A Jehovah witness once came to my room then at University of Ibadan (UI). As usual they (The Jehovah witness always use the current event or issue to postulate their hypothesis. Then an earthquake just occurred and it killed about 300 people. His own arguments were that the earthquake was bad and that since God allowed such to happen, then Satan was in control of the world. And to be on the safe side you need to run Jesus for safety.

It baffles my mind that contrary to how it is outside the African continent; every occurrence is usually hijacked as an opportunity to canvass for religion in Nigeria. Having welcomed the Man I started sharing knowledge with him on why the earthquake may not be considered totally bad and why it has no religious connotation.
We are all walking everyday on the outside, flat part of the earth called lithosphere. Have you ever wondered why is it that though the earth is rotating and revolving on its axis yet we never have a situation that the lithosphere has never been turned upside down? And in that case there will be collapse of both living and non-living things.

The explanation is that the lithosphere is like ice block that is put in a cup of water. If an ice block is put in a cup of water it will float. The reason is that ice block is less dense that water. Imagine a big ice block in cup of water and a mosquito just perch on it, the insect is not going to be aware of the water underlying the block on which it perch. Just like the ice block that is put in a cup of water the lithosphere is resting on liquid crustal materials called asthenosphere. The significance of the asthenosphere be in liquid form is that we human beings and all other components in the lithosphere are spare the consequences of earth rotation and revolution. People that have worked on the rig will understand better what I am saying. You can play ball on the helipad of a semi sub rig despite the rig floating on water.

For the asthenosphere to continue to be in liquid form, heat must continuously be generated in the bowel of the earth. That is major usefulness of radioactive elements to mankind. As a result of radioactive decay, this heat is continuously being supplied.

When you eat food you go to toilet. Though your shit smell, you will agree with me that you cannot say which is more important between toilet and kitchen in a building. Likewise the excess energy that is being generated by these radioactive elements must be discharged. And when this heat escape through fractures you have what is called earthquakes if significant or tremor if minor.

The truth is that earthquake is part of the design of the earth and it had been occurring far back before Christ. We in Africa are very lucky that we are located on the craton and not close to major plates like the people in the developed world. The only alternative is for us to study our environment and learn how we can live in harmony with it. The white people know this hence they have instrument s called geophones to measure seismic energy. That will make them to know where and when earthquake is likely to occur.

Good evening sir,

And the moral of the story is...

HIV1: Then an earthquake just occurred and it killed about 300 people. [size=18pt]His own arguments were that the earthquake was bad and that since God allowed such to happen, then Satan was in control of the world. And to be on the safe side you need to run Jesus for safety[/size].

LMFAO!!!!

Was it not God who made Jesus in the first place? LOL!
So in otherwords God made us scared so forget him! Let's give all glory to a mortal who we don't even know for sure existed ESPECIALLY under that name?!

wow!

HIV1: [size=18pt]The truth is that earthquake is part of the design of the earth and it had been occurring far back before Christ.[/size]

Exactly. Everything in the Universe is made or serves its purpose accordingly to keep it all going (the cycle of life). What we see as devastation is really just part of life. We won't know for sure but the best thing we could do as you beautifully argued, is to attempt to understand it using LOGIC.

I agree with you that accepting religion does not mean one is enlightened.

...

@striktlimi
the moral aspect of the story is that God did not create this earth and everything in it by miracle. Understanding science makes one to appreciate God's work the more and be able to run away from fanatism
and dogmatism

@ op,let me start by correcting a notion here wit regards 2d asthenosphere. D asthenosphere which lies in d upper mantle is neva liquid bt in a plastic or molten state. As u may already kw,earthquakes serves a beneficial purpose cos its a natural occurrence. In areas most susceptibl 2earthquakes,ppl ar advised 2build wt earthquake resistant materials.moreso adv warnings ar given. Earthquakes ar a sign of d last days whc jehovahs witnesses preach abt. They let u kw dat u dnt hv 2quake bt u nid 2brace up nd draw closer 2God b4 He brings an end 2dis system. Pls dnt tink d witnesses aint enlightened nd dnt contradict their stand on natural dissasters whc is : Dat they ar NT PUNISHMENTS 4RM GOD.

@prof e.o.o I am surprised that you said one can build an earthquake resistant building. Then secondly fluidity property of an earthquake is what keeps earth going. If that fluidity property should be lost I and you will be dead. If you read your gospel very , there is no where they said earthquake had not been occuring in the past. It is only said that the number of earthquake will increase toward the endtime. And that is a sign that earth is ageing.

To sum it up...are you faulting their teaching?

HIV1: @prof e.o.o I am surprised that you said one can build an earthquake resistant building. Then secondly fluidity property of an earthquake is what keeps earth going. If that fluidity property should be lost I and you will be dead. If you read your gospel very , there is no where they said earthquake had not been occuring in the past. It is only said that the number of earthquake will increase toward the endtime. And that is a sign that earth is ageing.

Sure,u cn build wit earthquake resistant materials. Nt al buildings caved in in Haiti quale. If u're observant enuf,u wil notice dat it wasnt jst 1 earthquake dat has occurred over d last earthquakes,thr hv been series of it.matt 24:7 confirms it.JWs dnt tel u dat jst 1, marks d sign of d last days. Come out plain,wats ur fault wit d witnesses?