Arab West Report Egyptian press summaries and media research for dialogue

I criticized some Muslim preachers who deemed the tsunami a punishment from God. I also said that worldly punishment in that revengeful form contradicts the concepts of religious understanding and divine mercy.

 

Pope Shenūda lll of Alexandria, in his article entitled "Warnings from God" published in al-Ahrām daily, said that God sometimes sends warnings to mankind in the form of incurable diseases. These diseases include AIDS, Virus C and the cholera epidemic, which attacked Egypt in 1974 and left many victims. This led people to repentant for fear of the epidemic.

 

I have great respect for the Pope and his status, yet I completely disagree with him regarding the concept of warnings, given that divine revenge contradicts the basis of any religion or belief. How could God crush millions of innocent people just to ring the warning bells? This would spread frustration, and instead of consolidating beliefs it would make people hate religion.
 

What is the crime of an innocent baby, whose mother is suffering from AIDS? Does God want to warn that newly born child?

Similarly, cholera claimed the lives of well over 20,000 Egyptians in 1974, most of them from poor peasants, and certainly most of them believed in God and prayed.