Peruvian Disaster Relief

Help is pouring in from around the world in the wake of last week's Peruvian earthquake. There is so much news of crime, hatred, conflict and brutality in the news, it tends to make you think the very wost of human nature. So today's news is refreshing to say the least.

If you search Google News for "Peruvian Earthquake donations" there is page after page of the work groups, agencies, churches and individuals are doing to raise funds for the earthquake victims.

The United Nations has pledged a million dollars in relief funds and, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, South Korea, the United States, France and Spain are among the countries sending aid, including medicine, water and food.

I know there is a Scientology Volunteer Ministers disaster relief team in the earthquake zone, and Scientology churches from all over the world are getting the word out that volunteers and help is needed.

What is it about disasters that brings out the best in people? And does it have to take a disaster for this to happen?

There were stories 3 years ago after the Indian Ocean tsunami, where warring factions in the Banda Aceh area of Indonesia suspended hostilities to work together to save survivors.

In Dianetics: the Modern Science of Mental Health, L. Ron Hubbard describes this phenomenon. When I read that book, it was the first time I could understand what happens at times like this. But even more important, it was the first time I could understand why people aren't like that all the time.

I had the idea, as a child, that people were basically good but I had a hard time reconciling that with what I saw, not just on a social level but on a friend-to-friend, husband-to-wife bases as well. It was such a relief, when I read Dianetics to be able to figure that one out too.


^{Happiness and strength endure only in the absence of hate. To hate alone is the road to disaster. To love is the road to strength. To love in spite of all is the secret of greatness. And may very well be the greatest secret in this universe.~~L. Ron Hubbard, founder of theScientology relgion}