Christians Saved from Tsunami — I suspect this story is going to float around the net for awhile until someone clears it up without resorting to blogs citing blogs citing snopes citing other blogs. At least One Hand Clapping shows some healthy skepticism. The story does have all of the earmarks of an urban legend or a hoax the way I read it. You’ve got your email distribution. You’ve got the friend who told a friend. You’ve got an embedded political message. You’ve got the “I called and he said it was true!” And you have no first hand wintnesses coming forward with some lame reason that they have not come forward.
from the email:
They wanted to celebrate Christmas on December 25th but were not allowed to do so by the Muslims of Meulaboh. They were told if they wanted to celebrate Christmas they needed to go outside the city of Meulaboh on a high hill and they can celebrate Christmas there. Because the Christians desired to celebrate Christmas the 400 believers left the city on December 25th and after they celebrated Christmas they stayed overnight on the hill.
As we all know, in the morning of Sunday, December 26, 2004, there was the earthquake followed by the Tsunami waves destroying most of the city of Meulaboh and thousands were killed. The 400 believers were on the mountain and were all saved from destruction.
Now the Muslims of Meulaboh are saying that the God of the Christians punished them for forbidding the Christians from celebrating Christmas in the city. Others are questioning why so many Muslims died while not even one of the Christians died there.
I don’t care if it was true or not, doesn’t mean anything. Whether or not someone told the christians to go up a hill matters as much to me as piece toast with Jesus’s face on it.
John – do you *ever* check snopes.com ? that one has been on there for ages
I love that particular cartoon. It is one that I have sent to many o’ creationist. It neatly encapsulates their thought process.
I notice that the Christians are not making any mention of the thousands of Christians that were in fact located at other disaster locations throughout history. For example, are we to believe that there were no Christians in Thailand or any of the other areas hit by tsunamis? This is a common fallacy of only looking at the successes and not the failures.
That’s the reason for the post…the guy takes issue with Snopes on this.
God loves christians most. That’s why they never die from natural disasters. Ha.
How can I phrase this in language properly encompassing my feelings about organized religion?
John, do you have a policy, here, on profanity?
The miracle most commonly brought up in the media here afterwards [Western Europe] was that so many Mosques survived the tsunami.
So, if God really backs all teams, that could have dire theological consequences.
Earlier this month a mosque in Teheran burned down. 35 people were killed, and I’ve not seen a religious explanation for that yet.
It would definitely be fiction in Mohamad’s day, Mohamad would have just slayed the Christians on the spot if they didnt convert to islam..
So what. The Christians are saved from the tsunami so they can continue to adhere to dogma that ironically pulls them away from seeing “God”. I was brought up Catholic and from my experience of life I can unequivocally say that there is NO external, personal God. That’s not to say that there is no “Force” that IS. God, in the Christian sense, is a metaphor in the only way that people could understand it: a father figure. But if you increase your knowledge and understanding, I think you’ll come to the same conclusion that others like Albert Einstein make: there is no personal God. As far as the tsunami is concerned, it was a tragedy, but if someone is going to ask WHY, they should also ask WHY NOT? Why shouldn’t the Earth be allowed to shift her tetonic plates every now and then? If we are in the way, then get out of the way. The reason we don’t is because either we cannot or because we are willing to take that risk.
“the account being offered is not first-hand (that is, was written by someone who himself witnessed the event described). Indeed, it is at least fourth-hand….”
So, something which has been passed down through four or more people has become twisted into a Christian miracle. That sounds so familiar… ;->
I guess we got to the bottom of that now.
People screamin and makin all kinds of racket.
People want peace and quiet in this crazy world.
Let’s suppose this is a true story. As usual religious fanatics are missing the message! The Christians RESPECTED the wishes of another religion, and LEFT their town… Maybe for THAT they were spared, not other people punished.
But at the same time, I don’t believe it either… 400 people? No eyewitnesses? Yeah, I don’t think so unless X-Files is really involved!
You make a good point, Jenn! Theologically, that is. I could imagine a Muslim looking at it that way.
Christians aren’t the only one who think this way… its a human condition common to all religions. But not just the religious! In my observation, non-religious people do this too but with different terminology.
It’s part of our search for meaning… which become acute in the face of such a horrific disaster.
One thing that always baffled me about Christians is them claiming that God saved them for death. If you REALLY believe in heaven and the afterlife then you would want to die in a Tsunami. I mean – if you are the survivor then doesn’t it mean that God choose the others to be with him and rejected you?
The story is at odds with what has been reported by Fr. Fernando Severi, a Franciscan friar who, per his own testimony, celebrated Christmas in the Catholic chapel inside Meulaboh and was still present in the town, as were all the members of the local parish, when the tsunami struck the next day.
http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_meulaboh_christians.htm
“I love that particular cartoon. It is one that I have sent to many o’ creationist. It neatly encapsulates their thought process.”
You’re going to immediately think that I’m not on your side, but … of -course- it encapsulates their thinking process. (?) Duh. It does so without the bookend equations. IMO, it needs to be sent to astrophysicists for having thousands of ad hoc rationalizations for things that should fit into one neat formula. And do not. Oddly enough it’s ‘non-creationists’ who are using that value (pun) in their equations. “Step 1: steal the underpants, …………………….. , Step 3: Profit!” 😉
*