re: Do you think God controls the weather?

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My friend, George, started a non-profit to work in a small town in Guatemala a few years back. And in those interim years, the non-profit has built over 20 homes for widows, started a vocational school, refurbished and supplied a special-needs school and updated and upgraded a local school. Does George have a better idea of the effects of a Christian worldview on the attitude towards others' plight than Sam Harris? He does. And he serves because of it. If I told you the name of George's organization, you would have never heard of it. Because it's one of thousands and thousands of similar organizations.

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That's fantastic and your friend sounds like a great guy. However, the idea we are talking about is that saying "it was all god's plan/god did it" might take away from experiencing the true human emotion of a negative situation. I do think that Christians have done some great things for people in need.

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Ok. Let's assume God intervenes in these catastrophes and doesn't allow them to happen. What's the cutoff for you? Can 3 people die in a traffic accident? Can 10 people die of hemmorhagic fever? Where does God need to intervene and where can he stop to keep you happy about the situation?

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I think you're misunderstanding my point. My point is that a majority of Christians believe that god can intervene (prayer would be an example). However, I see horrible gruesome deaths of children. Children with parents that, no doubt, prayed for their safety. God didn't give it to them. So, to me, saying that god can intervene is pretty cruel to someone like that.... and saying "oh, it was all part of god's plan that your child died", is something said to lessen the blow of the loss of the child and quite disingenuous/deceitful (if you really thought about it). I understand that it is a quick move that would make certain people feel better.

I don't fully stand behind the Sam Harris quote, though. I think that god could just be a force in the universe (kind of like Spinoza's god). With that, god wouldn't intervene. It wouldn't be a personal god. It would just be, at best, an observer (therefore not impotent, evil, or nonexistent). I see Harris' point, though.