1. Some Thoughts on "Post-9/11" by P. Adam Caroll
This article discusses the difficulties in a religious community in relation to coordinating help in the wake of a disaster. The author argues that the "attacks on Muslims in the media" as well as the divisions among many muslims within the community relating to social issues, create a difficult environment for Muslims to function as a unit in post-9/11 society.
2. THE TSUNAMI TRAGEDY; Divine Fury or Human Folly? by Chandra Muzaffar
The author argues that "...our inability to nurture a religiously-inspired understanding of science, a knowledge that is holistic and integrated, is one of the indirect causes of the tsunami tragedy." The main point of the article is that the areas most affected by the Tsunami (namely Sumatra and Sri Lanka had a history of earthquakes and should have had a tsunami warning system in place, but as a result of the lacking integration of science and religion, it was deemed unnecessary. Furthermore, considering that most of the people affected by the tsunami were either children or poor, the author argues against religious significance in the disaster, asking "...what abominable vices did these children commit?"
3. A Chronic Technical Disaster and the Irrelevance of Religious Meaning: The Case of Centralia, Pennsylvania by J. Stephen Kroll-Smith and Stephen Robert Couch
The authors detail an underground coal mine fire and examine the lack of a response from the religious community in the area. They argue that due to the highly technical nature of the disaster, and coupled with the fact that it was undeniably caused and subsequently abated by humans, a general acceptance of a "technical, not moral or religious, definition of the problem."
I found the second author's arguments to be very compelling. It seems as if the Sri Lankan society was almost contradicting itself by relying on religion alone to keep them safe but then not being able to use religion as an explanation for why the disaster occurred. This pattern seems to be repeated throughout history in the wake of unforeseen natural disasters.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious as to how you plan on linking the three articles. You could literally write an entire paper on the arguments of the first article, but I like that you're trying to get a much broader spectrum on religion and disaster. I guess you would be looking at it's role as a scapegoat maybe?
ReplyDeleteAll of these sources seem to be enthralling, but the one that caught my attention was the second source. This seems like a very compelling sociological study that really hits home on the topic of religious-based disaster theory. The quote about the children really affected me because that brings up a really solid point: would the "sins" committed by children really be enough to evoke the wrath of god onto them in the form of a natural disaster? I am kind of jealous that I am not writing about these sources but I applaud you for finding them before I did!
ReplyDeleteYou have some very interesting sources here! It would be interesting to know how these are going to connect!
ReplyDeleteI'm also curious how you will connect these sources too. For 9/11, you seem to say that this tragic event caused some discourse or less unity in the Muslim world and the second source questions the actions of God. What is your argument?
ReplyDeleteI think these three articles are extremely interesting. You touch on a very sensitive topic so I am excited to see how your essay turns out.
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