This tsunami could be considered as an act of moral and natural evil.
Why, because the Sri Lankan people had experienced a Tsunami many years ago and were warned by scientists that another one would come, however nobody took any notice. They still allowed resorts to be built so that they could make money from tourism. Many of the areas near the tourist resorts were filled with child prostitutes and drugs. There was a lot of crime and corruption among the people and many had lost their moral values. The tsunami cleared the area of all of this and allowed people to start new which should be a lesson for them and should teach them not to perform such unlawful acts.
On the other hand the destruction was a form of natural evil. This kind of evil and suffering which comes with it is caused by the world we live in and is no one’s fault. However, many recent natural disasters may have been caused by human interference in the natural world, raising the question of whether that makes those events human-made.
Why is the Earth subject to natural disasters at all? Did god not see the world he created and say that it was very good? (Genesis 1:31). It was only later after humans had turned their back on God, that the ground itself would cause pain and death. (Genesis 3:17-19).
Many people including Church Leaders are agonising about how to respond to the Tsunami disaster in which over 160,000 died. Would they have agonised, I wonder, if the numbers were fewer – say just a few thousand?
After such a tragic event, some Christians may find it difficult to believe in God as the Christian teachings read, “God is all loving” and “God is omnipotent” (ultimate power and influence).
When combining these two Christian teachings, we argue, if God is all loving and omnipotent, then why did he let all these innocent people die when he has complete control over the world? Why did he not stop the Tsunami from happening?
Therefore some Christians conclude that God does not exist as so many innocent lives had been taken away.
Other Christians may interpret that God is punishing the sinned by allowing the Tsunami to happen. They would believe that they are being punished in this life and enter life after death with a clean slate. If God is all loving, then a few minutes of pain in this world is far better than spending eternity suffering in Hell in the hereafter.
Despite that, other Christians may conclude that it was a test to see if the victims in their last few seconds of their lives would lose faith in God because they turned to him to save them and yet he did not. This tests whether one’s faith in God was true and sincere.
Christians may be unhappy with the way the Press handled the situation. Many people did not pay attention to the Press’s coverage and were devastated by the destruction. On the other hand the orthodox Christians may have been offended by the questions raised. For example, “With this entire trauma that has taken place, what are your views in your belief in God now?”
Christians would argue that the media have no right to question belief in God as it is a personal issue. On the good side, the media displayed good coverage of the incident and kept everyone informed on how much damage was caused.
Overall, despite all the suffering and destruction the tsunami was actually a good thing. It has woken up the world and told them to watch out. It has highlighted to other governments that they should not do something for money if they know it is dangerous and harmful to their citizens.
Riaz Rampuri 11c2