I had not planned to comment on Pat Robertson’s unfortunate remarks on the Haitian earthquake, but a coincidence of reading impels me to do so. On the subway today, I was reading the Koran, surah 7, which recounts how Allah sent Salih to the Thamud people to warn them to worship God alone. The people “insolently defied the order of the Lord . . . so the earthquake took them unawares, and they lay prostrate in their homes in the morning!”

Two historical eras, two earthquakes . . . but an identical confidence in the transparency of God’s will. This is a misconceived and counterproductive line of thought. If these two earthquakes are legitimate evidence of God’s displeasure, what are we to make of the (much more numerous) instances in history in which sinful nations were not punished in any conspicuous way? Jeremiah asked, “Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper?” (12:1) and the Psalmist pointed out “the prosperity of the wicked” (73:3). This fact, using the Koranic/Robertsonian logic, can be taken as legitimate evidence that God either a) does not exist or b) is wicked, because he favors the evil over the good.

I remarked upon this to a colleague here at NR, who reminded me of a better approach: “Those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish” (Lk. 13:4-5).