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God or Greenhouse?

Entry 229, on 2005-09-26 at 17:39:34 (Rating 4, News)

The hurricane season in the US looks like the worst ever, and the damage caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in particular has been terrible to watch. So the question becomes: why have the hurricanes been so numerous and caused so much damage this year?

I've heard a few theories on the subject, from various people with different backgrounds of belief. At one extreme is the scientific view, which is based on real evidence but still not completely confirmed, that global climate change (sometimes inaccurately referred to as global warming or the greenhouse effect) is at least partly responsible. At the other end of the spectrum of opinion is the idea that the hurricanes are God's retribution for the evil of the people involved.

The fact the southern states are amongst the most religious areas of the western world is interesting. Surely there are other areas more in need of punishment. Blaming God for a natural event is just lazy, really. Its like saying "I can't be bothered really thinking about this, so let's just invent an answer which can't really ever be checked".

For an example of this logic (or lack of) think about it this way. There are too many hurricanes, so God is mad. There are less hurricanes than normal, we must praise God for his kindness. God has sent a hurricane, we must pray to him to make it go somewhere else. So why did he send it in the first place? Its all part of the pathetic lack of thinking most religious people exhibit. Honestly, if I heard one more inhabitant of New Orleans praise God for saving them I was going to have to destroy the TV! Excuse me, but didn't God send the hurricane to start with?

So what about the alternative of global climate change? In some ways its simple justice that the US is punished for being the planet's biggest polluter, but its the poor and innocent who suffer, not the corrupt industrialists and politicians, so that is really not a fair way to look at it.

It does seem that the American people are starting to see how they've been lied too by their leaders, and the protest in Washington yesterday shows that feeling against the current administration is growing. Its primarily against the war in Iraq, of course, but the hurricanes have also shown how a tiny fraction of the money spent on that war could have been invested in repairing the levees and saved the city of New Orleans.

Maybe some good will come of this disaster and the American people will elect a sensible leader in future who is prepared to invest in the things that really matter like looking after the country he leads and doing something about environmental issues.

Comment 1 (118) by MD on 2005-09-30 at 16:52:49:

Do you think its fair making fun of people who have just had their homes destroyed by a hurricane? Aren't you a nice person!

Comment 2 (119) by OJB on 2005-09-30 at 17:55:30:

OK, whatever. I wasn't really meaning to make fun of them in particular, it was more just pointing out how silly religious belief is, because its so untestable. Anything can confirm your religious beliefs, if you really want it to.

Comment 3 (120) by Grav on 2005-10-06 at 22:32:09:

MD said: "Do you think its fair making fun of people who have just had their homes destroyed by a hurricane? Aren't you a nice person!"

I don't think this blog entry makes fun of the victims at all. That's a completely unfair comment.

Comment 4 (122) by SBFL on 2005-10-08 at 15:09:26:

OJB said: "just pointing out how silly religious belief is, because its so untestable."

OJB should pick up some history books and find out about people who have had the faith tested to the extreme by ignorant nutters like himself. Every time of course it only makes the faith stronger.

Comment 5 (123) by OJB on 2005-10-09 at 08:20:50:

I'm totally aware that people continue in their religious belief whatever the circumstances. This could be looked on as a great thing: they have faith. Or it could be looked on as extreme stupidity: God's non-existence is continually demonstrated, yet they still believe. Naturally I would tend to believing the second.

As far as the comment "ignorant nutters" is concerned. I really don't think there is any justification for that. If there is, let's hear your reasons. And the only way I test peoples' faith is to point out that their beliefs have nothing to do with the facts. Is there something wrong with that?

I'll finish with one of my favourite quotes (not sure who originally made it): "Faith is believing something even when you know its not true."

Comment 6 (144) by Anonymous on 2005-11-17 at 03:30:02:

Anyone who says that god cannot possibly exist and it has been disproved is ignorant. This is purely from a scientific perspective.

"Once the impossible is eliminated, whatever remains, however unlikely, is possible."

Claiming god's existence has been disproved is stupid, considering that most religions do not consider their god to be material.

Comment 7 (150) by OJB on 2005-11-17 at 10:07:14:

Actually, I do accept your point. I probably went too far if I suggested god has been completely disproved. The Christian god described in the Bible has been shown to be incredibly unlikely, but nothing can ever be totally disproved.

Whether a god is material, or not, doesn't really matter. All the gods I know of interact with the physical world, so their presence can still be demonstrated that way. Except, that, when we do the tests, it isn't!

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