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So, I herd on the news that Al-Qaeda is claiming that Hurricane Katrina is God's judgment on the United States. I tried to look for this on the Internet, but I had no success. Anyway, let's assume that natural disasters are God's means for judgment:

• 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake — 126,915 dead in Indonesia which is the country with the most Islamic inhabitants.
• 2003 Bam earthquake — 41,000 dead in a country where the official religion is Islam.
• 1999 Izmit earthquake — 17,000 dead in a country that is 99.8% Muslim.
• 1991 Bangladesh cyclone — 138,000 in a country where 83% of the population is Muslim.
• 1970 Bhola cyclone — 150,000 dead in Bangladesh.

By contrast, the death toll for Katrina is estimated at ten thousand. I don't want to by any means pass off any of these deaths as trivial. Also, I do not subscribe to the view that these natural disasters are necessarily always God's means for punishment. However, if Al-Qaeda wants to subscribe to the view that they are, then God doesn't like the U.S., but he hates Muslims. It's so much easier to say that God gives and takes away from both the righteous and the unrighteous whoever they may be.¹

1. Matthew 5:45