God does not punish the poor

Six months have now gone by since the terrible earthquake in Haiti when an estimated 230,000 people died and more than 1 million (about the population of Adelaide) were left homeless. We may have donated to their cause, but by and large I suspect they have almost totally faded from our minds. The people of Haiti continue to re-build their lives and their future, and as they do, it may be worth reflecting again on our response to their plight, and others like them. This article was written by Canon Ray Cleary of Anglicare Victoria back in January. It is re-printed with permission.

There are occasions when I am embarrassed by the utterances of some Christian leaders, who describe themselves as evangelical and who ascribe events such as the earthquake in Haiti recently as self inflicted. One Northern Irish Minister attributed the earthquake to the practice of voodoo, and Pat Robertson, prominent US evangelical, expressed similar sentiments. I find such comments scandalous and an abomination bearing little relationship to my reading of scripture while acknowledging many others who claim a similar expression of Christianity would want to distance themselves from such statements.

There is no doubt that the recent tragedy in Haiti raises the perennial question about the absence of God and the presence of suffering in the world and how a supposedly loving God permits or allows such suffering to be inflicted on his people. Words of any sort whether they be of consolation, compassion and encouragement fall far short of any explanation that can take away the immense suffering experienced by the people of Haiti and even I suggest those with faith are troubled by such events, while those of no faith challenged by the tragedy may simply view it as the “luck of the draw”, or a chance accident. To suggest the earthquake is in any way part of God’s plan and doing is to say that God takes pleasure and revenge on the poorest and most vulnerable in our community. The laments of the prophets of the Old Testament and their calls for justice, the Sermon on the Mount and the parables and the New Testament accounts of the ministry of Jesus challenge such views.

The events in Haiti make many of our concerns here at home pale into insignificance and while I look at the pictures emerging from one of the poorest nations of the earth, of collapsed housing, schools, hospitals and the anxiety and fear on the faces of those clambering for aid and shelter, I am reminded of the fact that for over one billion of the world’s population their life experiences are present every day, and I want to categorically say that in all these events my God suffers alongside and with those affected. At the same time the challenge to all of us and particularly from the developed and developing world, is to work harder to distribute the bounty of the creation to the poorest parts of the globe and to continue to offer hope by words of encouragement and acts of goodwill. Belief in the Christian God calls and inspires people of faith to stand with and alongside those who suffer, to restore and offer hope in both word and deed and to embrace God’s generosity for others in their time of need.

Canon Ray Cleary
Chief Executive Officer
Anglicare Victoria
19 January 2010