Where was God?

There have been a lot of words written and spoken on the subject of where God was in disaster that has just befallen South East Asia. First of all though it is perhaps important to ask "which God?"; yours or mine? Personally, the jury is still out on the question before that one, i.e. does he actually exist?

Even assuming that you accept the existence of God, be that one particular God, or one of many, then it seems to me pretty presumptive to think that such a being would find it necessary to punish people, however guilty of sin they might be, or even be capable of inflicting such cruelty.

Such disasters have been occurring periodically since time began, and just maybe, God could be telling us that in the face of such horror we should accept our place in the scheme of things and actually learn to get on with each other. It has been shown what can be done when the ordinary people of the world put aside their differences and pull together for the common good. Perhaps those who still find it necessary to fight and kill fellow human beings should take a good hard look at what they are doing and see if there is not a better way.

The following articles from differing religious beliefs look at some of the issues.

Times Online - Newspaper Edition

Was God in This Disaster? by Rodger Kamenetz -- Beliefnet.com

Hindu group condemns labelling tsunami God's vengeance

Cape Argus - Where was God during the tsunami disaster?