Theos-Talk Archives (January 2005 Message tt00090)

Hey,

Had the day off today and en route back from a family visit listened to a call-in National Public Radio program. The theme was religious explanations of the tsunami disaster, and the more I listened the worse it got. A Muslim lady called in and said the disaster was God's method of reminding us who is in charge. A Hasidic Jew said that the tsunami fulfilled scriptural requirements for the advent of the Messiah. Some of the Christians were less nutty, but not all. The only sane response was from a Sinhalese Buddhist who (upon being asked the religious significance of the disaster) said that everything in life is impermanent and suffering is caused by our attachments-- no imaginary divine agenda invoked.

The insistence of many people on seeing a willful agenda behind a natural disaster made me think of people's needs for explanations. Seems like it doesn't matter if the explanation is ad hoc, irrational, horrifying-- that's still more satisfying than saying it's inexplicable or random.
A punishing God is still anthropocentric, whereas an Earth releasing pressure without any awareness of consequences to humanity deprives us of our special status.

This reminded me of various bizarre accusations I've received here about my own supposed agenda. Like most people, my conscious agenda in life consists of things like fulfilling responsibilities to work, family, and friends, or keeping up with whatever research or writing project occupies me at the moment-- all personal, short-term stuff. It used to feel deeply insulting when someone would make accusations such that I had an agenda of undermining the Theosophical movement, or harming the Adyar TS. (Posting about the latter's problems for a few minutes at a time, separated by intervals of months and *years* got translated into "constantly attacking the TS.") Henceforth I will regard it as perversely complimentary.

Why? Because anyone who could compose a reply to an Internet posting based not on "what I feel inspired to say to this person at this moment" but on a nefarious long-range plan to undermine a movement, harm an organization, serve a Dark Brotherhood, or uphold the Establishment, is a paragon of discipline, farsightedness, and perseverance. Never having been accused of such virtues in other contexts, I'll take them as compliments from angry Theosophists.

Seriously, I see the same mental gymnastics at work here as with the theodicy/theoidiocy of the Christians, Jews, and Muslims explaining away the tsunami as God's plan. People will come up with the most bizarre and twisted explanations in order to attribute happenstance to deliberate planning. Somehow they find comfort in that.

Paul