I've often wondered myself (Deaths of 58 in tornadoes is baffling if a God exists)

I'm sure many of you that read this blog will chastise me either publicly or privately but hey this is designed to make you think. I have often wondered why it is that many praise GOD if someone survives a tragedy such as a flood, tornado, hurricane, wildfire, or earthquake, and yet they don't fault GOD for creating the disaster in the first place. I used to think I was the only one who thought in that manner until I was able to read the following in today's Springfield News Leader.


The dozens of tornadoes that ripped through a handful of southeastern states during the night of Feb. 5 claimed 58 lives and wreaked hundreds of millions of dollars in property damage. But the news surrounding this extreme weather event was not uniformly gloomy.
In the wake of a tornado that ravaged the rural community of Castalian Springs, Tenn., an emergency worker was searching for survivors in a field littered with dolls. Imagine his shock when he saw, in his words, the "little butt cheeks move" on what he had supposed was just another toy! Instead, it was 11-month-old Kyson Stowell. The tornado had hurled him the length of a football field from his home, left in ruins. Amazingly, he suffered only minor injuries.
Headlines around the world celebrated his story. "Miracle baby found in twister's wake," proclaimed Australia's Sydney Morning Herald. "Miracle baby Kyson Stowell alive after tornado whisks him away," trumpeted Britain's Times Online. While Kyson's story was the most widely reported, there were other wonders as well.
A tornado that swept across the campus of Union University in Jackson, Tenn., laid waste to the dormitories, but none of the estimated 1,200 students in them was killed. Many people of faith gave thanks to God for these "miracles." "We've had some divine intervention," declared Kyson's maternal grandfather. And Union University professor Michael Chute insisted, "It's a miracle of the Lord more people weren't injured" on his campus.
Such statements are deeply puzzling. They seem predicated on a conception of God as a kind of gallant knight who rides onto a battlefield to protect the innocent against forces of destruction. Just as we would lavish praise and gratitude onto such a knight, we should, on this conception, praise and give thanks to God for his benevolent protection. The trouble with the analogy is twofold.
First, the gallant knight did not create the forces of destruction. God did, if he exists; he created the universe and everything in it.
Second, the knight does everything in his power to save as many innocents as he can. Given God's omnipotence, and the tens of thousands of deaths around the world every year due to natural disasters, God obviously does not. If the "miraculous" survival of Kyson and the Union University students is in fact owing to divine intervention, the apt analogy is not with a gallant knight, but with a powerful tyrant who presides over a mass killing but capriciously decides to spare a few lucky souls. "Killing?" you ask incredulously. Yes. To kill is to cause death. God, assuming he exists, is the creator of the universe, so he caused the tornadoes. And the tornadoes caused the deaths of the 58. God may not have directly killed, but neither does an arsonist who foresees the fatal consequences of his action. "Capricious sparing of lives?" Yes. If God spared Kyson and the Union University students without caprice, this means he had a good reason for letting the 58 tornado victims die. But what could such a reason have been? Were all the victims especially bad people who were deserving of an early demise? Not likely. One woman drove a school bus for special-needs children and, according to newspaper reports, "was very well-liked." Kyson's unfortunate mother, 23-year-old Kerrie Stowell, was credited by her fiancé with having turned his life around.
Was God's reason for allowing the deaths of the 58 victims to bring about some greater good? Perhaps the warning system for weather-related emergencies will be improved. Perhaps people will build sturdier homes in the future. But such measures wouldn't be necessary if God had not created a world terrorized by natural disasters in the first place. When faced with such apparently senseless tragedy, many believers take refuge in the thought that "God's mysterious ways" are beyond our comprehension. But if this is so, then we cannot claim to know that it is God's goodness at work when some innocents "miraculously" survive natural disasters while others perish.

Homeless shelter for veterans in Springfield

I find it quite amazing that parents are up in arms about this shelter because they fear that a sexual predator might be allowed into this shelter, never mind that it would be a violation of Jessica's LAW if this happened.

