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Author Topic: Higher Power and Natural Disasters  (Read 3712 times)

addy

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Higher Power and Natural Disasters
« on: August 27, 2011, 01:05:48 pm »
Hey everyone! I have a serious question. Do you guys think a higher power causes tornados, hurricanes , earthquakes etc. to tell us to shapen up and respect our world? or do you think it is just random and that a higher power doesnt have anything to do with it? thank you Blessed be <3

DragonDaughter

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Re: Higher Power and Natural Disasters
« Reply #1 on: August 27, 2011, 01:21:33 pm »
Quote from: addy;15952
Hey everyone! I have a serious question. Do you guys think a higher power causes tornados, hurricanes , earthquakes etc. to tell us to shapen up and respect our world? or do you think it is just random and that a higher power doesnt have anything to do with it? thank you Blessed be <3

 
I don't think a higher power causes natural occurrences, unlike the TV preachers who state that they are caused by their god as punishment. Plate movement cause earthquakes, and the right combination of weather cause hurricanes and tornadoes. The world is complex and moving. *Shrug*
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Re: Higher Power and Natural Disasters
« Reply #2 on: August 27, 2011, 01:51:28 pm »
Quote from: DragonDaughter;15955
I don't think a higher power causes natural occurrences, unlike the TV preachers who state that they are caused by their god as punishment. Plate movement cause earthquakes, and the right combination of weather cause hurricanes and tornadoes. The world is complex and moving. *Shrug*

 
IMO it depends on a persons belief, if a belief in a personal deity or deities (or higher power) then yes, if if a belief in elementals, and spirits yes, if a belief that there is just nature then no.  

Personally I think what thoughts, we as a group of people think, can affect the planet, but most events have noting to do with us.
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addy

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Re: Higher Power and Natural Disasters
« Reply #3 on: August 27, 2011, 02:19:08 pm »
Quote from: mlr52;15959
IMO it depends on a persons belief, if a belief in a personal deity or deities (or higher power) then yes, if if a belief in elementals, and spirits yes, if a belief that there is just nature then no.  

Personally I think what thoughts, we as a group of people think, can affect the planet, but most events have noting to do with us.

 
Thanks everyone :) and yes the thought thing is a great concept :) I belive that too. we make our reality and whatever we think shapes our world. Maybe thats we have been having natural disaster everyone has been thinking negative thoughts lately. But who knows Thanks again guys :)

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Re: Higher Power and Natural Disasters
« Reply #4 on: August 27, 2011, 02:30:33 pm »
Quote from: addy;15952
Hey everyone! I have a serious question. Do you guys think a higher power causes tornados, hurricanes , earthquakes etc. to tell us to shapen up and respect our world? or do you think it is just random and that a higher power doesnt have anything to do with it? thank you Blessed be <3

In short: no.
Humans are not so important that the whole world evolves around them.

We call an event like a hurricane a disaster, is because we perceive its effects as negative.

But the hurricane is just what it is. It's not out to get us or to cause material damage.
I'd be highly surprised if a nature force like a storm had a concept of monetary value. ;)

Nor is it random. It is what it is, and it plays its part in nature's order.

Humans often like to think everything is because of them.
I firmly believe that we do not need to safe the world. The world as a whole will be perfectly fine without us. But you are right, we should pay attention. And we should respect the powers around us, because we are just like every other species on this planet. If we don't fit, we'll disappear.

This is just the whole thing in a nutshell.
It is not as one-dimensional as it sounds either, humans too have their place in the world. We are part of nature. We are just not in its center. ;)
« Last Edit: August 27, 2011, 02:31:58 pm by Tana »
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That’s what people never really understood.….Things had to balance.
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Re: Higher Power and Natural Disasters
« Reply #5 on: August 27, 2011, 02:42:23 pm »
Quote from: addy;15952
Hey everyone! I have a serious question. Do you guys think a higher power causes tornados, hurricanes , earthquakes etc. to tell us to shapen up and respect our world? or do you think it is just random and that a higher power doesnt have anything to do with it? thank you Blessed be <3

 

Neb.y does not cause storms.  Neb.y is storms.

