Unnatural Disasters

It’s hurricane season where I live and maybe where you live too, and maybe even where hurricanes hit once in a hundred years. (Prayers continue for Western North Carolina.) The impact of natural disasters is shown almost every day on television and other news sources.

And yet, it occurs to me that some natural disasters are a result of our own human choices: building homes too close to the ocean, campfire carelessness, refusal to use the scientific knowledge God has given us to monitor earthquakes and tornados, climate change caused by burning fossil fuels and farming livestock. (Note: I personally love my car and meat but there are consequences.)

Sometimes “natural disasters” are a consequence of the unnatural choices we make – e.g. decisions which don’t align with God’s intentions. To choose greed, betrayal, selfishness, and ignorance are just a few examples. God did not create us to be greedy, to betray each other, to be selfish, to be intentionally ignorant.

Such choices inflict unnatural disaster upon individuals and families and – in Church World – whole congregations. And at the risk of sounding sexist, consider the findings of Carol Gilligan in her classic study about how men and women differ in terms of decision-making.

“When Gilligan asked women, “How would you describe yourself?” she found that women define who they are by describing relationships. Men defined themselves by separation, or the use of “I” statements.“

I’m hoping this is changing, but if campaigns to bolster hegemonic masculinity continue to thrive, then male people might continue to think first in terms of “I” and “me.” I would hope, instead, that most men would consider others before they make big decisions. “Is this choice good for my kids?” “Is this option the best for my partner?” “Is this course of action going to benefit my neighbors?” “Is this business decision good for the earth?“

Basically – and I know this is a simplification of complicated situations – will my choice result in an unnatural disaster? We also call choices that result in disaster “sin.”

Sometimes in life, there are tough calls we have to make. But such decisions are easier when we consider their impact on other people. “This is going to be good for me. Is it going to be good for other people?“