Hurricane Katrina

On Sunday, I was reading the newspaper when I came across this.

US Fundamentalists: Hurricane was God's judgement on New Orleans
Repent America, an organisation that claims to "go out into the streets and communities of America declaring the word of God and proclaiming the Good News", has said that an upcoming event in the city caused God to act.

The annual event was ‘Southern Decadence’, which brings together thousands of homosexuals, enabling them to celebrate their sexuality.

I can’t believe how insensitive some people are. And opportunistic at the same time.

Clearly, anything goes to promote their religion.

By the way, an annual event is so much worse than an everyday and routine (and fabulous) life that many gays and lesbians lead, like in San Francisco and Netherlands and everywhere else in the world.

Every time there is a disaster, people would take the chance to attribute it to God and speculate at best of its intentions.

The tsunami which killed more than two hundred thousand people, what was that all about then? Wiping out almost entire populations of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands; they must be having rampant gay sex or something on their islands, away from prying eyes (and I don’t mean any disrespect to the dead).

How does one explain the indiscriminate senseless destruction? The tsunami that swept away Muslim, Christian, Buddhists, Hindus and people of other beliefs?

I found this little gem:
If the 2004 tsunami was intentionally triggered by God, then he is illustrating his unchangeability over time. - Religious Tolerance

Oh wait, but it gets better. I found this from World Wide Rant.

Two Christian leaders in New Orleans are testifying to God's mercy in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. One suggests that the death toll could have been much higher had it not been for God's mercy -- and the other that God may have used the hurricane to purge wickedness from the city.

First one said:
"It's a terrible tragedy," Kelley says of the devastation in and around New Orleans, "and we still don't know the scope of it -- but the evidences of God's mercy are there. We rejoice in the fact that He has got the whole world in His hands, including the city of New Orleans and [the seminary]."

Second one said:
“New Orleans now is abortion free. New Orleans now is Mardi Gras free. New Orleans now is free of Southern Decadence and the sodomites, the witchcraft workers, false religion -- it's free of all of those things now," Shanks says. "God simply, I believe, in His mercy purged all of that stuff out of there -- and now we're going to start over again."

So which is which?

One might argue that it could be both. God wanted to destroy some and yet save others. We will never know how he thinks. And leave it at that.

That is more comforting, ain't it? It's the Highest Power's will; let's move on with our lives and do what we can.

And when everyone pulled together and helped out to overcome the suffering, it's all thanks to the Entity in the Sky again - for his grace, medicine, clean water, care and love shown from their fellow humankind, etc.

I have always believe that once someone has decided on something or perceived it in some way, it is extremely easy to rationalize it.

Like when I don’t have the intention of buying anything but see an absolutely-must-have shirt because it flaunts and fits nicely to my body, I’ll rationalize buying it, either with "Oh, I deserve it after working so hard and staying late at work for the past month" or "It’s on sale, I’ll never get it at this price again."

Stronger discipline to resist the temptation will need this kind of rationalization – "I have overspent this month" or "How many times will I actually wear that?"

Different people look at the same thing and they can see it differently. It all lies in the perception, of how one has been brought up and the worldview one has.

There is no right or wrong, because no one can be sure what God thinks. At least, for those who don’t readily accept a coherent scientific view and try to read something out of it.

However, fundamentalists and extremist exist in all religions. I never thought that Christianity and al-Qaeda would have something to agree on, but I was wrong.

They both agreed that it was the act and wrath of God.

Iraq's al Qaeda says Katrina is "wrath of God"
DUBAI, Sept 4 (Reuters) - The al Qaeda group in Iraq on Sunday hailed the hurricane deaths in "oppressor" America as the "wrath of God", according to an Internet statement.

"God attacked America and the prayers of the oppressed were answered," said the statement, which was posted on an Islamic Web site often used by the insurgent group fighting the U.S.-backed Iraqi government.

I doubt that there will ever be any other agreement. At least, not till the next disaster.

Natural disasters always pose questions about the world we live in and ultimately, the one that has no definitive and conclusive answer as yet - "Is there a God?"