No. They live in an area where wildfires have always been common. It seems like the causes of fire have been powerlines, therefore human activity. It was "a ticking bomb".
If you want to drag religion into it, what do you think happened in Chile last year in February (131 dead)? How about earthquakes in Turkey and Syria in 2023 (more than 55000 dead)? Or flash flood in Libya (more than 4300 dead)?
I think the mechanisms at work are more earthy, in some respects encapsulating the same lessons - especially insofar as priorities are established, especially in how budgets are shaped in state and local governments here. It’s also a message in temptation.
@Miram And it came to pass that the lord said, I'm California dreamin, I got to get to LA. All the leaves are brown, and the skys are gray. Then it came to pass on the 3rd day that the lord pulled his woody wagon into the parking lot and went to take his surf board down from the roof. Then he the creator of all the universe looked around him and perceived that the people ran to and fro, bare assed, drunk and stoned. He precieved that they no longer acted like people but commies with no moral compass. And the lord was sad at what had happened, he sat in his waggon depressed and was sorely pissed off. And the lord said I will smite them with fire! And he caused the brush that the commies didn't remove to burn as he drove up toward heaven. And he rolled down the window and flipped them the bird as he caused strong wind to blow on the fire. Amen.
“Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again”. Matthew, 7:1
Matthew 7:1 says very clearly "Judge not - lest ye be judged". And yet many Christians are judgmental about the sins of others. Don't they read their own gospel?
Singleing out one disaster in a world of disasters and that one is divine retribution? Nah. If some disaster caused you to lose everything the last thing you'd want to hear is maybe you offended God.
it is the way nature works trees grow over the years has dead limbs, fall to the ground, fire comes along burns the brush, feeds the next vegetation that grows, and so on,
It does in that if you are corrupt, greedy, perverted bad things will happen to you. People don't believe that because they think of it a magic or something. In reality its just mechanical, gears and sprockets. Living by lies, corruption, selfishness and the lIke just doesn't work. Jungle law isn't the whole of the laws of the universe. The universe has a lot of laws. They can make your life much better if you understand and apply them. That's what books like the Bible are talking about.
No I do not believe in the 'retribution of God nearly so much as evil contains the seeds of destruction within itself. A society that kills its most vulnerable (just for example) has put itself in the place of God and the fallen nature of man will soon come to the fore and destruction follows on the heels of the prideful boasts of the evil.
Just a footnote. Actual avg temp and yearly rainfall figures for the 100 years in Los Angeles. No statistical significant change. r-squared of any recession is <.004. So basically … nothing.
I think what's happening in California has more to do with a complete absence of rain for the past 9 months, than it has anything whatsoever to do with any kind of a biblical reference or connection.
