The Haitian Earthquake: Where Was God? (Jan 10)

The Bible-thumpers have been having a field day over the Haitian earthquake, trying to explain god's involvement -- or more's the point, his absense in the face of such unbelievable suffering. There are many examples on the internet which show just how far people will go with their rhetoric. We'll ignore the rantings of the American Christian televangelist, Pat Robertson, who claimed that the Haitians were themselves to blame because they had "sworn a pact with the devil". [http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2010/01/13/crimesider/entry6092717.shtml].

Try this one by Albert Mohler of the Southern Baptist Convention in the States:

“The earthquake in Haiti, like every other earthly disaster, reminds us that creation groans under the weight of sin and the judgment of God. This is true for every cell in our bodies, even as it is for the crust of the earth at every point on the globe. The entire cosmos awaits the revelation of the glory of the coming Lord. Creation cries out for the hope of the New Creation. In other words, the earthquake reminds us that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only real message of hope. The cross of Christ declares that Jesus loves Haiti -- and the Haitian people are the objects of his love. Christ would have us show the Haitian nation his love, and share his Gospel.”  [http://www.albertmohler.com/2010/01/14/does-god-hate-haiti/]

Now contrast this extraordinary 'logic' with BHA's new Director Andrew Copson and his reasoned comments in a recent radio discussion on the Haiti crisis:

"It is obviously true that people are comforted by thinking that things happen for a reason,” but “terrible disasters like this fatally undermine belief in a good and just god". And when one caller to the programme asserted that "god was demonstrating his superiority as a lesson to us to live better", Copson retorted that this was "as if a parent whose child was misbehaving beat his other child to death to teach his naughty child a lesson ... this was hardly behaviour one would call ‘good’. ...It was not gods that that would help the victims of the Haiti earthquake but good men and women who will give their time, money and compassion."