Divine retribution

An example of divine retribution is the story found in many cultures about a great flood destroying all of humanity, as described in the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Hindu Vedas, or the Book of Genesis (6:9–8:22), leaving one principal 'chosen' survivor.

In Greek mythology, the goddess Hera often became enraged when her husband, Zeus, would impregnate mortal women, and would exact divine retribution on the children born of such affairs.

Gautama Buddha did not endorse belief in a creator deity,[7][8] refused to express any views on creation[9] and stated that questions on the origin of the world are worthless.

Despite this nontheism, Buddhism nevertheless fully accepts the theory of karma, which posits punishment-like effects, such as rebirths in realms of torment, as an invariable consequence of wrongful actions.

[22] Since the 1812 Caracas earthquake occurred on Maundy Thursday while the Venezuelan War of Independence was raging, it was explained by royalist authorities as divine punishment for the rebellion against the Spanish Crown.

The archbishop of Caracas, Narciso Coll y Prat, referred to the event as "the terrifying but well-deserved earthquake" which "confirms in our days the prophecies revealed by God to men about the ancient impious and proud cities: Babylon, Jerusalem and the Tower of Babel".

[27] The 1953 Waco tornado outbreak was regarded by some people in the local African-American community as divine retribution for the lynching of Jesse Washington over thirty years prior.

[28] Various Christian, Jewish and Muslim religious leaders claimed that Hurricane Katrina was God's punishment on America, New Orleans or the world for any of a variety of alleged sins, including abortion, sexual immorality (including the gay pride event Southern Decadence), the policies of the American Empire, failure to support Israel, and failure of black people to study the Torah.

[34] Levin posted a video onto YouTube the same day as 2011 Virginia earthquake in which he said, "The Talmud states, "You have shaken your male member in a place where it doesn’t belong.

In addition, WorldNetDaily columnist William Koenig, along with McTernan himself, suggested that American support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict led to the hurricane.

[35] Orthodox rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu said the brutal 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake was "God's tribunal on Turkey and Syria since they were considered anti-Jewish like former Nazi Germany because their support for Palestine".

[a][36] Iraqi Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said the brutal 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquake was "God's (Allah) rebuke against Turkey because weak response against the holy book (Quran) burning by right wing extremist groups in Sweden".

Orthodox rabbi Shmuley Boteach denounces such claims since they carry the implication of victim blaming,[39] writing that "For many of the faithful, the closer they come to God, the more they become enemies of man."

The End of the World , commonly known as The Great Day of His Wrath , [ 1 ] an 1851–1853 oil painting on canvas by the English painter John Martin . [ 2 ] According to Frances Carey, the painting shows the "destruction of Babylon and the material world by natural cataclysm". This painting, Carey holds, is a response to the emerging industrial scene of London as a metropolis in the early nineteenth century, and the original growth of the Babylon civilisation and its final destruction. According to the Tate , the painting depicts a portion of Revelation 16 , a chapter from the New Testament .
The Destruction of Sodom And Gomorrah by John Martin , 1852