Everything Happens for a Reason

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Like everyone, I'm stunned and horrified at the tragedy in Southeast Asia. For all those who would pray for the survivors, don't bother; give money instead (thanks for the link, Irate Savant). But if you can't be dissuaded, at least do us this favor:

Don't thank God for sparing the survivors. Don't thank God for sparing you or your friends or loved ones who were vacationing in Sri Lanka just before Christmas. Don't say what a blessing or miracle it is that the little sobbing orphan on TV survived, clinging to a plastic chair and keeping his head above water so he could breathe until rescuers found him. Please, please say none of that.

Not long ago, my father had surgery for esophageal cancer. He's doing well now. While I was home to see him in the hospital, my stepmother talked with the occasional cashier about what had happened to my father and how he was doing. The cashiers would all say the same thing: "That is such a blessing that they caught it early. Everything happens for a reason." My stepmother returned the sentiment.

What I told her then and what this tragedy brings to mind now is this. If you're going to thank God for saving people—especially while saying that God saved them for a reason—you have to acknowledge that he killed everyone else for different reasons. You can't give God credit for doing good while giving him a pass on doing evil. Unless your god is limited (or limits the scope of his actions) and nature runs its course independent of him.

No, the survivors were just lucky. Just like my father and the little sobbing orphan and your friends or loved ones who were vacationing in Sri Lanka just before Christmas. Just like all of us who weren't in Southeast Asia for that tragic event.