The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1902-06-11
Moral Aspect of Great Disasters.

/ The great earthquake at Lisbon va.
followed, it IS said, by wave Of
atheism, directly attributable to III
shock that religious impulse rcc.;v
cd as result Of the apparently ,nean
inglcss desola,ion arising from that
disaster. Pliny, too, noticed this
same spasm Of rebellion as an instant
effect Of the overwhelming of Pompeii.
Without inquring too closely into
cause and effect in that particular case,
it may be admitted generally that a
vast catastrophe beyond, or seemingly
beyond, the power Of human preven-
tion awakens in many earnest minds
serious misgivings as to the bencfi
cence Of things, and tends to shatter
conventional faith. The appalling
events that have taken place in the
West Indies, involving total loss of
life approaching perhaps fifty thous-
and persons under conditions of agony
and despair from which the heart
turns il sickness, are events that hold
the attention Of the most callous, and
turn the mind of the thinker to the
foundations Of his belief.
If the superbest manifestations Of
human nature are involved in the at
tainmcnt of empire over the forces
that are exhibited in the working Of
natural laws, then it would appear to
be the mere negation of reason to say
that because terrible pain and loss and
vicarious suffering are involved in the
conflict there can be no God, or that
if there be one lie is either not all
powerful or not wholly moral. 1t is
not necessary to solve the mystery
and apparent cruelty Of vicarious suf-
fering in order to justify the ways Of
God with man. 1t is by results that
man is able to justify to himself the
sufferings Of this present world. He
is appalled, and Mortified that the flow
ing fire Of Mont Pelee should have
fallen upon the just and upon the un-
just; that innocent babes and sanity
men aud women should have been
overwhelmed in the company of the
sinners of the fated city.
But with reflection the judgment
modifies. We do not know, though
knowing human nature we may sur
mise, what acts of sublime heroism,
what deeds Of noble repentance, may
have taken place in those dreadful
minutes of destruction, but we know
that disaster of this kind will set
science to devise warnings and safe
guards thst will render life among
volcanic ranges safer; and we do
know that already the thrill of sym
pathy through the world is awakening
self sacrifice, and is drawing together
in joint effort for the sufferers alien
races embittered by clashing ambi-
lions and the sound Of war. Thus,
even applying the slight test Of near
results, we see, in this extreme case,
that the passion for humanity need
not hopelessly descend to the denial
of God.
II this Is so, we may surely affirm
the moral aspect Of every act Of God.
In word, we have no more cause to
deny the existence of God because Of
great aud violent catastrophe than
we have when when a swollen stream
browns home-going laborer on dark
night. The difference is not in kind,
but only in degree. Nor, again, if we
can trust God purpose in the small
er mutations Of life, is there eng suf-
icient reason to doubt in the shock Of
earthquake? If we are to turn mater
ialists, we must find better reason
than that conveyed when death is
simultaneous, sudden, painful, terrific
and NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. Specta-