PHOTO: http://www.lesjones.com

Natural disasters are so instantly amplified by the media that seconds after they hit, images and commentary are beamed by satellites around the world. Almost everyone on Earth has seen such recent events as the south Asian tsunami, the hurricanes in the American Gulf Coast, and the earthquake in Pakistan and India. Are these tragic events part of a divine plan? Is the end of the World coming as punishment for the evil doings of certain men?

Bob Carroll of the Skeptic’s Dictionary doesn’t think so. In his most recent “Skeptic’s Dictionary Newsletter #60” he writes:

“The Pat Robertsons of the world are trying to fit these natural disasters into their worldview, which says that everything is part of God’s plan. These disasters point to the end of the world and the second coming. These self-anointed prophets are deluded about everything else so why should we trust them about their grasp of reality when it come to what’s going on with our planet?

Others blame capitalism.* If communism were still much of a force, I’m sure some would blame it.

Still others think that governments are controlling the weather. They can’t keep secrets, control their own tongues, or predict yesterday’s football scores, but they can control the weather. Right.

The smart money says that nothing special is going on. You are on the planet Earth. It’s cooling down from its formation several billion years ago. Earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, volcanoes, mudslides, hurricanes, tornadoes, lightning fires, and the like are common fare on this planet. If these things weren’t happening, it’s likely the planet would not be habitable. When none of these things occurs any more, the planet will be dead. It will become a nice place to visit, though, like Mars.”

He also has some coherent and understandable arguments against the mystical concept known as “Intelligent Design” which fundametalists have been trying to slip into the science curriculum as an undetectable poison.