> One person commented that when God
> allows things like this to happen, it is always
> for a reason. We who have so small a
> perspective may not understand why, but if we
> truly trust in God, we can rest assured that this
> did not take Him by surprise. Something good
> will come of this.

This kind of statement and belief provokes me greatly. God wouldn't want or allow this to happen. But stuff happens. People are evil and hurt other people.

God the almighty have given us free will. This puts limits to what He can do. If he were to protect us from all harm, our will wouldn't be free.

This does not, however, mean that God can't use the bad things that happen to make something good come of it. But that, too, is entirely up to ourselves and how we choose to act on it.

Like I said in my "Putting things in perspective" post, I fortunately find myself becoming more understanding about the sufferings of people all over the world because of this tragedy. But I just as well might have become more indifferent if I chose to block out those feelings. Or I could have become filled with hatred and a desire for vengeance towards the people responsible. Whichever path I choose, I am myself responsible for it. If I bring all before God, he will be there to help me become a better person because of it. But that doesn't mean he staged it or allowed thousands of innocent people to get killed.