Japan – How Should We Respond?

The suffering caused by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan is difficult to comprehend.

The CNN Belief Blog asked some prominent voices with different views on religion how they make sense of such suffering, where they see inspiration amid destruction and how they respond to people who wonder, “How could God let this happen?”

I was struck by what Sam Harris had to say …

Either God can do nothing to stop catastrophes like this, or he doesn’t care to, or he doesn’t exist. God is either impotent, evil, or imaginary. Take your pick, and choose wisely.

Certainly, I’ve heard this argument before. That is not the point of my post today but I can’t help but include a response below.

The only sense to make of tragedies like this is that terrible things can happen to perfectly innocent people. This understanding inspires compassion.

On this point, I’d like to agree. Obviously, Mr. Harris and I disagree over the meaning of the word innocent but I don’t want to get into that discussion. The people in Japan did not deserve that disaster any more than I do – and that’s the point. We are all in the same boat. We should be moved to compassion.

Religious faith, on the other hand, erodes compassion. Thoughts like, “this might be all part of God’s plan,” or “there are no accidents in life,” or “everyone on some level gets what he or she deserves” – these ideas are not only stupid, they are extraordinarily callous. They are nothing more than a childish refusal to connect with the suffering of other human beings. It is time to grow up and let our hearts break at moments like this.

This is the part that hit me the hardest. Christians can be incredibly callous. I’ve written about this before. World events often lead to discussions of “end times” and the will of God and too seldom lead to the real question – “how should the church respond?”

We should use this time to sort out what we can do to help the people of Japan.

NOTE: The argument is finely crafted to sound right but the fallacy is obvious in the second choice. Mr. Harris has passed moral judgement on God in his second choice. I agree that there are only three possibilities, but I would describe them differently. Either God can’t stop the catastophe, he doesn’t stop it, or he doesn’t exist. Those of us that believe God exists and that He is omnipotent must choose the second. This is a difficult question to ponder. Mr. Harris and others make this choice impossible by framing it as evil. We should presume we are smart enough or wise enough to pass that kind of judgement.