University

Posted by Charles Hedrick at 11:58am
 

I'm pleased to subscribe to your blog site. I've read through everything posted there to date and find myself, as expected, comfortable with the sound reasoning of your opinions.

The thing that probably impressed me more than anything else, however, was your "I'm really just a curious fellow who wonders "why". That will take you to a lot of places, as it certainly has me. I'm sure that the "why" is short for that litany of questions---who, when, what, where, why and how---that we lawyers use to pester witnesses to bring out what is hopefully the truth of the matter. Since we are both persons who have seen a lot of snows, I like to think that at least some of the deeper wisdom has made its way into our being.

Your friendship over these last ten years has meant a lot to me, but I must tell you that your having been a part of the scholarly group that gave us the Nag Hammadi Library puts you in a special category to me in addition to your helpful friendship.

If I may express only one reservation re the blog, it has to do with your first two entries, “Mother Nature...” and “Is Human Suffering...” You have certainly responded to the way we so often hear folks talk about God and “his responsibility” and the like. I buy into the high gods of the Trinity and the spiritual hierarchies below them, which seem to be grouped into one simple “God” designation by most folk. Your responses address that, and I totally agree with you in absolving “God” of responsibility for the acts of nature or other human suffering. To me, however, the responsibility is on the other end, namely, with humanity, the highest of “God’s” creation, but one that is on a long journey. I cannot absolve humanity (certainly myself included) for responsibility for at least most of these misfortunes, at least not totally (and I’m not just talking about global warming). It would take more space than I have here to elaborate, but I did want to share this idea with you for perhaps some future coffee talk.

I look forward to the further flow of dialogue on your site.

Edward R. Smith
Lubbock, TX
bibleandanthroposophy.com

Posted by Edward Smith on 6/20/2008 at 3:11pm