Noovo.com - What's noo?

Dalai Lama in Taiwan speaks to typhoon victims & my message to Aleš Gulič, new head or the Office for religious communities. The fundamental purpose of modern religions is to make people believe the universe is in the end just.  Your loved one died in typhoon. The religion gives you the consolation in two points:

-           First, even if the event seems random, there is in fact a reason, a purpose and a plan behind it.

-          Second, this plan is such that in the end what now seems tragic, sad or evil, will turn out to be good or have good consequences in future.

Conventional theist religions (like Christianity) will perhaps speak of divine providence , not-theistic religions like Buddhism (or certain bedims) have concept of moral causality.  What »Karma« and »Providence« concepts have in common is the view that the universe in somehow morally ordered.  This is the first consolation of religion, and a fundamental one I think.

Then there is the hope of good that will come out of evil. Most species of Christianity speak of quasi-personal entity called »God« - this »God« will ultimately reward you for evils you suffered, provided you have faith in him and pay him some good respect.  Whatever bad things happen to you, the order of the universe is such that the things will ultimately (sometimes under certain conditions) turn good for you.

But both religious consolations are wrong.  The universe is not build on moral principles. It is only mathematical laws that govern nature, not ethical. Even if you want to call the rational structure of the universe »God« (like Spinoza did), this God certainly doesn't prevent typhoons or reward suffering.

On the other hand, this means morality solely depend on us, humans. We form moral community, the responsibility and reward is only ours. Only we can do good or evil and relieve suffering of other person.  The religions shouldn’t let us forget that, otherwise THEY are the evil.