Iranian blogger (and yes, “cleric”) Mohammad Ali Abtahi takes on the questions raised by the Dec. 26 tsunami regarding God.
Anyone and any thought who wants to make connection between the natural events and the God’s anger will face lots of logical questions to which he/she cannot find an answer.
Those who wanna benefit from this opportunity and call the society to spirituality are unaware of the reality that this one time uses of religion for their benefits will make most of the people away from God though it may make some simple-minded pay back attentions to God.
It loses a little in the translation. His basic points are that God is just and the vast majority of the victims of natural disaster are innocent, so natural disasters are not punishment from God, and that anyone (mullah, preacher, priest, evangelist) who uses disaster for religious gain is likely to pay a price.