FROM: Terry Lynch@aol.com; POB 241035; Montgomery, AL 36124-1035
Phone: (334) 277-3582 voice/fax

DATE:  April 20, 1998 

TO:  Letter to the Editor      WORD COUNT: 200

REF:  God Has Nothing To Do With Disasters! 

Stop blaming everything on God!  The sooner people realize that 
tornadoes, floods, hurricanes, wild fires, earthquakes, mud 
slides, avalanches and other natural disasters are not God's 
wrath, then the sooner people will be able to learn how to better 
prepare themselves to out whit Mother Nature.

It is foolish to think that God or his angels are watching over 
us when a tornado rips apart a church or homes like happened 
north of Birmingham on the evening of April 8th, killing 33 
people and destroying millions of dollars in property.  It is 
equally foolish to think that God is responsible for the breaking 
of a levy which floods a town after torrential rains, like 
occurred recently in Elba.  But it is most foolish of all for 
meteorologists to designate a winter weather phenomena El Nino, 
The Christ Child, allowing everyone from the Governor to the 
President of the United States to blame God for killer storms.

Much can be done to save lives and property from natural 
disaster.  For example, churches, schools and homes may be 
constructed with underground storm shelters.  Side scanning 
Dopler radar warning systems can be constructed and installed 
community wide and in rural areas in tornado ally.  Homes may be 
built with reinforced safe rooms or beneath ground shelters.  And 
communities may work to develop and practice disaster response 
and relief programs.

Blaming weather patters and natural disasters on God is simply a 
way to avoid accepting responsibility and taking the initiative 
to secure our homes, churches, schools and communities.  Anytime 
we settle for less then the best in terms of design and 
construction, in terms of material and workmanship, we are 
putting ourselves and our children at risk.

We may not be able to stop tornadoes, hurricanes, floods or other 
natural disasters, but we can stop blaming them and our survival 
or demise upon God.  In fact when people die or are saved in 
natural disasters the real reason often is a matter of building 
codes, where we put and how well we build our communities.  God 
has nothing to do with it!  But the legislative process of making 
and enforcing strong building codes and survival strategies for 
our communities surely does!



Sincerely,
TerryLynch@aol.com
Montgomery