Pandemic / CV-19 & Religion

[bulletjournalbilly]

Apologies if this has been covered.

I am interested in how people of faith interpret this pandemic?

Is it considered an act of God?

I'm struggling to understand if there is a God then how can you believe!?

I just can't get my head around it.

TIA

People will spin it whichever way is necessary to provide comfort or avoid undermining existing beliefs. Like anything else.

I don't believe it was an act of God.

I believe that God created a wonderful world for us and we've slowly destroyed it. God didn't create the wet markets, people did. I believe that God doesn't want us to suffer so I don't think this is an act of God.

Of course, my interpretation may not be the same as everyone else's.

I believe that God doesn't want us to suffer so I don't think this is an act of God.

So if you believe in God why isn't he "fixing the suffering"

I believe he has given us the tools to "fix it". How governments allocate money to health services etc is a human decision. I think God operates in a magic wand waving type way. I know lots of people will think that's a load of rubbish and and I'm trying to make my belief system fit the situation and that's fine for them to think that. This is just how I interpret my beliefs and my Christianity.

From what I understand, fixing it involves staying at home, washing our hands, observing social distancing correctly, funding the health services and medical research properly.

It's a difficult part of my faith to deal with of course. I'm a relatively new Christian and so my answers and interpretations may not be what someone with an older faith would share.

I am a Cristian, from a Catholic background. I believe God created the universe as an ecosystem. This ecosystem has evolved an continues to evolves. We, as Gods creations, have also evolved and continue to evolve.

As part of this ecosystem, the world has imperfections and hence we have earthquakes, droughts, fires, diseases etc. because that is the nature of the ecosystem He created. I believe that God has influence over nature/ the ecosystem, but doesn't control every minute detail of it.

For us humans I believe God gives us free will to love him or not. Again, i believe God does not control every minute detail of our bodies and lives, hence will suffer disease, pain and disabilities. This is not because God so punishes us as individuals or inflicts his wrath on anyone ... it is how the ecosystem in God's world works.

I know some "Christians" have a very different view of the same God by reading the same scripture and interpreting it differently. I definately dont believe in pre- destination - the idea that God created a small number of "His People" destined to heaven ... and therefore the remainder He created as destined for hell and suffering. I dont believe every disaster or suffeting is inflicted on us as revenge for some individual sin (for example natural disasters attributed by some "Christians" because of Gay Pride matches or not praying enough).

There is no magic proof you will get to prove or disprove there is a God ... otherwise the argument would have been settled millenia ago!

Ultimately, I know I can't see or understand this from Gods view and some / all if it will remain a mystery. This is where faith / belief comes in.
However, Covid19 or any other natural disaster does not conflict with my belief in God, His kindness and His love.

.... and i believe what OhMySoul says... ultimatly God has granted us all talents to use to help (response by governments, communities and as individuals to help others and ourselves right down to washing our hands). Some will use those talents positively to help others and themselves (which pleases God) for the general good... while others will misuse their talents negatively.

The big thing I pray to God for is that He helps give us the strength and courage to deal with what comes to us, and for Him to help me through life to be the best version of myself.

This gets discussed a lot as it is a version of the question 'why does God let bad stuff happen?' Philosophers and theologians have debated it for thousands of years as the problem of evil or theodicy.
An outline of the issue at an academic level is here plato.stanford.edu/entries/evil/

It isn't going to be sorted out on mumsnet.

My sense as someone who does a lot of funerals and is at the sharp and pointy end of this crisis, is that God is in this with us. God experienced the full range of human life and death in Jesus whose resurrection we have just celebrated and that gives me hope. That probably doesn't help the OP but it will help me when the big increase funerals from Covid 19 come in.

I believe both good and evil are in our hands because God/Goddess/insert name here gave us free will. I don't believe in a helicopter-parent higher power. In fact sometimes i'm not sure the power is 'higher' at all - increasingly i'm drawn towards religious teachings that encourage us to look within. Not in a self-centred way, but in the sense of stripping away the corruption of the man-made world and trying to get back to the real, good, essence of who we truly are, through daily meditation, in order to be better equipped to deal with what the world throws at us.