posted
So, this talk guy on the radio was going over the cities in the U.S. most likely to be devastated by a natural disaster. The top of the list had San Francisco, as it is due for a big quake in the next 30 years. Second was New Orleans. He said a category 5 hurricane could flood most of the city, and probably would wipe the French Quarter off the map.
He seemed to be jokingly referring to those places as Dens of Iniquity, as if God's Ire was the reason those places were at risk of disaster.
Admittedly, I found that idea immediately risible. Surely, there are places as well known for their trespasses that are not due to be Smitten by God, though I couldn't really think of any, off the top of my head.
Now, since I have come to recently believe that there are no coincidences, how should I interpret that information? Should I assume that there is a God, and that He is actively planning to blast SF and other places on earth with large populations whose practices offend Him? Maybe I should, but *snort* It's incredibly unlikely that I will.
So, then, is it that people with a certain disregard for traditional 'rules' just naturally gather in dangerous places? That's closer to something I could believe.
It's probably too small a sample to draw any sort of conclusion. I arrived where I was going and turned off the radio.
Yet, it seemed like an idea you guys might find interesting.
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posted
It's a good think all the radio broadcast crackpots who presume to speak for God don't live in one city.
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posted
Olive - if we accept that God, as the Supreme Being, is indeed unknowable and unfathomable by our merely human minds, He could obliterate a city in order to save an anthill and think it a Good Thing.
And it might very well be a Good Thing since it is hubris to assume the Creator Of All Things shares our perspectives on right, wrong and priority.
And since God does see the bigger picture that we cannot hope to, those of us with faith must trust in what He sees fit to allow or do.
Of course, coming from me, this is all tounge-in-cheek since I don't believe to begin with.
posted
On an interesting note, the Bible says that God told Abraham that he would not destroy Sodom if ten righteous men could be found.
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posted
I think the first question is moot. If you are going on the assumption that God exists, for the purpose of this argument, then it doesn't matter if he defines righteousness as "good with a shovel".
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posted
I was joking. I used to be very religious, but sometimes I forget that I say things sometimes that I would have found insulting ten years ago. I'm sure he had his reasons, just as he did for instructing the Isrealites to commit genocide. I just don't find his methods overy sympathetc, that's all. Posts: 1664 | Registered: Apr 2004
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posted
This is a very dehumanizing argument. What it is saying is that if you just live in a given city, then you are an evil sinner waiting for God's wrath.
And if your city is hit by a Hurricane, then you must have deserved it.
To put it in other words, I believe God is a much better marksman than what this radio talkshow geek implies. If he wanted to punish the sinners, they would be punished. Nature and Man create collateral damage. God does not.
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posted
Storm, the obligatory answer to that is that God already new how many there were and that he was going to end up destroying it.
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posted
Trevor: While I am usually serious about my posts on God, I'm joking about God taking out certain cities. If something you say about God really offends me, I won't hammer you, I'll just ignore whatever it is you said.
posted
See, the thing is, God isn't really Omniscient. He was a lot like us, once. He's got this big project going, and we just don't understand it the way he does. He can't force us to do what he wants, but he can arrange things to make outcomes he wants more likely. He's totally devoted to this project-- it takes up all his time. He has no social life, though it is rumored that he has wife who looks after him.
I think God has Asperger's.
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posted
Actually, I think there is probably a pretty rational explanation for it.
There is a big correlation between dense populations and criminal behavior. A number of factors are involved. There are higher stress levels for populations who are densly packed together. The easiest place to exploit people is where there are lots of people. The easiest place to find people with similar amoral interests would be where there are lots of people.
Now, a category 5 hurricane could hit anywhere in the gulf, right? And there is likely to be a large population center somewhere in the gulf. This happens to be New Orleans.
There is a likely natural disaster looming over every part of the earth. Salt Lake City has a very good chance of having a large earthquake hit within the next 25 years. They just don't list the places where not very many people live. Mount Saint Helen was a pretty devestating natural disaster, but it took relatively few lives because not many people lived there.
So the concurrance of evil city and wrath of God natural disaster is not a special case. The unique aspect is the 'evil city'. It is the imminent natural disaster that can be generally applied to nearly every place on earth. Any list generated by grouping together natural disasters likely to happen and the evil cities that happen to be near them is not proof that God disapproves.
quote: I'm sure he had his reasons, just as he did for instructing the Isrealites to commit genocide. I just don't find his methods overy sympathetc, that's all.
So I take it you are not overly sympathetic to the state of Israel today?
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posted
The reason New Orleans is so at risk is because much of it is below sea level. I don't think, say, Mobile has that problem.
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posted
I haven't heard anything, but we will be getting high rain, wind storms and possibly tornados as per the usual fallout from hurricanes making landfall.
But I don't think we're expecting any major problems, certainly not like Ivan and friends.
posted
I think the Bible Belt is on the time payment plan, they just have really hot humid summers every year.
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posted
Actually, the New Madrid Seismic zone is supposedly due to put out at least a Magnitude 6 earthquake by 2040 with a probability of 50-90%, and something like 2-5% that it will be at least Magnitude 8. For those who don't know, the New Madrid is located in SE Missouri, Western Tenn and Western KY. Since it is located where it is, the previous large quake (early 1800s) was felt as far away as upstate NY, and an unknown distance west. Also, since builders in the area don't frequently design for earthquake loading, such an event would be devastating.
posted
Happy Camper, since my house is perched on a long slope leading down to a minor river, both ontop of large caverns, all near the New Madrid fault, reminding me of this does not make me a happy camper.
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