Last night, I happened to watch a few minutes of the horrific 2004 tsunami. I do remember how horrible that was, but I didn’t realize how many souls perished in that monstrous event until many years later. Under the documentary video, it said 250,000 (in the NOAA article, it says around 227,899) people died in that catastrophic event. Heartbreaking and tragic!
A few minutes ago, I watched a short documentary on TWA Flight 800’s devastating crash. Horrific and terrifying.
I happened to read several comments under both of the videos, mostly under the plane crash one. In any case, two particular responses showed up in them that, in my opinion, are related.
Under the 2004 tsunami documentary video, someone asked how God could do this to all those people who died in that horrible event.
Similarly, a comment under the TWA Flight 800 plane crash was how could God do this, which basically means she thinks He caused that plane to crash.
Both have a misunderstanding of God, Who He is, understanding of humanity, and human will.
So, both are incorrect assumptions that these events were caused by God.
They weren’t.
God had nothing to do with the tsunami or the plane crash.
The tsunami was caused by a very strong earthquake with a 9.1 magnitude on the Richter scale, according to the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration. They also said, “The magnitude 9.1 earthquake was one for the record books and stands today as the third largest in the world since 1900.” (NOAA, 2023)
Mechanical issues seemed to have been the issue with TWA Flight 800.
Therefore, the tsunami was triggered by a powerful earthquake = natural disaster. And the plane crash was due to technical/mechanical issues = technician/mechanic errors.
There are three ways to look at the cause of natural disasters:
- Earth does these things at times.
- God is punishing people
- Humanity’s collective sins causes these events
Technically, there is a 4th choice for the plane crash = human error, which is reasonable to agree with.
But for both events, I am of the belief that it’s number 3. Humanity’s actions in the world are like the butterfly effect. When we do evil or sinful things, they reverberate throughout the cosmos. Likewise, if we do good and holy things, these, too, reverberate throughout the cosmos.
This is because God gave us the gift of free will. We make choices every day, often many times a day that can affect others and all of God’s creation.
Since we live in a fallen world, these things happen–joyful things and tragic things. Life is a kaleidoscope of joy and sorrow. And how we experience and deal with them is up to us and our free will.
Some of what I’ve said here echoes a blog post I wrote a few years ago called Humanity’s Power. If you’re interested, you can read it here.
God be with all the souls lost and their families. He is a loving, merciful, and Good God.
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Works cited:
NOAA, 2023. “Jetstream Max: 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami.” https://www.noaa.gov/jetstream/2004tsu_max#:~:text=On%20December%2026%2C%202004%2C%20an,Ocean%20generated%20a%20devastating%20tsunami.
Modest Musings 