Why are humans compelled to ask 'why' after natural disasters?

Question

Do disasters bring people closer to god and turn more people away from god?

Answer 1

I think we are in disbelief, and that if there is a God, how could this happen to His people? Depending on your beliefs, it could bring you closer to God if you live a life of faith. If you have no faith or very limited faith it may turn you further away from God.

Answer 2

People ask why any time there is a great tragedy of any kind. They wonder how something so terrible and random can happen. Some people blame God, others turn to Him in prayer. Sometimes there are contributing factors that cause the event, even when it's seemingly random (natural disasters resulting from global warming, the effect of our polluting the planet for instance? This is the warmest winter I've ever seen. I live in Canada. It's January & we've barely seen snow. Then I heard that ice floes are melting in the arctic. If the ice up north melts & water levels rise, then anyone close to water is in danger. Expect more floods, typhoons, etc. Then there are always earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes etc etc.) Nature is beautiful but is an awesome power & often unpredictable. If we continue to destroy the planet however, we can predict that we will pay the price.

Answer 3

Humans are compelled to ask "why" about anything and everything, not just disasters. Why does the sun rise in the morning? Why do we have a progression of seasons? Why does 2 + 2 = 4? Why are koppites gobshites?

For an awful lot of questions we have answers and so they don't trouble us in daily life. We've already sorted out and explained those phenomena. When a natural disaster comes along that is something new and unusual - we haven't answered it yet and so we must.

Answer 4

humans are compelled to ask why because they want to know if anything they did could have stopped whatever happened. i think its a good thing that people ask why because it helps to avoid making the same mistakes twice (although being only human, we usually forget and make the mistakes)
disasters bring people closer and farther away from god because all people are different.
people that feel like someone else need to be blamed and cannot get over the past tend to reject god when something bad happens. they feel that god is threatening them and punishing them for something they don't deserve.
people that become closer to god through crises are generally more insecure or have more faith and are less angry

Answer 5

They cannot understand God does not look after us. On the other hand, they sort of project their personal experience based on free will and determination (which are human qualities) into mother nature, which is an entity that has no goals or objectives at all (mother nature is blind in this). There is of course a cause for things to happens but these causes would be of a different sort than the ones that impel human beings to produce things or prevent failure. The divinity might exist after all, but I am pretty sure it does not look after us.

Answer 6

People are entertained by such events. People use these events to raise money and or their status. It becomes a celebrate show and tell. God makes it natural. Mankind makes it a disaster.

Answer 7

Methinks, natural disasters remind one of the uncertainity and brevity of life and force to ask it with a Why, and Why not certainity and longevity.

Theism assures it with the later in heaven; atheism with neither, but "nature is omniscient but blind."

Answer 8

Humans are just like any other animal, we like stability. And when something is not normal we are not happy and want to solve it. But of course we can't

Answer 9

The real "why" they're unconsciously asking is:

"Why was I taking my life and the lives of my loved ones for granted all this time?"

Trauma creates a substantial and sudden revision of values and gestalt.

Answer 10

Human nature.
Part of our psyche.