is bird flu a punishment from God?

Today I'd like to address a serious problem
that is bird flu-related, but not really
about bird flu itself.

Several days ago, I read a news story
about an extremist Jewish group who claimed
that bird flu spreading to Isreal was God's
punishment for the Isreali government
removing Jewish settlers from areas otherwise
populated by Palestinians.

Yesterday I was listening to Sean Hannity
on the radio and he read quotes from a
Palestinian inman in a mosque claiming that
the bird flu was Allah's way of punishing
Isreal for its crimes against the
Palestinian.

Maybe it's only to be expected that bird flu in
Isreal would bring out more craziness than bird
flu in Turkey, simply because so much religious
conflict centers around The Holy Land.

But unfortunately, I'm sure these are just
harbingers of much more craziness to come.

As bird flu continues to spread and eventually
becomes a contagious pandemic killing millions
of people -- it's only natural that it become
a tool of manipulation and that people scared
of it allow their emotions to be used and abused.

I'm sure that will be true of Christian
extremists and more Muslim and Jewish
extremists.

Folks, all I can say is, if you're reading
this blog -- please don't add to the craziness.

Bird flu is a deadly serious threat by itself.

It's not my place to tell you what God wishes,
for or against any group of people.

Personally, I believe in God, but I also
believe that bird flu is loose on Earth simply
because an A/H5N1 virus mutated into a form
that people could catch from chickens, and now
it's spreading.

It's that simple.

Let's try and be a little rational here. Bird
flu has NOT shown any preference for any one
religion or nationality.

It started killing people in Hong Kong,
where people are sort of animistic/Taoist -- Chinese
are very eclectic in religion. It's gone to The
People's Republic of China where everybody is
officially atheist.

It's spread to Vietnam which is much like China.

It's spread to Thailand and Cambodia which are
Buddhist countries.

It's killed a lot of people in Indonesia, which is a
Muslim country.

It's killed Kurds in Turkey and Iraq.

It recently killed a woman in Egypt who presumably
was Muslim.

Latest news is that it killed 5 young people
in Azerbaijan -- who presumably are Muslim.

I think it's obvious that a virus is too tiny
and brainless to know or carry about anybody's
religion or race or ethnicity. All it cares about
is replicating itself, and it can do that in
anybody's upper respiratory tract.

And viruses have been on this planet since the
beginning of life -- long before people of
any kind.

It's not my place to speak for God. So I don't
know where A/H5N1 fits into the plans of
the Almighty.

I think it's just as reasonable (and spiritual),
to assume that if there's a Divine Plan for
bird flu, it's to encourage us to:

Enjoy life more while we have it

Appreciate our friends and loved ones more
while we still have them

Learn to take better care of our health,
especially our immune systems

Set up global public health systems to
protect the entire population from
infectious diseases

If you are religious and want to add that
bird flu should help us be more aware of
God and to have more faith -- of whatever
religion -- then that's fine with me.

It's not my place to advise that, but I'm
all in favor of it.

Whatever your religion or lack of one,
do everything you can to protect
yourself and your family from the VIRUS
bird flu.

Take all the comfort and faith that your
religion provides -- let it give you
strength to get through the trying times
ahead.

There are trying times ahead for all of us.

If not bird flu, it will be something else.

That's the way it's been since humanity
started standing upright.

We've progressed a lot in the past half
a million years, but we did it by
solving and surpassing our problems. By
turning negatives into positives.

By enduring despite all problems.

Not by blaming God.