Theologians weigh in on natural disasters

[norml]

Posted on Fri, Oct. 14, 2005


Theologians weigh in on natural disasters

RACHEL ZOLL

Associated Press


They're sometimes called "acts of God" and, when disasters strike, it's not unusual for people to read a divine punishment into earthquakes, floods or other natural cataclysms.

Now, with the unrelenting devastation of the last few months, a few religious thinkers have done the same in response to the Indian Ocean tsunami, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, mudslides in Guatemala and the earthquake in Pakistan.

They have proclaimed these events as heavenly retribution for sins ranging from legalized abortion to U.S. support for Israel and the war on Iraq. Conversely, one Israeli rabbi said the American storms came because the U.S. government pressured the Jewish state to withdraw from the Gaza Strip.

The vast majority of theologians reject this thinking, however, and The Associated Press decided to examine why this is so. What follows in question and answer format is a summary of the prevailing thought on the question of God's place in disasters, based on interviews with some theologians and public statements of others:


snip


http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/breaking_news/12904560.htm

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. Ah, the ol' theodicy issue

Thankfully, legitimate theologians (that is, ones that are actually trained, and didn't just learn their theology from KKK pamphlets or Jerry Falwell, etc.) DO NOT believe that natural disasters are punishment from God, but are, in fact, natural diasters, something that happens because, gosh, that's what the world does, and always has done.