A nation of desperate and grieving people showed the fervency of their faith this past weekend. Haitians mourned an archbishop, prayed in an open-air revival and, later in the day, witnessed a miracle. But some have said that the fate that has befallen Haiti is the ire of God. Others, like Archbishop of Santo Domingo Cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopez Rodriguez, “has firmly rejected the idea that the tragedy in Haiti was a punishment from God,” according to an article in Catholic News Agency. What is your opinion? Was the earthquake in Haiti a punishment from God to the Haitian people? What does your religion teach about “punishments from God?” And is there such thing as being “punished” by God?
Jesus told his disciples that during this age before his return many dramatic events like wars, plagues, famines and earthquakes must take place first, but the end does not follow immediately” (Luke 21:9). He taught that the death of 18 people from the collapse of a tower wasn’t because they were “worse culprits” than others living in Jerusalem. Solomon observed: “I have seen everything during my lifetime . . . there is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his wickedness” (Ecclesiastes 7:15).
