Dear Whistle6,
The Great Lisbon Earthquake, followed by a tsunami, killed somewhere between 10K and 100,000…coming on All Saints’ Day 1755, when everyone was in church; the cathedrals being the tallest structures and thus most vulnerable.
Because of the theodicy question, i.e., “how could a good God allow bad things to happen,” this catastrophe gave the budding philosophy of atheism a big boost.
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For your question, personally I like the answer given by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, so simply in one of his verses called FIREFLIES:
“Light accepts darkness as her spouse, for the sake of creation.”
In other words, we humankind are creatures of Oneness, planted here where duality is necessary for our existence. Our ‘mission,’ if we choose to accept it, is to see through the duality of existence to the oneness of our nature.
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And for this task, God is optional…and God knows that.
Painting ~1755 by Strobërle, angels and all, Allegory to the 1755 Earthquake.
How do you answer the theodicy question?
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1- Disasters can result from the handiwork of man or that of nature. Man is clearly capable of committing untold evil and does so, mostly driven by power and greed, as we can see all around us. However, that cannot be used as evidence that God doesn't exist, because man is also capable of taking responsibility, learning to control himself and living a goodly life without committing evil and destruction, and one wouldn't use that as evidence that God exists.
2- Take a scenario in which a huge boulder is critically balanced on a mountainside. Erosion and the elements are working away at that balance and inevitably there comes a time when it comes crashing down. As a rational person you say, 'yes, natural occurrence perfectly understandable, inevitable, perfectly explainable'. Let's slightly change the scenario. Picturesque spot, so a family with small children was camped at the bottom of the mountain and got horribly crushed to death by that boulder. Now you say, 'see, this is why I don't believe in your God, he is an evil, immoral monster'. Why a sudden change in perspective? We know that nature will always take its course and we have to work with nature and learn to avoid being caught in its way. Natural disasters force man to sit up exercise care for fellow humans and learn more about nature and how to better live with it, if not harness it to his benefit. It is part of the long term development of mankind.
3- Ever watched wildlife programs? The camera teams are well supported with armed game wardens. If human life was ever threatened the game wardens would shoot, at least tranquilizer darts, at a charging wild animal. Yet when a little deer totally unaware of the danger strays into the presence of lions hunting for food the only shooting the humans do is with the camera, recording the dreadful aftermath. What about the annual migration of the wildebeest when they cross a river at the same point and those that falter on the steep and slippery bank are caught and torn apart alive by the waiting crocodiles in their annual wildebeest feast. Surely it is not beyond man to build a rudimentary bridge across the river to give the wildebeest a safe passage across. So if it’s ok for man not to intervene, out of wisdom, why is it not ok for God not to intervene out of his wisdom which must be far superior on account of his being omniscient?
Benedict Arnold 