He doesn't do it to tell us jack shit.
as the water grinds the stone
we rise and fall
as our ashes turn to dust
we shine like stars    - Covenant, "Bullet"

HeartShadow

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Re: Higher Power and Natural Disasters
« Reply #6 on: August 27, 2011, 04:58:37 pm »
Quote from: addy;15963
Thanks everyone :) and yes the thought thing is a great concept :) I belive that too. we make our reality and whatever we think shapes our world. Maybe thats we have been having natural disaster everyone has been thinking negative thoughts lately. But who knows Thanks again guys :)

 
Natural disasters always happen.  Always have, probably always will.  Nothing to do with what we're thinking, everything to do with the fact that weather HAPPENS.  The world HAPPENS.  Saying that we're creating it is victim-blaming, IMO.

There are forces that cause these things.  It's just not human thought.

Ocelot

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Re: Higher Power and Natural Disasters
« Reply #7 on: August 27, 2011, 05:12:36 pm »
Quote from: addy;15952
Hey everyone! I have a serious question. Do you guys think a higher power causes tornados, hurricanes , earthquakes etc. to tell us to shapen up and respect our world? or do you think it is just random and that a higher power doesnt have anything to do with it? thank you Blessed be <3

 
The way I see it is that there were storms, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and even ice ages before there were humans on the planet. I don't think the gods are trying to teach us a lesson with natural disasters.

For one thing, even if they could, who would know it was them and why. I think even if it was possible, for the /teach a lesson and shape up/ thing to be effective, the gods would need to make it clear that they were doing it and why.
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Shawnee

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Re: Higher Power and Natural Disasters
« Reply #8 on: August 27, 2011, 05:17:35 pm »
Quote from: HeartShadow;15988
Natural disasters always happen.  Always have, probably always will.  Nothing to do with what we're thinking, everything to do with the fact that weather HAPPENS.  The world HAPPENS.  Saying that we're creating it is victim-blaming, IMO.

There are forces that cause these things.  It's just not human thought.


I see natural disasters as pure nature power and nothing to do with humans or a Higher power. Disasters aren't a punishment either. It just the pure power of nature doing what it does. However I do believe things humans have done to the environment in the past is having an effect on weather patterns but we don't create specific storms.

We can't change the past but we can improve the planets future and hopefully postpone the damaging effects. Reforestation, natural habit preserves, proper planting, recycling etc can all have a benefit in the future. But that's a whole other story. :)

Garm

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Re: Higher Power and Natural Disasters
« Reply #9 on: August 27, 2011, 10:24:59 pm »
Quote from: addy;15952
Hey everyone! I have a serious question. Do you guys think a higher power causes tornados, hurricanes , earthquakes etc. to tell us to shapen up and respect our world? or do you think it is just random and that a higher power doesnt have anything to do with it? thank you Blessed be <3


Some people beleive the ecosphere has a concioussness, it is often called Gaia

If so, it is obviously in her interest to cull the population as we are nothing short of an ongoing disaster for her

Not much point trying to get us to shape up, were just not smart enough

Any one who thinks nature is about love and caring has been watching too many Disney movies
« Last Edit: August 27, 2011, 10:26:10 pm by Garm »
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Re: Higher Power and Natural Disasters
« Reply #10 on: August 27, 2011, 11:13:53 pm »
Quote from: addy;15952
Hey everyone! I have a serious question. Do you guys think a higher power causes tornados, hurricanes , earthquakes etc. to tell us to shapen up and respect our world? or do you think it is just random and that a higher power doesnt have anything to do with it? thank you Blessed be <3

Nature happens. Storms and earthquakes have natural causes and were happening long before there was intelligent life here for the Gods to punish.
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Dujanka

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Re: Higher Power and Natural Disasters
« Reply #11 on: August 28, 2011, 12:12:40 am »
Quote from: addy;15952
Hey everyone! I have a serious question. Do you guys think a higher power causes tornados, hurricanes , earthquakes etc. to tell us to shapen up and respect our world? or do you think it is just random and that a higher power doesnt have anything to do with it? thank you Blessed be <3

 
As much as I would like to think so, I guess.  Something sort of significant like the White House getting rocked by an Earthquake then hit with a Hurricane in the same week is bizarre.  But nature just happens like existence just kind of happened unless you have some type of faith.  

The weather has been extremely radical for the last year.

