By: Don Caldwell
Do you believe recent natural disasters re a sign from God?
Excerpts Italicized:
A recent poll conducted shows that about 4 in 10 Americans believe that natural disasters are a sign from God.
When Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara called the massive earthquake and tsunami in Japan tembatsu -- or "divine judgment" -- he expressed a kind of theological cause and effect shared by nearly 40 percent of Americans.
Ishihara later apologized for his remarks. But a recent poll from the Public Religion Research Institute and Religion News Survey shows some support for his original sentiment: 16 percent of Americans agree that natural disasters are a sign from God, while 22 percent mostly agree.
A slight majority -- 51 percent -- disagreed natural disasters are a sign from the Almighty. Yet a slightly larger majority, 56 percent, said they believe God is in control of everything that happens in the world.
In a way, the poll examined the age-old philosophical dilemma: "If God is good, why is there so much disaster, tragedy and pain in the world?"
If you do believe that these disasters are a sign from God, then what do you believe God is so displeased with that such punishment would come? Do you think your actions are also to blame for this? If God were standing right next to you, do you think that he would be proud of your actions? One can obviously answer “yes” to how important family is in our daily lives, or that a husband should be conscious to showing your wife how much you love her (or to one’s children).
Have you done anything today that would make God proud?
Have you done anything today that shows him that you love him?
People ask “if God is good, why is there so much disaster, tragedy and pain in the world?”. Perhaps pain and suffering are one of the greatest of the gifts God has given us. You cannot recognize the light without the dark. We can never appreciate anything without the absence of it. If we were born into heaven, would we appreciate anything? Would we be like spoiled selfish people, content in getting everything we ever wanted? We spend a short lifetime in this life experiencing joys and hardships everyday,. Would the suffering we experience in this life help us to appreciate a billion years of joy in heaven?
Is that a small price to pay?
In the end, is it worth it?
(ORIGNAL LINK) Poll: Nearly 4 in 10 Americans Say Natural Disasters Sign from God - FoxNews.com
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