Natural disasters and the mind of God

This week we heard the terrible news that Japan  suffered losses when a tsunami hit their country. These types of disasters occur all too often. And the question is always brought up, why did god allow this? The normal answer is we can't understand the mind of god.

However, why can't we understand his mind? The bible says we were created in his likeness. It says he loves us and protects us. These are concepts we completely understand. What is interesting is that the bible does not even try to explain his mindset on these actions. Now, why would that be? If there was actually a reason given, then we would be able to discuss it, debate and determine if we agree with it. By not giving an answer, it makes it beyond our scope. In other words, the reason we can't we can't understand it is because we are never given the reason to try and understand.

However, that is not the real reason. The real reason is because the concept of god is a myth. Natural disasters occur, not because god does not prevent them, but because we live in a world where these are normal events. He does not prevent them, because myths do not prevent anything. They also do not make anything occur. It is time for the world to put these childish ideas behind us.

Moreover, the fact that the poorest often suffer the most during these disasters is, to me, very significant.
Consider this from a debate with William Lane Craig and Corey Washington. Corey Washington develops the point:


"But I think there is something you may not have known about these natural disasters. You know who gets hurt in these earthquakes? Mostly poor people. Mostly weak people, the old and the young. You remember that earthquake that happened in Armenia, back in the eighties? This earthquake was actually less powerful than the earthquake in San Francisco. Yet 25,000 people died in Armenia. Why did they die? Because they had bad housing. It was cheaply made. They were just crushed by the roofs. On the other hand only a few hundred people died in San Francisco, because we're a wealthy country and we have very good housing. Relatively speaking, people really didn't suffer. So you have to think about what Craig is saying. God's going to allow the innocent, the weak, and the poor to suffer, so the rich can show their colors, can be courageous, and develop themselves into moral beings. That sounds kind of sick to me actually. I think this is totally incompatible with Christianity as you read it. Remember the proverb was that, "The meek shall inherit the earth," not that they shall be destroyed by it."