subject: A philosophical dimension of natural catastrophes! [print this page] A philosophical dimension of natural catastrophes!
A philosophical dimension of natural catastrophes!
Either that you believe in a Godwho manipulates nature as He pleases, or you reduce catastrophes to natural phenomena and stop at that. It all dependson you if you are a believer or not. Should you be believer in God then you would explain things, especially natural catastrophes, in terms of God's handiwork. In other words, they are advertisementsof the power of God and His wrath. These are manifestations of what God can do,marking Hissignature.
In the case of belief, then these are divine devices to announce what Godis doingand a warning for man to take heed. The size and magnitude of the impact of natural catastrophes, like earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis, as well as sliding of earth, floods and devastating winds and atmospheric catastrophes, are so big and powerful that man stands terrified and horrified at the spectacle.
Or you would be a disbeliever and philosophize on these eventualities reducing them to natural phenomena that can be explained otherwise by scientific knowledge, or reason. After all, ancient deities are reduced to one now gradually when humans realize that the forces of nature, represented by deities, are nothing but explicable forces of nature. And that forces of nature are all explained in a logical natural and scientific way.
Metaphysical or philosophical explanations are no more valid and are therefore myths of the ancients.
All depends on which side of the road you stand. Those who have faith in God, in most of cases, see the hand of God in all catastrophic eventualities. His signature is evident and His will is indicated clearly in such catastrophes. The divine will intervenes with nature and destroys, at leisure and will,towns and buildings, demolishes houses and properties,annihilate human and animal life. After all, He is the one, for those, who made everything andhave powner of everything , as the rightful and legitimate owner, can dispose of everythingHe ownsin His own way and according to His own will.
As for those whodisbelieve in God and are mechanicists and atomists reductionalists in outlook, they do not need to explain natural catastrophes in terms of the metaphysical but rather in terms of the scientific mechanical-organic perspective.
This explains wind and rain tempests, weak or strong, in terms of a natural atmospheric phenomenasubject toforces of atmospheric pressure, gravitation, sun effect and moon effect, as well as the constant change in weather cycles observed throughout time. They dismiss in this way anydivine intervention and leave God outside their explanation.
Every party is at liberty to think or believe in what it wants to. Phenomena, natural or otherwise, is then left to the personal interpretation of the scientist or man of faith. The forces of nature are explained then either rationallyor irrationally. The sun and moon, stars, wind, rain, volcanoes, hurricanes and typhoons, earthquakes and tsunamis are all the work of natural phenomena explained rationally and scientifically and need not to be adored or have a God to preside over its function. This for the rationalist disbeliever.
Those who believe in God and see manifestly His work, they do understand that there is God and He maipulates nature as He pleases to warn His creatures, be it Gogand Magog or others, about His presence, His creation, His power and they should take heed!
How far can we consider either view as true or false? How real is either interpretation?
