Keep God out of our tragedies, indeed

I agree with David Werdegar's letter in the Sept. 14 Daily Herald in which he said that he was tired of reading about some horrible accident where a victim was saved by someone who claimed that God had brought him there at the right time to save that victim.

Mr. Werdegar says that this was just a matter of chance, or otherwise we would have to wonder why God did not send good Samaritans to miraculously appear at all automobile accidents.

I have a similar story to tell. On that same day there was a report about a turboprop plane with 51 passengers and crew members that crashed in Venezuela and burst into flames, killing 15 of those aboard while 36 survivors were pulled from the wreckage. I am greatly disturbed by the remarks of Bolivar State Gov. Francisco Rangel Gomez who told us, "There was a miracle here today. We have 36 people who survived with problems, but alive Thank God."

How does that make the families of those who died feel? Are they being told that our God is an arbitrary God who takes some lives but favors the others who survived? And if so, why did God choose to act in such a manner?

It would be much better, and respectful of our God, if we simply concluded that some things, like this terrible crash, happen at random, and God had nothing to do with it in picking and choosing those who died and those who survived. It would be best for us all if we simply kept God out of our tragedies.

Theodore M. Utchen

Wheaton