Let's

I look at the map on my wall all the time.

In God & Satan we've talked about "theodicy", or the belief in a God that allows bad things to happen to good people, or lack thereof.

I really want to believe in God. I think it would be great. It would explain alot. But it just sounds like these are excuses and moral dilemmas created by people who desperately, for whatever eason, need constituents to believe in God, even though the realism of the tsunami is still present and bad things constantly happen to good people.

Imagine you're in a hardware store and you need a bucket. And you're looking for the best possible bucket they have. And there's two buckets, one made out of BeliefInGod, and has the name of the store in which you are shopping on it. The other made out of IsNoGod. You ask the customer service lady, in her lovely orange polo shirt, which one you should get. She says that BeliefInGod is the better bucket, it's made out of the better material. You pick up BeliefinGod. There are holes in the bottom of the bucket. You say to the customer service lady: "This is a horrible bucket! It has holes in the bottom. It won't be able to hold anything."

She looks at you and says: "But it's made out of the best material!".

You pick up the bucket made of IsNoGod. It's sturdy but not brand-name, and nobody will be impressed at your local community center. It has no holes on the bottom. The store's name is not on it. "What about this one?" you ask. "oh, that one...well, if you want, but again, I highly recommend BeliefInGod brand buckets."

"But they have holes in them."

"Yes, but it's got much better material! It is the best bucket, believe me."

Point being, it all sounds a little contrived. Shitty things in nature (tsunami, hurricane) happen naturally. Countries with the lowest religious population donated the most money to relief efforts in the tsumani-stricken areas. It had to take an Act of fucking Congress to get relief down to New Orleans.

And so is the logical thing to QUESTION our belief in God after something like this happens? Because there must be SOME reason God "let" this happen, right?

No, I disagree. It wasn't "let" to happen. It just happened. Hundreds of thousands of people died. And, if I were to believe in a God, I'd make damn well sure there was a good reason for this shit to happen. Which is precisely why I don't.

"Which is more musical: a truck passing by a factory or a truck passing by a music school?" --John Cage