Letters to the Editor

Our local newspaper (the Nelson Mail) has often got a lot of letters about God written to it. Every now and then I feel compelled to reply to something I have read. The difficulty is trying to say what you need to in 200 words or less, but that can be part of the fun too. A recent letter read:

God's work?
Sir, Natural disasters happen all the time, and kill millions. Writing about the recent mega-disaster around the Indian Ocean, Shirley Dunne (Nelson Mail, January 8) says that it "is no one's fault, least of all God's."
Ms Dunne is clearly a Christian believer, so let's get this straight - this is the same God that Christians believe created the world. He designed it so that disastrous events are commonplace, but he's not responsible for the fact that they kill and harm people?
This business highlights a dilemma for Christians. They find the Jesus story in the Bible to be well-supported historically, and compelling personally, based on a remarkable series of reported events and sayings from a three-year period about 2000 years ago. However, what has God done since then that has been of any benefit to mankind?
Individuals believe that their lives have been affected for good and Christians do some good (in addition to a lot of harm), but where is the collective benefit?
The same question can be asked of all the major religions and from my reading of history, the answer is - nothing. What is the use of a God who sits on his hands and does nothing?

Although I could not cover all of the points he raised in 200 words, I sent a reply in today which may hopefully answer some of his questions, or talk to others who read the paper.

God and Tsunamis
Sir,Peter Balance (Mailbox, January 13), seems to assume that because he hasn’t heard from God personally, God has been ‘sitting on his hands.’ How so? God could be affecting the world immensely without his knowledge. Tremain (January 13) pointed out that we haven’t heard from Osama for some time, but does that mean Osama is doing nothing, or perhaps does not exist?
Mr Balance’s main concern is the tsunami. He claims God made the world, designed tsunamis, and knew they would kill. However, if one looks at the God of the Bible, the world was not designed in this way at all. Earth was perfect when created (eg. no death/tsunamis), but has since been corrupted and is slowly decaying. Things such as earthquakes come because of this decay - not through design by God.
Maybe God could step in and save those people, but how much dictatorship would we accept? Wouldn’t that remove our free will? Instead, God allows us to choose our own paths, even going through death, without being forced to follow Him. God provided the chance for eternal salvation through Jesus, and gives us a choice, then stands back and lets us make it without coercing us. That’s love.