Yet they will send their young children to government schools and they haven't the slightest clue if a sexual predator might be teaching little Sara or little Johnny. Do a goggle search on teachers having sex with children students and you'll get 1,760,000 hits on the subject. Not to mention the lackluster education they receive on the founding of this nation and the importance of the Constitution and this Republic.

Somehow a homeless shelter for veterans is supposed to contain mentally deranged patients that could somehow be a child molester but our government school system is FREE from this dilemma ? I DON'T THINK SO !!!!

YES Mr. Rice has a history of ignoring Springfield zoning laws, the one I recall the best happened a few years ago during an extremely cold week in '02 which Mr. Rice opened up his facility so as to allow homeless people to come in from the cold instead of freezing to death. The imperial government structure in Springfield booted the people out in single digit temperatures because the business they were housed in temporarily didn't have the proper zoning requirements for this action.

Resolution opposes homeless vets center

Incidents at other New Life facilities worry school board.

Cory de Vera
News-Leader


The Springfield school board unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday calling on federal officials to prohibit the New Life Evangelistic Center from operating a homeless veterans facility near Central High School.

The Rev. Larry Rice was able to obtain the facility, the former Social Security building at 806 N. Jefferson Ave., because a federal law in the McKinney Vento Act calls for surplus federal property to go to programs that help the homeless.

The resolution says New Life has "a history of noncompliance with Springfield building and fire codes, as well as a documented history of violent crime at several of its locations throughout the state of Missouri."

Having the facility so near the high school, says the resolution, "poses a direct threat to the safety and well being of the students at Central High School."

Several people from the Central High Site Council stood when Springfield board president asked for those in support of the resolution to stand. One person spoke out against the resolution.

The resolution which will be sent to Missouri's senators, congressman Roy Blunt, local state representatives and the governor, among others.

Board President Kris Callen said the resolution is not anti-veteran or anti-homeless. Instead, she said, it speaks to someone who may be very well-intended who runs facilities that have suffered negative consequences — including a recent murder — perhaps because of lack of oversight.

"This is prudent," said Callen. "We are trying to be as proactive as we can."

City announces hiring freeze, budget cuts

In an interview with Jason Wert of lifeofjason.com our Mayor Pro Tem Gary Deaver decreed that the city has a balanced budget and is required to have one. In understanding how the budgeting process works the city based on the best criteria possible proposes a budget based upon ASSUMPTIONS of revenue that MIGHT be generated. This my dear friends isn't a balanced budget unless the revenue projected is ACTUALLY received

© 2008, Springfield News-Leader

Springfield city government has been placed under an immediate hiring freeze, and city departments are being asked to cut their budgets by 7 percent because of an unexpected drop in sales tax revenue.

Deputy City Manager Evelyn Honea said today that city department heads must have their proposed budget cuts in by next Friday. She confirmed a hiring freeze was in place and would remain until the budget shortfall was fixed.

“The hiring freeze is putting some departments in a bind,” Honea said. “The fire department had five firefighters they were ready to make offers to, but we’ve asked them not to make those offers until this is resolved.”

The city has four other open positions affected by the hiring freeze.

Honea said she and City Manager Bob Cumley will review the proposed cuts and deliver a report to the City Council in March.

It will be up to the council to decide how to proceed, but she said the city needs to cut at least $4 million, she said.

While gearing up for the 2009 budget, the city had projected sales tax revenue would increase 3 percent, but it actually decreased 1 percent.

Honea said the city also was facing a $3.5 million shortfall in its contribution to the police and fire pension fund. The only way to solve the combined shortfall is to reduce the city’s general fund budget by 7 percent, she said.

In 2008, the $41 million general fund made up slightly more than half of the city’s $70 million total budget. Fees and revenue from other sources make up the rest.

Honea said it’s too soon to know exactly how department heads will meet the 7 percent budget cut goal. But cutting employees is likely to occur.

