Warning: Undefined variable $num in /home/shroutdo/public_html/courses/wp-content/plugins/single-categories/single_categories.php on line 126
Warning: Undefined variable $posts_num in /home/shroutdo/public_html/courses/wp-content/plugins/single-categories/single_categories.php on line 127
In the wake of disasters such as the Peshtigo Fire, we are left to consider whether or not these horrific events were an act of God. Peter Pernin believed that the Peshtigo Fire constituted an act of God. Pernin argued, “No reasoning succeeds so quickly in making men comprehend the greatness of God and their own insignificance (262).” Pernin’s worldview is clearly biased; his teachings and core beliefs cause him to attribute the Peshtigo Fire to God. I do not seek to refute his viewpoint, but I want to point out that Pernin offers evidence that seems to contradict his belief that the fire was an act of God.
Pernin’s anecdote about his hunting trip with the young boy illustrates how easy it was to start a forest fire and how quickly a disaster could happen. Additionally, Pernin explains how Indians and Hunters carelessly forgot to extinguish their fires. I believe that we attribute our own meaning to events of this magnitude, but it seems like Pernin’s work is slightly contradictory when it comes to placing blame.
On a slightly unrelated note, I wanted to comment on the significance of the tabernacle and how survivors attribute meaning to miracles or seemingly unnatural signs or symbols. Immediately after reading about how the tabernacle was still intact after the ravaging fire, I thought of the cross that was formed out of steel beams from the Twin Towers. Pernin viewed the survival of the tabernacle and the other sacred objects, “as trophies of God’s exceeding mercy snatched so marvelously from destruction (266).” Additionally, survivors of the 9/11 terror attacks attributed meaning to the Ground Zero Cross. Like Pernin and the other survivors of the Peshtigo fire, 9/11 survivors see religious symbolism in the cross. Both of these events offered solace and comfort to the traumatized survivors. These miracles or symbols and the cultural responses they create are an important part of understanding disasters. The responses to disasters are just as important to the disasters themselves.