Pirate Smoker

Theists claim that there is suffering in the world because God gave humans free will. But what about natural disasters? Millions and millions of innocent people have died as a result of earthquakes, volcanos, hurricanes, tidal waves, floods, avalanches, tornadoes, you name it.

I just don't see the point in God creating these and allowing them to happen... all they do is cause suffering and destruction.

<img src="graemlins/banghead.gif" border="0" alt="[Bang Head]" />

Darwin's Finch

Some people believe that natural disasters didn't happen before the Fall, that they are also the wages of sin.

Theli

So they are saying that no natural disasters occured before man? hehehe... That deserves some explaining...

i_am_the_head

No, it's true! The skies were always sunny, the birds were always chirping, and cute fluffy bunnies hopped around the Garden all day long.

&lt;scooby&gt;
And it would have stayed that way if it wasn't for that darned Eve!
&lt;/scooby&gt;

The mistake we make, of course, it to expect that if a theist explains to use how a world worked without natural disasters, that it will make any more sense than anything else they expect us to believe about their faith.

Mageth

Fascinating to think that eating an apple could kick off plate tectonics and global weather patterns...reminds me of those movies where someone kicks the wrong rock or pulls the wrong lever, and the whole temple comes crashing down.

lpetrich

A related belief is that all animals were vegetarian before the Fall, though I'm not sure how the numerous adaptations to meat eating were accounted for.

Megatron

Easy.

Satan created the predators after the fall and unleashed them upon the earth, since God's grip on perfection was broken when that blasted Eve ate that apple.

Of course, there weren't population problems with the game animals before that - they simply started reproducing at exponentially greater rates *after* the unleashing of the predators.

What neither the bible nor science tells you is there were more predators created after the fall than the great cats, wolves, and etc...

There were also gigantic sandworms, just like the ones in Dune. They ran amok for years and years, occasionally popping up to scare the living hell out of the populace (and Satan did cackle with glee...)

Their movements caused the divisions in the earth's surface, also causing plate tectonics.

Weather was created by the flood God unleashed upon the earth to smoke out the sandworms. Before that there was no rain or snow or wind.

Of course, God never told Noah what was really going on... after all, Noah had never really seen a sandworm attack, and would have just accused God of giving him a bullshit story as an excuse for genocide. God, knowing this, just cut the crap and told him it was an extermination process.

Now, I know what you're thinking, the rainbow and the covenant.

Well, when the sandworms die, they leave these tiny crystals. Those (crescent-shaped) crystals reflect light upward and in an arc. Another lame story by God told us that it was a symbol of his promise never to again flood the world. Really, it was just a bunch of carcasses. Again, Noah would have just thrown the bullshit flag here.

So that's why we have weather and earthquakes and natural disasters. Honestly, though, I'd rather have a tornado here and there than deal with big ass sandworms, wouldn't you?

(Now THAT is a bullshit story! )

[ January 16, 2002: Message edited by: Archangel ]</p>

Oolon Colluphid

Is that sarcasm?! That's what they show in JW tracts, so it must be true!

Cheers, Oolon

Theli

"There were also gigantic sandworms, just like the one in Beetlejuice. They ran amok for years and years, occasionally popping up to scare the living hell out of the populace (and Satan did cackle with glee...)"

The sandworms from Beetlejuice? No, they are too small. Let's instead say the sandworms from Dune, now THEY ARE BIG!

Very interresting (and insane) theory, you should go public with it. hehehe...

Megatron

Hahahaha.. Dune! Yes! (It's been so long I had nearly forgotten...) That's perfect!

&gt;edits his so-called-gospel and grins&lt;

(Hey, if the xians can do it with theirs... so can I! )