What Do Terrorists Have To Do With Earthquakes and Hurricanes?
Posted: Friday, November 27, 2009
by Jim Anderson
Weddings That Last
I can hear you now. "You are blaming everything on terrorists, you must be racist!" My answer to you is that I am recognizing that today we see terrorists as the icons of evil in the world. So what I am really talking about is evil in the world today, and through all time. It seems we need someone to blame bad things on, and today it is terrorists, so why not blame natural disasters on them too? It is easy to see who should bear responsibility for a rape or a murder, but how do we explain natural disasters? Who gets the blame for those events of pain and suffering?
Ever since Adam and Eve we have been making evil choices. A good illustration of this is found in the movie "Erin Brokovich". The people who lived in Hinkley, California hopelessly watched members of their family and their pets get sick and die. No one suspected the water was the source of their sickness. A major employer in their community had been dumping toxic materials into the ground and it seeped into the water supply. Erin Brokovich, played by Julia Roberts, discovered the problem. The corporation, in the interest of profits, ignored their civic responsibility to care for the environment. So the people in the community lived in a toxic environment created by the sins of the corporation. This is a micro example of our spoiled world. Since we put our personal interests before our responsibility to follow God and care for the world, we have created a toxic environment. The earth has been poisoned by our sin. As a result natural disasters are created as the world decays from the toxic poison of sin.
This evil is also made worse by our lack of attention to the problems created. Rolling Stone interviewed Bono, the lead singer of U2 who also is an AIDS activist. In his interview he revealed a very important point about how discouraging it is to find what is keeping us from responding to the AIDS problem in Africa is a sense of racial superiority. He mentioned that a head of state told him that if we really believed these people in Africa were equals, there would be no way we would allow 3,000 Africans to die every day from mosquito bites since we have the technology to help them. There is little difference to using separate drinking fountains for blacks in the 1950s. It is racism disguised by geographic separation.
So what would the world look like if we set aside our political differences and our racism and pulled our resources together to deal with the problems in Africa? A good indication would be when the actress Sharon Stone bought $15 mosquito nets that last 5 years, contributing $10,000 to help buy them. She even pleaded with her fans to give as well and raised $1 million. If we all could set aside our sinful ways and start caring for others as God commands us, we could slow the decay of the world.*
*"The God Conversation" by J.P. Moreland & Tim Muelhoff, InterVarsity Press, 2007, pgs. 33-35
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Top-level comments on this article: (6 total)Hi Jim,I enjoyed this article very much. Thank you!MarkPlease log in to respond to this comment.Thanks for reading!Please log in to respond to this comment.
A flash flood occurred in November 1991, typhoon Uring devastated my hometown in the Philippines. The flash flood killed approximately 6000 people and crop and property damage so immense. It was due to massive deforestation. A calamity caused by human indifference and greed. Thanks for this well-written piece. ~Nenita~Please log in to respond to this comment.Interesting example. Thanks for reading and commenting!Please log in to respond to this comment.
I had to come to this piece to cool down after reading some on the comments on another - man, oh, man! I have to start reading this book too! Thanks for writing this and making me remember that I have it just waiting and Mick is going hunting so will have much free time! Good piece. MarijoPlease log in to respond to this comment.I never thought I'd have a calming effect on anyone. Thanks for the vote of confidence! I appreciate your encouragement.Please log in to respond to this comment.Well some of the comments on the other pieces make you want to tear your hair out - hope more will come to have "ears to hear and eyes to see".Please log in to respond to this comment.Amen. Just don't let them rattle you. You do your part and let the Holy Spirit do its part.Please log in to respond to this comment.
Enjoyed reading this piece just as much the second time in Reader's Club! Keep writing, please. MarijoPlease log in to respond to this comment.Thanks agains for commenting!Please log in to respond to this comment.
Very cool JIm, very insightful. I consider you to be a good friend.
Best..............ePlease log in to respond to this comment.
Thanks for reading and commenting Raymond.Please log in to respond to this comment.
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