Nepal

[wildwood]

This is a serious question.

Could any of the religious AB members please explain in words that I can understand or without pasting lengthy gibberish tomes, why their Almighty has seen fit to kill over 2000 people in Nepal?

[hc4361]

I have just listened to a Nepalase expert and he says he is very surprised the number of fatalities is not much, much higher.

[mikey4444]

HC...I have just listened to the News at One, and it was said that the death toll will certainly rise over the next few days, when cholera develops amongst other nasties.

[hc4361]

He thought there would be at least 10k fatalities at this stage.

[jennyjoan]

Wildwood - I don't post on R&S but I recall many years ago in work when there were disasters in the world then a colleague said that she believed they happened to reduce the population of the world as the world is over-populated.

Not only Nepal, the 800 migrants that drowned and other recent disasters - so sad.

[mikey4444]

Jenny...did your colleague say who or what gave the order to kill these people ?

[jennyjoan]

it's a long time mikey but I think she believed in the Universe controlling these things - again too long ago for me to remember the conversation.

[mikey4444]

Jenny...I have been you, the conversation wouldn't have proceeded for very long !

[Khandro]

jenny; Your friend may have believed in the Gaia theory;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaia_hypothesis

[Old_Geezer]

Ah but Mikey; is your God not Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, as it had the supreme power to create everything in the universe ? So would you consider yourself religious because of this irrational belief of not being able to know both values of a pair of variables at once, and thus everything is possible and must be ?

Keep the faith. Religion is a special category.

[Khandro]

Quite so OG! there's also Pascal to consider; according to Pascal, one cannot come to the knowledge of God’s existence through reason alone, so the wise thing to do is to live your life as if God does exist because such a life has everything to gain and nothing to lose. If we live as though God exists, and He does indeed exist, we have gained heaven. If He doesn’t exist, we have lost nothing. If, on the other hand, we live as though God does not exist and He really does exist, we have gained only hell and have lost heaven. :0)

[naomi24]

Khandro, If God exists and, as the faithful claim, knows the secrets of all hearts, then Pascal was an idiot who is now in hell.

Mikey, religion and spirituality are not necessarily synonymous. Religion is defined by its teachings; spirituality is a personal attribute that I believe everyone possesses – even if they’re unaware of it.

[jomifl]

The problem with Pascal's wager is that if you behave as if god exists you will create hell on earth, whether or not you end up in hell. Whereas if you assume that god doesn't exist then there is some hope (religious nutters notwithstanding) that the world you live in might become half decent, whether or not you end up in hell. Sometimes philosophers can be too clever for their own (and other's) good.

[keyplus90]

“Words that I can understand”.

I am not sure what words you would or would not understand but the simplest answer is that Almighty is telling you that this world can end in an instance for you and therefore think and act upon what the purpose of your life is in this world. Think and act as you may not have the next breath.

[Khandro]

jomifl; The bells of hell go ting-a-ling-a-ling, for you but not for me (and Blaise) :0)

[RATTER15]

Keyplus, please stop trying to tell us that you know why the earthquake happened, you dont!!

It was a natural phenomena, nothing more, nothing less! absolutely nothing to do with sky wizards!!

[naomi24]

Keyplus, //Think and act as you may not have the next breath.//

You live your whole life thinking about death. How sad.

[naomi24]

What with Khandro’s ‘hell’s bells’ and Keyplus’ doom laden thoughts, isn’t religion miserable? Just a passing thought.

[ludwig]

// Think and act as you may not have the next breath. //

I do. Not wasting any precious time on religious nonsense is a big part of that.

[vulcan42]

\\Think and act as you may not have the next breath.//
And therein lies insanity.

[Khandro]

I think keyplus' point isn't at all "doom-ladened" or "insane" it means living at the moment, It’s one of the foundations of Zen Buddhism, (actually all Buddhism), it’s more being aware of your actions and thoughts, and what your senses experience in your every day routine.
'Living at the moment' is much harder than you might think, - though young children seem to do it with ease, - a lesson for us all! :0)