It makes no more sense to assume some people deserve their > illnesses than it does to assume some criminals deserve to get away with > their crimes just because they escape detection and justice.
Dr Chase, I agree with you wholeheartedly and please dont interpret what I am about to write as suggesting that people who get disease are incurring the "wrath of God" in any fundamentalist or ignorant sense. Clearly, though, many illnesses are incurred because of peoples choices. Most of the lifestyle habits- smoking, alcohol, drug use, sexual promiscuity...etc- that are at the core of our public health problems are also against "divine law". In a metaphorical sense, one could say that these diseases are "punishment" for people's actions, if we understand "punishment" to be what happens to you if you engage in activities that are outside the natural order. In this metaphorical sense, "divine" "reward" and "punishment" is embedded into the natural order of things. If we understand nature to be an expression of the Will of God, then we can also understand, in a metaphorical sense, that things which- by their nature- lead to disease and illness, as being the "wrath of God". It seems to me that there are passages in the Writings which do use terms like the "decree of God" or the "wrath of God" as being expressions of the natural order (which itself is an expression of the "will of God"). Kendal ---------- You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Baha'i Studies is available through the following: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://list.jccc.net/cgi-bin/lyris.pl?enter=bahai-st news://list.jccc.net/bahai-st http://www.escribe.com/religion/bahaist (public) http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] (public)
