Disaster is natural. It is not the curse of the gods, it is not punishment. Disaster results from the interplay of forces: the earthquake from pressures in the earth, the hurricane from wind and rain, even the accidental fire from a spark. We rush to ask "Why?" in the wake of a great disaster, but we should not let superstition interfere with dispassionate acceptance. There is no god visiting down destruction.~ from 365 Tao: Daily Meditations, Entry 10 ~
Let's face it. We humans like reasons. When something happens, we expect to be able to understand the variables that led to any given circumstance. Unfortunately, because of the limitations of the human intellect, we often can't take into account all the myriad variables and so we're often left groping for reasonable explanations.
This leads us to be uneasy. If we are unable to comprehend why such and such happened, what is to prevent it from happening again?!?
In order to assuage these feelings of inherent uncertainty, human society invented a mechanism to provide explanations when no explanations seems viable or tenable -- religion. When no other reasonable explanation can be proffered, the fashionable thing to say or think is that it's part of the deity's plan (i.e., only God knows).
Of course, this really isn't an answer at all. It's merely a very convoluted way of saying, "I don't have the foggiest notion of why or how such and such occurred."
In a world in which disaster is a frequent occurrence, the religion answer is supposed to provide people with solace and comfort. It does on a superficial level. On a deeper level, however, it doesn't work half as well as advertised because survey after survey has shown that the religiously devout are just as anxious and self-destructive as the rest of us. Even worse, the religiously devout tend to be more guilt-ridden because of the belief that their behavior or thought was the impetus for those disasters that visit them.
The uncertainty itself is bad enough, but the double whammy of guilt only compounds the situation.
This leads us to be uneasy. If we are unable to comprehend why such and such happened, what is to prevent it from happening again?!?
In order to assuage these feelings of inherent uncertainty, human society invented a mechanism to provide explanations when no explanations seems viable or tenable -- religion. When no other reasonable explanation can be proffered, the fashionable thing to say or think is that it's part of the deity's plan (i.e., only God knows).
Of course, this really isn't an answer at all. It's merely a very convoluted way of saying, "I don't have the foggiest notion of why or how such and such occurred."
In a world in which disaster is a frequent occurrence, the religion answer is supposed to provide people with solace and comfort. It does on a superficial level. On a deeper level, however, it doesn't work half as well as advertised because survey after survey has shown that the religiously devout are just as anxious and self-destructive as the rest of us. Even worse, the religiously devout tend to be more guilt-ridden because of the belief that their behavior or thought was the impetus for those disasters that visit them.
The uncertainty itself is bad enough, but the double whammy of guilt only compounds the situation.
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