More than 2,000 people were killed in a devastating 6.3-magnitude earthquake and several strong aftershocks that struck northwest Afghanistan on Sunday. The UN humanitarian coordinator has approved a US$5 million emergency reserve allocation from the Afghanistan Humanitarian Fund (AHF).
Pakistan, Iran and China have also reportedly pledged to send food, blankets, medicines, tents and funds, according to Reuters news agency.

[This comes after Lybia and Morocco last month…]

From the book of the prophet Jonah (jon 1:1) (2:1.11)
This is the word of the LORD that came to Jonah, son of Amittai*[, “my truth” in hebrew, Jonah was swallowed by the whale, and the tenth chapter of the Quran is named after him]* :
“Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and preach against it ; their wickedness has come up before me.”

But Jonah made ready to flee to Tarshish away from the LORD. He went down to Joppa, found a ship going to Tarshish, paid the fare, and went aboard to journey with them to Tarshish, away from the LORD. [smiles in the audience, i.m.h.o.]

The LORD, however, hurled a violent wind upon the sea, and in the furious tempest that arose the ship was on the point of breaking up.
Then, the mariners became frightened and each one cried to his god.
To lighten the ship for themselves, they threw its cargo into the sea.

Meanwhile, Jonah had gone down into the hold of the ship, and lay there fast asleep.
The captain came to him and said, “What are you doing asleep ? Rise up, call upon your God ! Perhaps God will be mindful of us so that we may not perish.”

Then, they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots to find out on whose account we have met with this misfortune.”
So they cast lots, and thus singled out Jonah. [Ancient Greece was also among the civilizations believing that randomness was God’s choice, it’s at the very least Destiny/Fate’s choice, yet interpretation of God’s will is ‘more difficult’/impossible]
“Tell us”, they said, “what is your business ? Where do you come from ? What is your country, and to what people do you belong ?”
Jonah answered them, “I am a Hebrew, I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”

Now, the men were seized with great fear and said to him, "How could you do such a thing ! — They knew that he was fleeing from the LORD, because he had told them — They asked, “What shall we do with you, that the sea may quiet down for us ?” For the sea was growing more and more turbulent.
Jonah said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea, that it may quiet down for you ; since I know it is because of me that this violent storm has come upon you.”

Still, the men rowed hard to regain the land, but they could not, for the sea grew ever more turbulent.
Then they cried to the LORD : “We beseech you, O LORD, let us not perish for taking this man’s life ; do not charge us with shedding innocent blood, for you, LORD, have done as you saw fit.”
Then they took Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea’s raging abated.
Struck with great fear of the LORD, the men offered sacrifice and made vows to him.

But the LORD sent a large fish, that swallowed Jonah ; and Jonah remained in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
From the belly of the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD, his God.
Then the LORD commanded the fish to spew Jonah upon the shore.

From the Gospel according to Luke (Lk 10:25-37) :
There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test Jesus and said, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life ?”
Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law ? How do you read it ?”
He said in reply, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”
He replied to him, “You have answered correctly ; do this and you will live.”

But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor ?”
Jesus replied, "A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho.
They stripped and beat him and went off, leaving him half-dead.
A priest happened to be going down that road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
Likewise, a Levite came to the place, and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side.
But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion at the sight. He approached the victim, poured oil and wine over his wounds, and bandaged them. Then, he lifted him up on his own animal, took him to an inn, and cared for him.
The next day, he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction, ‘Take care of him. If you spend more than what I have given you, I shall repay you on my way back.’

Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers’ victim ?"
He answered, “The one who treated him with mercy”.
Jesus said to him, “Go, and do likewise.”

Al-Baqara(, “The Cow”), 2:243 :
Have you, O Prophet, not seen those who fled their homes in the thousands for fear of death ?
Allah said to them, “Die !”, then He gave them life.
Surely, Allah is ever Bountiful to humanity, but most people are ungrateful.
Fight in the cause of Allah, and know that Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.
Who will lend to Allah a good loan which Allah will multiply many times over? It is Allah ˹alone˺ who decreases and increases ˹wealth˺. And to Him you will ˹all˺ be returned. [It’s obvious once you understand how everything was/is/‘will always be’ connected to God, my/our/Our/the Lord, not praising H…er.im is irrational/‘for lost people’]
[The rest goes on to remind us how David vanquished Goliath by God’s Will. Hoping is good i guess…]

Saint of the day : St. John Henry Newman.

  • soumerd_retardataireOP
    02·
    1 year ago

    It’s always the same argument with atheists, can’t you say something different for once ?
    There were many answers along the centuries, but my favorite one these last years is that you’re effectively wishing for an already perfect world. Now i agree that it’s the goal, but once you reach perfection you can’t progress further, isn’t it good to be able to progress ?
    Furthermore, shouldn’t we be grateful that our current reality isn’t worse ? To take your example, children are naturally less susceptible to cancers and generally heal quicker.
    The overwhelming majority of the bad things you can think about is done by other humans, not by the natural laws.
    Also :
    Earthquakes are the sign of a healthy planet. Most parasites found a way to feed themselves without killing. Cancers are a byproduct of our cell’s abilities to evolve. Things aren’t perfect, but we can understand their causes and keep the good while rejecting the imperfections, and it’s a(n other) gift of God to have given us this opportunity for perfection/maximum(, in addition to the gift of existence, of ‘His presence’/‘the Presence’, and all the rest).

    Good people act like the samaritan, countries should do likewise and help each other, because ours is not the story of an ideology but of humanity(, with all their ideologies, helping each other despite their disagreements), our strength should be the strength of humanity, not of our nation/tribe, does this shift of mentality not seem a bit more close to what’s good/desirable ?
    I’m already off-topic so i’ll continue. We’re currently eating by killing, seems natural, so we imagine the world with the human as the “apex” ; however, this representation isn’t the only one, and would seem stupid/false in an other community living out of fruits from trees and vegetables, and chickens, that they aim to maintain in life as long as possible, especially if they’re in admiration/reliance/gratefulness towards their providers, instead of the superiority of the hunter towards its prey, it’d be weird to talk about being the apex predator, it’d be more about cooperation.
    The first slaves were non-humans, then more&more humans(, power->responsibility, it should be exerted usefully, we’re privileged), and afraid of what would happen if we lose our power in a world where everyone tries to dominate each other, everything is well as long as we impose our will(, at least for us), we’re mistaken/imperfect, it’s possible to have&help friends without any possible betrayal under the correct conditions/rules/counter-measures.

    Now that i’ve started( again), i’d like to add that i’m thinking about such things as :

    • Giving a part of ~Lousiana to palestinians in exchange for Israel(, with other details such as giving 1% of the incomes of every country for a year to the palestinians, …) ;
    • Stopping our own growth and helping other countries to reach the same standard of living as us(, ending definitively (neo-)colonialism by making them as powerful(, per inhabitant,) as us) ;
    • Enacting efficient laws to put an end to the too numerous “external negativities” ;
    • … ;
    • And at the same time making sure that our good will won’t ever be possibly betrayed if we thought of enough possibilities(, it won’t be easy and would need to be tested as extensively as possible, but that’s an important part obviously, otherwise we’ll just give our place to someone else and it’d be the rule of the strongest once again).