Aug 24, 2011 -- 1:09PM, shantijames wrote:

Aug 24, 2011 -- 12:56PM, Merope wrote:

Apparently, both the Washington Monument and the National Cathedral in DC sustained a fair amount of seismic/structural damage.  The Washington Monument is closed until further notice.  The National Cathedral (which lost some finials from one (or more?) of its pinnacles and sustained damage to one or more of its flying buttresses) is closed to visitors until further notice.

Damage to the flying buttresses is troubling because one church in San Francisco that suffered significant damage in the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989 added flying buttresses as part of the church's seismic retrofitting in the wake of the quake.  I suspect, though, that San Francisco's seismic standards are higher than those in DC.  And I know the National Cathedral's buttresses are much older than those at the SF church in question.

 

hello guys

I feel already lots of earht changes coming. Humanity needs to be back with God. God will teach us, He is the only Power.
Humanity has a hard time to learn.
 We keep on doing the same things and always get the same result.
 We need to try Love as a solution.
 The problem with humanity is that, "humanity can not get out of its selfishness".

Dot, as always, good points.

The whole business regarding devotion to God = no earthquakes (or other calamity) makes no sense to me.  It sets up some to be victims while others receive benefit through no action on their part.  Thus it makes better sense to be non-devout.  At least one gets Sundays
off if they are.

What if not quite enough people are devout and earthquake-causing deity is displeased?  Then those who are devout suffer earthquakes, etc. along with the non-believers.  Is that fair?  If so, I’d say that deity is rather vindictive.   

And if there are just enough devout people to please a deity, then those who are not devout get a
free calamity-free ride.  How fair is that?

IF the implication here is that 100% must be devout, then where is free will? What kind of deity
wants worship via coercion?

Irene.

Aug 24, 2011 -- 1:56PM, Merope wrote:

Aug 24, 2011 -- 1:21PM, DotNotInOz wrote:

I'd love an explanation for how devotion to God is going to prevent earthquakes.

There were earthquakes just the same in the very structured society of the U.S. in the 1950's when the economy was in good shape, church attendance was high, divorce infrequent, single mothers rare and "gay" meant happy.

Ditto for the Victorian era which had to have been one of the most straitlaced in U.S. history, and so forth...etc.

I think these are very good points.

I'm a person of faith but I don't agree that God is sending earthquakes as punishment or chastisement.  I think the 'call' (if you will, from a faith-based standpoint) in any earthquake - and I don't believe God "sends" any earthquake - is manifold:  A call for us to to discover more about how our earth works, how to better predict earthquakes, how to better seismically retrofit and build so that we can better withstand earthquakes, and how to better equip our emergency responses so that we can better handle the ensuing disasters from devastating quakes.

The earth is what it is.  As a person of faith - and also from a purely secular standpoint - I think we need to learn to - and learn how to be prepared to - live on better terms with our earth.

Thanks for the compliment, Merope...ditto back atcha. Excellent points from a faith-based perspective.

Why anyone would regard this relatively minor earthquake as signaling that people need to become more devout is beyond me anyway.

Californians are chuckling about Easterners' panic. This was a toddler earthquake at best. When they get a partying-teenager one, THEN they'll know what an earthquake is.

Aug 24, 2011 -- 1:56PM, Merope wrote:

I'm a person of faith but I don't agree that God is sending earthquakes as punishment or chastisement.  I think the 'call' (if you will, from a faith-based standpoint) in any earthquake - and I don't believe God "sends" any earthquake - is manifold:  A call for us to to discover more about how our earth works, how to better predict earthquakes, how to better seismically retrofit and build so that we can better withstand earthquakes, and how to better equip our emergency responses so that we can better handle the ensuing disasters from devastating quakes.

The earth is what it is.  As a person of faith - and also from a purely secular standpoint - I think we need to learn to - and learn how to be prepared to - live on better terms with our earth.

Hear, hear!

As a person of faith, I believe that God calls me to remind all of you -- ALL OF YOU, whether you live in an earthquake zone or not -- to STORE DRINKING WATER.

Yes, I know I'm shouting.  Like a mother who sees her children getting too close to a cliff, I will shout this warning.  It's too important to be quiet about.

STORE DRINKING WATER!  It's absolutely necessary for life, more important to your survival than food or even shelter. 

If you live near a natural source of non-polluted water, you can store water treatment tablets (found in the camping section) or sulfites (found in any wine-making or beer-brewing store).  Protect them from moisture, of course, and make sure that they are stored where you will be able to find them even if your home has collapsed.  (The trunk of your car is usually a good place.)

Remember:  you will die in three days without water.  You need a minimum of half a gallon (or two liters) per day.

Please, all you lovely, thinking people:  STORE DRINKING WATER!

Love,

-- Claudia