Juniperberry

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Re: Higher Power and Natural Disasters
« Reply #12 on: August 28, 2011, 07:43:12 pm »
Quote from: addy;15952
Hey everyone! I have a serious question. Do you guys think a higher power causes tornados, hurricanes , earthquakes etc. to tell us to shapen up and respect our world? or do you think it is just random and that a higher power doesnt have anything to do with it? thank you Blessed be <3



I don't think that the weather is a sign from a higher deity to shape up. I do, however, think that weather phenomenon is also 'spiritual'. Obviously there are scientific reason for why the rain falls, or why the wind blows, or how tornados form, but I also think  that there are beings that influence weather patterns as well. For example, a raging blizzard is an expression of the frost giants, who would be hostile/destructive forces sweeping across the landscape. The gods would be the protective/positive forces. I think it's an eternal struggle between these two, and has nothing to do with man's behavior.

I don't think that the giants or the gods are the weather, but I think just as the wall of a house can block the gust of a wind and change it's course that these beings can do the same. I mean...a solar flare shoots energy to the earth to create a pressure zone which sends a gust of hot air across the surface. Then the wind is herded by other factors: temperatures, land masses, etc. And I think that intelligent beings can be behind some of these factors. Just because it's explainable doesn't mean it's no longer meaningful. What's behind the fact that a tornado passed over one house and not the one next door? Why do strong gusts tear out your trees and not a neighbor's? Is it all just by chance that there were more molecules over your house? I don't know...I can't help believe that there's something unseen within these random chances and patterns and currents.

And again, I don't think anyone is deserving of violent weather. I think violent weather is the nature of the beast (destructive forces), and that there are other forces that fight to keep these from completely destroying everything and making our planet's atmosphere as hostile as Venus's. I also don't feel that science contradicts this at all, science just explains to us the mechanics of intangible forces. (There's a bit of a joke actually that Hawkings is a Norse mythologist without knowing it.) When the rain falls productively than it's aesir in charge of the mechanics. When it floods an area and kills people, destorys habitats, and displaces fish on banks, then it's a jotun pulling the strings of natural order.

Destructive jotuns are known to live in certain areas and to try and enter the lands of men. The hurricane zone would definitely be an outlying area, with Irene being them attempting, once again, to raid and destory midgard. *Shrug* I don't know... for me, being able to tie in my mythology with everyday life colors it all in. Even if the myths are purely entertainment, I still find some awe in the underlying message that there is something within chance, and within the mechanics of it all, that's alive and mindful. That there's some thing, or things, that directs and prods the smallest of particles to create a reality we can observe and experience.
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KittyVel

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Re: Higher Power and Natural Disasters
« Reply #13 on: August 29, 2011, 04:55:55 pm »
Quote from: addy;15952
Hey everyone! I have a serious question. Do you guys think a higher power causes tornados, hurricanes , earthquakes etc. to tell us to shapen up and respect our world? or do you think it is just random and that a higher power doesnt have anything to do with it? thank you Blessed be <3

 
I do sometimes wonder if natural disasters are Mother Nature's way of telling us to shape up and basically stop fucking with Her shit.  But I really don't know where I stand on this topic.  Sometimes I wanna say "Yes, a higher power causes the correct conditions for a natural disaster to occur," and other times I wanna say "No, the conditions just happened to be so a natural disaster would occur."  Sorry I'm not much help...XD
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Re: Higher Power and Natural Disasters
« Reply #14 on: August 30, 2011, 12:10:41 am »
Quote from: Juniperberry;16230
Obviously there are scientific reason for why the rain falls, or why the wind blows, or how tornados form, but I also think  that there are beings that influence weather patterns as well.

 
This.  And mostly the rest.  You seem to posit that They are always there in all randomness.  I view them as being able to utilize those randomnesses, but not necessarily always choosing to do so.

As to the original question, I dont' think largescale events are caused to teach a lesson.  I think the gods tend to keep a hands off policy regarding the physical world.  Once you alter one part of a contained system, you must contend with all the adjustments the system must make to accomodate that alteration.  Thou canst not stir a flower without troubling a star.  And that's just a lot of work for such a small effect.  Sometimes one of Them might decide the trouble is worth it, but not usually.

Though there are probably some entities who like to mess with things just because, and damn the results.
There is no inherent meaning to life.  Stop looking and give your life meaning.
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