The cause of suffering?

I used to be a Christian. I no longer believe in a god. Things like this are part of the reason. One, or a bunch, of 'christians'-sure they may be extremists, but seemingly claim to be Christ like nonetheless-who blame gays and lesbians for the destruction and suffering caused by an earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand. How disgusting! It actually makes me feel sick.

Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident. This type of bullshit is commonly spouted by fundamentalist groups following natural disasters, or acts of god, as insurance companies ironically refer to them. Hurricane Katrina which devastated New Orleans in 2005 was another natural distaster blamed on homosexuals. A group called Repent America have a steaming pile on their website regarding this belief. But, it's not only fundamentalist christians who get on this bandwagon. Not to be outdone, muslim extremists chime in with similar grabage. A cleric, Hojjat ol-eslam Kazem Sediqi said "Many women who do not dress modestly lead young men astray and spread adultery in society which increases earthquakes,".

I admit that all religious people are not like the above mentioned groups, but to me that doesnot change the following beliefs. According to the bible, koran, torah and a whole host of religious texts, god created the heavens and the earth. That would imply that he controls them. Therefore he is responsible for both earthquakes and hurricanes. I don't see any love in that.

On somewhat of a side note, but still related to the earthquake in NZ, my friend Claire lives in Christchurch. Fortunately she is dong well and uninjured etc. However, like a huge proportion of the city, she has no power or running water. Without water you can't flush the toilet. But Claire and her flatmates??? have remedied that problem with what could almost be described as a luxury outdoor 'dunny'. Check out the pics here. Click the facebook like to make her loo world famous.