The tsunami disaster continues to dominate world news as the death toll increases daily. Two articles in the Australian media yesterday took up the theme I raised in my last post, i.e. how do believers reconcile a disaster of this magnitude with their faith in a benevolent God?

The Age - Is God to blame for this?
“It is a pertinent and challenging question for all those who believe in an interventionist higher being, an omnipotent God. What did the many thousands of victims throughout Asia and Africa do to deserve their fate? And what sort of God would sanction such apparently meaningless devastation?”

Sydney Morning Herald - Waves of destruction wash away belief in God’s benevolence
“How, then, did a God as powerful and benevolent as this allow such a thing to happen? If he is benevolent then he cannot also be omnipotent, for a God who has both these attributes would have wanted to, cared to and been able to prevent such a catastrophe.”

Both of these articles are worth reading, although neither is able to answer the fundamental questions raised.

Filed in: Atheism