Most don’t blame God for disasters
We may never know why bad things happen to good people, but most
Americans—except evangelicals—reject the idea that natural disasters are
divine punishment, a test of faith or some other sign from God,
according to a new poll.
The poll, by Public Religion Research
Institute in partnership with Religion News Service, was conducted a
week after a March 11 earthquake triggered a devastating tsunami and
nuclear crisis in Japan.
Nearly six in ten evangelicals (59
percent) believe that God can use natural disasters to send
messages—nearly twice the number of Catholics (31 percent) or mainline
Protestants (34 percent) who so believe. Evangelicals (53 percent) are
also more than twice as likely as the one in five Catholics or mainline
Protestants to believe that God punishes nations for the sins of some
citizens.