“Seventy three percent of the general fund supports personnel,” she said. “You can’t raise $4 million without cutting personnel. We hope to do it through attrition. We don’t plan on any layoffs.”

shameless self promotion

Steven Reed is well known in this area for trying to get a government boondoggle project here to the Springfield area. The project is called Amtrak. This wasteful government program spends millions of taxpayer dollars while bringing benefits to the minority and not the majority.
Another type project of which seems to be on the forefront is a technology park which he seems to want the taxpayers to fund to the tune of millions of dollars. This city doesn't have millions of dollars as the city audit pointed out.

Mr. Reed is also the self promoter that he was instrumental in getting the city audited and the Springfield News Leader finally listened to him long enough to put a blurb in the paper proclaiming his greatness for this thought. I'm not very familiar with his effort since I didn't live in Springfield at that time, but since 2006-2007 was the very first time this city got audited by the state I would have to assume his attempt failed.
I'm quite sure research could point to countless others in the past that may have made a passing statement on this same subject however we aren't promoting them as the originators.

It appears that Steven Reed wants to become the Paul Revere for this effort while the members of the local libertarian party, and the individual members of the police and fire departments are regulated to the status of Samuel Prescott and William Dawes

Construction under way on downtown parking

I believe all taxpayers of this wonderful city should follow the link and view the picture of some council members smiling happily away while we the taxpayers have to foot the bill. Even Mr. John Twitty can somehow manage to escape from his job as the head of City Utilities to watch the festivities as well. I wish I could just leave my business to observe someone digging a hole in dirt, but a responsible business owner and manager sees to the business at hand first.

I guess if I was assured that money would roll into my business without me doing anything I would've went, however I don't have the confiscation authority like city council does, however come '09 I would like the opportunity to narrow down the ability by replacing one of the yes men on council


Construction under way on downtown parking

The Heer's Car Park is one of two parking garages for 2008.

John Taylor
News-Leader


Construction began Tuesday on a facility that will provide 375 parking spaces for people who shop and work downtown.

The Heer's Car Park at the southeast corner of Campbell Avenue and Olive Street is one of two parking structures expected to be completed in 2008. The College Station Car Park south of College Street between Campbell and Market avenues will provide an additional 373 parking spaces.

The two garages are expected to accommodate visitors to the Heer's building, which is targeted for redevelopment, and College Station, a multi-use development that will include 77,000 feet of retail space as well as a 14-screen cinema.

Downtown parking has been the subject of at least one study, and city officials said there are plenty of places available if people know where to look.

Anthony Toste, who visits the Mud House on South Avenue nearly every day, summed up trying to find a place to park downtown in two words: "It's tough."

"When they did away with the diagonal parking on (South Avenue) it seemed like a crazy thing," he said. "We've gotten pretty good about cruising around until you find parking."

The trick, he said, is to know a few places where others usually do not park.

"The paid parking that keeps escalating doesn't seem like the best move," Toste said.

Ryan Lager said it gets harder to find a place to park after 5 p.m., but since he works downtown he can't always avoid it at certain times of the day.

"I just try to make it down here before it gets busy," he said.

Vern Morgan, city grants administrator, said there were 5,063 parking spaces downtown in 1998, according to a study done that year.

The breakdown was 4,234 on-street spaces, 3,533 parking lot spaces and 1,006 spaces in parking structures. The study did not specify what parking was free and what was paid.

Jason Haynes, project engineer with the city Public Works Department, said the total number of spaces has probably not changed significantly since the 1998 study. He added more on-street spaces have been added, but some off-street parking has been lost because of construction projects.

There are a lot of parking places that go unused because people either don't know where they are or because using them would cause people to walk farther than they want to, Haynes said.

Although the Heer's and College Station garages will be primarily for people who shop at those facilities, some spaces may also be leased to people who work or live downtown so they can get their vehicles off the street, Haynes said.

Mayor Tom Carlson said Tuesday's groundbreaking ceremony was a sign of spring.

"Some people plant flowers. We build buildings," Carlson said.

He said the event was important "to keep the momentum going on in the downtown area."

"We're creating a community where people can live and they can work and they can play," he said.