So .. Is there a god?

IT'S a tragedy that has shaken the world - and it has rocked even the Archbishop of Canterbury's faith in God.

The death of 150,000 people in the Boxing Day tsunami taxed the belief of many - and Dr Rowan Williams, who represents 70 million Anglicans around the world, said: "The question, 'How can you believe in a God who permits suffering on this scale?' is very much around at the moment."

We asked distinguished believers and non-believers how they reconciled their faith with the horrors of recent days...

The Most Reverend Vincent Nichols, Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham

DISASTERS do not wipe out faith any more than they wipe out love. Rather, the light of love, the light of God, glows more persistently in that awful darkness. It shines in human heroism, generosity, selflessness and courage.

Death is the ultimate disaster... but come it will. But no matter how death comes, whether it is early in life, in adulthood or after a long decline - whether it comes in a sudden collapse or in such a calamity - it has no power to rob us of our God-given grace, our destiny to be with God for all eternity.

Suffering is inevitable and will come to all of us, whether we believe or not. But from suffering can come great creativity. Look at the remarkable response from the British public, which will build understanding between nations. Why God allows suffering remains a mystery. It's a mystery we've struggled with through-out generations without a satisfactory answer.

Human-rights campaigner and atheist Peter Tatchell

CHRISTIANS tell us that God loves the world, so why has he allowed this to happen? If God is omnipotent, he could have prevented it. Some have said that the £60million given by the British public is a sign of God's goodness. Try telling that to the 150,000 dead and the millions who've lost everything. The attempt to exonerate God is a sickening example of the irrationality of religion. The outpouring of generosity has nothing to do with God, it's an expression of compassion. We don't need a revelation to know that we should care for those who are suffering.

Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi

IT is the question of questions. How does God permit such a tragedy as the tidal wave? The simplest explanation is that of a 12th-century sage Moses Maimonides. Natural disasters, he said, have no explanation other than that God set life within the parameters of the physical. Planets are formed, plates shift, earthquakes occur and sometimes innocent people die. So the question is not, "Why did this happen?" but "What then shall we do?" That is why, in synagogues, churches, mosques and temples, we will be ask for donations.

Iqbal Sacranie, Secretary General, The Muslim Council of Britain

GOD says in the Koran: "Every soul shall have a taste of death and We test you by evil and by good, by way of trial. To Us must you return." Natural disasters are perhaps inevitable due to the very nature of our planet and it is inspiring to see different faith communities coming together to help each other. For believers, that faith will offer the hope of reuniting with their lost ones in the afterlife. With many of their material possessions destroyed, that hope will be all that they have left to hold on to.

Tory MP, Ann Widdecombe

WE have to remember that pain is God's clarion call to the world and the world has responded to this disaster magnificently. I'm not talking about tennis stars who've donated £5,000 but OAPs who've given £5 they can barely afford. How we respond to disasters is a measure of the workings of God, and how people put faith into practice. My brother, Canon Malcolm Widdecombe delivered a service yesterday explaining why this has has actually increased his faith.

Former Tory MP Jonathan Aitken

I AGREE with Rowan Williams. You'd have to be a very insensitive believer if you didn't question your faith in the face of such tragedy. There is no certain answer to the question of why God allows such things to happen and I can understand why people get angry with Him or reject Him as a result. But human experience shows that, from the earliest days of the ancient Israelites, God is the one constant presence who people can turn to for comfort. I believe that He is suffering with the people affected by this disaster.

Atheist Hanne Stinson, director of the British Humanist Association

I CAN understand why people question their faith now. After all, how can a God one considers loving and caring do something so totally random? For Christians, there's no answer to that. For people who don't believe in God, we must relieve the suffering as much as we can. Praying may give religious folk comfort but it doesn't meet people's needs for food, shelter and long-term reconstruction. I've already donated money to the relief effort - and I certainly didn't do it for a reward in heaven.

Dr Peter Malinowski, a trustee of Diamond Way Buddhism UK

AS Buddhists, we're aware that suffering is part of our lives. The shocking thing is that so much suffering can happen at one time. We don't believe in one outer force which directs our destiny, so such tragedies invoke more pragmatic questions for us - like how to relieve the suffering and avoid future tragedies. In general, we try to live our lives aware that suffering is possible on a personal and larger scale, and we always look at the long-term - how to create a world that's most beneficial for the most people.

Ramesh Kallidai, Secretary General of the Hindu Forum

IN Hindu tradition, calamities and disasters like this are seen as an act of collective karma, which means that every effect has a cause. To find out the cause of such suffering as we are now seeing in Asia is beyond the jurisdiction of humans. Instead we must concentrate on serving and healing the victims through compassion. The manner in which people have spontaneously decided to donate money or have flown out to help the victims shows that there is a divine spark in their hearts. To me, that increases my faith.

Questions and tasks:

1. Do you believe in God? What is faith for you?

2. All religions worship one and the same God, they just call Him different names. Do you agree?

3. Is there the “best” religion? How should children choose what to believe in?

4. What values are important for you to observe?

5. Why people go to church nowadays?

6. Why do you think most priests today have all the sins, they preach against?

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