Shaking Things Up

The 1755 Lisbon earthquake remains one of the most devastating in recorded history more than 250 years after it wreaked havoc on Portugal. According to Wikipedia, the death toll from that quake has been estimated at around 50,000. The city of Lisbon was basically flattened, as was the surrounding countryside and much of northern Morocco. Innumerable irreplaceable works of art, book collections and historic documents were consumed in the fires that followed.

I thought of the Lisbon quake while reading the news about the earthquake that recently hit Turkey and Syria. Last I read, the death toll from that quake exceeds 45,000, and will no doubt go higher. As with the Lisbon quake, the property damage is extensive, taking in such major locales as the Gaziantep and Kahramanmaraş Provinces in Turkey (home to approximately 3.4 million people). Historic buildings were leveled, and ancient artifacts destroyed. *

The level of the destruction caused by the Turkey earthquake was not what suggested the Lisbon quake. That came when I read a report about the Turkish rescue workers yelling “Allah Akbar”, generally translated as God is Great, whenever they pulled a survivor out of the rubble. Immediately my cynical western mind began to wonder whether those being rescued felt the same. While I sure they were happy to be alive, they were likely facing the loss of family and friends, not to mention most of their possessions. They may agree that God is “great”, as in powerful, but would they think God is “good” considering those losses?

The Lisbon quake sparked that very question. It has been cited as a catalyst for the enlightenment, especially it’s reevaluation of religious beliefs. Voltaire in particular was moved by the devastation of the quake to dispute accepted notions of God’s goodness. His searing satire, Candide, mercilessly skewered the notion that God was a benevolent creator who must have made this “the best of all possible worlds”, as posited by Gottfried Leibniz. He was branded an atheist and a heretic, but the question remained.

This question was dramatized in the 2008 movie “God on Trial”, based on an Elie Wiesel play. In that film internees at Auschwitz debate whether God has broken his covenant with the Jewish people in allowing the Germans to commit genocide. They first pose the generally accepted answer that God must allow people to choose actions that lead to horrible results because of the importance of human freedom of will, but ultimately reject that platitude as unsatisfactory. They continue the debate, ultimately concluding that no, God is not good. Faced with that conclusion, and the question of what to do next, they begin to pray. It is a powerful moment.   

More recently, the Oscar nominated movie “Women Talking”, raised the same issue. In this film, women in a Mennonite-like community have been subjected to horrendous sexual abuse from the men of the commune. They have been instructed by the male leaders that it is their religious duty to forgive the seemingly unforgivable. They debate whether to submit or leave. Though it is not stated as starkly as in God on Trial, underlying the entire discussion is the question of how this could happen in a supposed God-centered community. They are debating not only a pragmatic choice, but the core of their religious beliefs, and their concepts of God.

The ultimate discussion of this question is in the biblical book of Job, arguably the most powerful book in the Jewish and Christian canon. What distinguishes Job is that here God actually responds to the charges. Job is a prosperous farmer known for his piety. “The Adversary”, often translated as Satan, suggests that Job is pious only because he has significant material and personal assets. God gives Satan permission to strip away everything that Job has (family, wealth, health) to see if he still retains his faith.

Job’s neighbors suggest that Job must have done something to deserve the misery that God inflicted upon him, but Job will have none of that. He proclaims his innocence and piety, and we know from the earlier discussion between God and the Adversary that he speaks the truth. It is therefore left for God to speak in his own defense.

God’s answer to Job goes on for over 125 verses. It is hard to read without thinking that the deity doth protest too much. The diatribe is a testament to God’s power, which has not been questioned. It is not, however, a justification of the use of that power to injure an innocent man, unless you buy that might makes right.

Soren Kierkegaard tackled this dilemma by proclaiming the gap between the religious and ethical as a paradox. There is no rational reason that can bridge the gap. It is an absurdity that cannot be reconciled except by a leap of faith. Any search for an explanation is a waste of time, missing the point.    

Job certainly takes this leap of faith. In response to God’s litany Job repents, though it is unclear what he is repenting of, and returns to unquestioningly worshiping God**. This is, to some extent, also the response in “God on Trial” and “Women Talking”. The Jewish internees return to prayer, and the women continue to praise God, even though neither group can reconcile what has happened to them.

I think this attitude explains to a large extent the exultant cry of the Turkish rescuers. They may well understand the religious conundrum they face, just as Job did. However, they have elected to retain faith despite questions that cannot be answered. Most likely many of those pulled from the rubble adopted this same attitude and rejected the Voltairean cynicism as well.

As a child of the enlightenment, it is not so easy for me. The rational predominates. If I cannot explain it, I cannot accept it. I struggle to reconcile the response of Job. I struggle to see any greatness or goodness in these earthquakes, the holocaust or the fate of the women in “Women Talking”. And yet, I appreciate those who maintain a faith that can withstand the worst that can be thrown at them. I respect their steadfastness; I just don’t understand it.

This is just one of those never-ending questions that will plague man forever. There is no right answer, or right response. Maybe you react like the Jewish internees and continue to pray. Or maybe, like Voltaire, you deride the entire notion of goodness in the world. Each of us must decide on our own. As Friedrich Nietzsche said, “When you look into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you”.

*Some accounts suggested that part of the reason that the devastation in Turkey was so extensive was because of Turkey’s notoriously lax building code enforcement. Just saying.

**Job’s wealth and family is restored in a way that seems to suggest that spouses (or at least wives) and children are as fungible as camels and sheep. Somewhat cringeworthy in my book.