quote:

Originally posted by Subey You live on earth. The dominant religion on YOUR planet is Christianity. In that religion God spent some time on earth. During his stay he was tortured and murdered. Obviously life has an element of suffering in it The most quoted saying of a non "revealed" religion is from Buddha who expouses the 4 NOBLE truths. The first noble truth is Dukkha: All existence is unsatisfactory and filled with suffering. The divine is obviously AWARE of these things. Obviously they must be integral to reality. *** What's the point of all this suffering then? I'll merely point you to a contemporary manifestation of the answer... The most important scene in Fight Club: Tyler Durden pours a rather corossive substance on the narrator's arm. The narrator is obviously in a great deal of distress, can not see past the pain. Tyler rolls up his sleeve, and shows the scar on his arm. The point then of Jesus, is that regardless of how corrosive reality might be to you at any one time, you can always look over to him, he won't roll up his sleeve, he doesn't have to, the scars are kinda visible all the time. He made it through it, so can you.

Truly an amazing and logical post (as in the way you said it). I am thoroughly impressed.

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quote:

Originally posted by Subey You live on earth. The dominant religion on YOUR planet is Christianity. In that religion God spent some time on earth. During his stay he was tortured and murdered. Obviously life has an element of suffering in it The most quoted saying of a non "revealed" religion is from Buddha who expouses the 4 NOBLE truths. The first noble truth is Dukkha: All existence is unsatisfactory and filled with suffering. The divine is obviously AWARE of these things. Obviously they must be integral to reality. *** What's the point of all this suffering then? I'll merely point you to a contemporary manifestation of the answer... The most important scene in Fight Club: Tyler Durden pours a rather corossive substance on the narrator's arm. The narrator is obviously in a great deal of distress, can not see past the pain. Tyler rolls up his sleeve, and shows the scar on his arm. The point then of Jesus, is that regardless of how corrosive reality might be to you at any one time, you can always look over to him, he won't roll up his sleeve, he doesn't have to, the scars are kinda visible all the time. He made it through it, so can you.

Perhaps this is a possible explanation if you are part of an organised religion and have faith in your particular god and are looking for guidance during this recent crisis.
I am sure there are many possible theological explanations,you could even go so far as to suggest that there are as many possible theological explanations as there are theologians of whatever creed and colour they are they will have different interpretations and explanations for recent events.

As this was the origional question on this thread "Different religions try to explain the tsunami" your answer could be interpreted as being correct if you accept as an individual that you are part of the christian faith.

quote:

Originally posted by ierxium Damn I must see this Fight Club you speak of.

Nah, read the book, its much better. Written by Chuck Palahniuk.
Sorry about the off topicness, I had some stuff to say in response to Subey's answer but I doubt it would be constructive at all

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quote:

Originally posted by zig As this was the origional question on this thread "Different religions try to explain the tsunami" your answer could be interpreted as being correct if you accept as an individual that you are part of the christian faith.

Is that an accurate assesment of my post?

I quoted buddha... he isn't Christian. He isn't a member of a "revealed" religion. Why is the first lesson of buddism about the inevitability of suffering? why does buddism call it a "NOBLE" truth. Noble is a word that confers very specific (and positive) conotations.

In your original post you asked what response God might give. So I framed my response with an emphasis on the dominant religion of the planet. Do you not think that the divine has an AGENDA in having christianity as the dominant religion? Certainly the divine must have some reason for it. And I gave you that reason in my final paragraph.

Likewise I gave examples that illustrate both the East and West have consensus on the issue ... doesn't that allow my explanation to escape the confines of a purely christian ethos?

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quote:

Originally posted by Subey Is that an accurate assesment of my post? I quoted buddha... he isn't Christian. He isn't a member of a "revealed" religion. Why is the first lesson of buddism about the inevitability of suffering? why does buddism call it a "NOBLE" truth. Noble is a word that confers very specific (and positive) conotations. In your original post you asked what response God might give. So I framed my response with an emphasis on the dominant religion of the planet. Do you not think that the divine has an AGENDA in having christianity as the dominant religion? Certainly the divine must have some reason for it. And I gave you that reason in my final paragraph. Likewise I gave examples that illustrate both the East and West have consensus on the issue ... doesn't that allow my explanation to escape the confines of a purely christian ethos?

I would suggest that you are nit picking

I have allready agreed with you that the interpretation you have given in your previous post is a possibility..if you bothered to read my reply you will have also read there are as many interpretations as there are people giving those interpretations..in other words its endless..the possibilitys and interpretations are endless..

I will rephrase the the last line in my post..the last 14 words.
(auctually only the last three words will change..but ill use 14 for clarity)

"if you accept as an individual that you are part of an organised religion"

This is why i suggest you are nit picking..as you in your previous post you are the one that emphasised christianity in your opening line.

Btw you still havent acknowledged the thrust of my reply in my previous post.

Here is an analogy of your logic...

There is an accident. There are 4 witnesses. You interview each, each person saw something different because they were at a different ANGEL(mispelled on purpose) to the scene.

You are saying "well everyone saw something different so the truth can not be known"

and I say...

The point isn't to limit reality based on an individuals perception.. the point, is to listen to all 4, and only then will you get a full picture of reality. I listen to the Christian, I listen to the Muslim, I listen to the Wiccan, I listen to the Atheist. Each perspective sheds a different light on the truth.

But only when they are COMBINED (what's the name of the bad guys in Half Life 2 again?) or rather MERGED (what seperates the first half of that tv show Survivor from the second half again?) can we move forward.

Monotheism was about merging pantheons... and that merger gave birth to Christ.
Guess what happens when all religion gets merged...

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I liked the islamic fundamentalists' explanation:

the tsunami was caused by underwater nuclear testing by US, UK or Israel.

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quote:

Originally posted by Subey Guess what happens when all religion gets merged...

But religion normally gets more diverse. I.e. most have common roots but have diverged from each other.

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Folks can use faith in religion to explain the events of the tsunami all they like but when one can observe a universe filled with unimaginal violence that dwarfs the most catastrophic events on our planet, I tend to feel that nature is neither hostile nor benign, but merely indifferent to the concerns of humanity.

It can be quite a blow to the human ego when natural catastrophes quickly and ruthlessly remind us just how vulnerable we truly are; small wonder a large segment of the population prays there is a supreme being overlooking our lives. I imagine it stems from that same mammalian instinct that needs to have our parents take care of us in childhood.

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quote:

Originally posted by Subey Here is an analogy of your logic... There is an accident. There are 4 witnesses. You interview each, each person saw something different because they were at a different ANGEL(mispelled on purpose) to the scene. You are saying "well everyone saw something different so the truth can not be known" and I say... The point isn't to limit reality based on an individuals perception.. the point, is to listen to all 4, and only then will you get a full picture of reality. I listen to the Christian, I listen to the Muslim, I listen to the Wiccan, I listen to the Atheist. Each perspective sheds a different light on the truth. But only when they are COMBINED (what's the name of the bad guys in Half Life 2 again?) or rather MERGED (what seperates the first half of that tv show Survivor from the second half again?) can we move forward. Monotheism was about merging pantheons... and that merger gave birth to Christ. Guess what happens when all religion gets merged...

Ok ill just go back to the origional thread question.

"Different religions try to explain the tsunami"

And imo i think i have answered this question allready,different religious leaders of different faiths will have different interpretations of the tsunami in its aftermath to try and explain why this event happened based on their understanding of their religious beliefs.

There will not be a merger of these ideas as you suggest,rather different interpretations based on their individual faiths.

quote:

Originally posted by Dervish But religion normally gets more diverse. I.e. most have common roots but have diverged from each other.

This pattern is true only within an evolutionary cycle.

But each cycle starts the process over again. At the end of the Pagan era there was incredible diversity in the number of Gods. They were then swallowed up in Monotheism.

At the end of the Monotheistic era there is incredible diversity in the number of sects. Will they too not be swallowed up in whatever comes next?

***

Look at it this way.
Paganism is to preteen
as
Monotheism is to teen.
as
X is to adult.

I'm getting restless. It's time to move out.

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quote:

Originally posted by Sykonee

Yes, the Atheist.. another problem entirely. Let's see.

You live in Canada.
The dominant symbol in Canada is... a RED LEAF
This has been Canada's symbol for 80+ years (please check 1920s Olympic Hockey Jerseys)

Now the first European to set foot in Canada was...

LEIF son of Eric the RED

Now a rational mind like yours must find that to be a bit of coincidence no? Think of all the people who could have stepped on Canada's soil first? And it just happens to be a guy whose name matches up EXACTLY with your national symbol...

You can certainly remain in your tower, behind your locked door and whisper through the key hole "my world view demands that I interpret that as a coincidence and nothing more..."

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