Okay, I must stand my proverbial ground here. I will respond to my responses. I will respond to the following:

"I hate to think of a God that kills people!"
"We are part of that very same system and most of the time we are the predators with no natural enemies (other than each other)."
"I also couldn’t bring myself to believe there is a God out there with such vengeance."
"I just can’t bring myself to believe he has a master plan to pick people off this earth or inflict pain and suffering."
"I think the vengeful, punishing God of the old testament mostly, was interpreted that way by the ancient Hebrews who needed an angry God to keep themselves in line."

Okay, let's see, where to begin? Alright, I may have been rash yesterday, saying that God is "mad". Perhaps dissapointed is a better word. I mean, here He's given us this world, and given us pretty much free reign over what we do with it. All He asks is that we please take care of it, and take care of each other, for the most part...Oh, and please give Him some credit where credit is due and be appreciative. However, we're not doing such a swift job at that.

I never, ever said that God is either "vengeful", "punishing", or a killer. However, if you refuse to believe that God has a hand in all death, as well as all birth, then in my humble opinion, I think you are wrong. I think it's funny that we celebrate the birth of a new baby, and applaud God on making such a wonderful and innocent creature. Then, when someone dies, we curse Him. Hey, when He put us here, He made it perfectly clear that one day we will all die. We don't know when, but when our time is up, it's up, and God has a large part in that. I'm not saying by any means that He's doing it out of meanness, spite, or anything bad. I don't think God is like that, either. However, he does play a major roll. He understands that sometimes people have to die, and sometimes there is a good reason for it, whether we want to accept it or not. Everything that happens in this world has an important lesson in it, whether we see it or not. I learned this just recently when we had our troubles with our house selling. At first I blamed God for punishing me, and was mad about it. Then I realized that it wasn't punishment at all, but a lesson for me. Once I did, my house sold, and I came out of the whole ordeal with important new life-guiding knowledge. I'm learning from Katrina, too. Just from what I've seen, I already know that there are people out there that are kind, and will do everything in their power to help. I'm seeing a side of me that is compassionate and wants to do something to help people, people I don't even know, buy feel deeply for. I'm learning that their are evil people, who would use this time as a chance to take advantage and loot and pillage those that are already suffering. I believe that if God really was vengeful and a maddened killer, he would definitely kill those people first. However, surprisingly, they lived, while others were forced to give their lives to a greater cause and die. I'm learning from all of them. I'm learning about myself, the world, and nature itself.

As far as having no natural predators. I think that's wrong, too. Perhaps we don't have animals stalking us for dinner (usually), but nature itself is our predator. I mean, how else can you explain something that, in a matter of hours, is able to kill so many people? If that's not a predator, what is? Also, here is another instance where I completely believe that God had a BIG hand in what happened. He IS nature. He controls nature, and He decides what needs to be done and why. Why do you suppose this hurricane happened? You could argue science here, but it's my understanding that even the science world is beginning to accept that God plays the lead role in how science unfolds. You have to wonder how all of this got started to begin with. Yep, God. Someone had to have thought up all of the intricacies of the world. Unfortunately, sometimes nature kills. We have to deal with that, and not see it as vengeance or something mean, but just the tragedy that it is.

As for the "punishing" God, I don't think He's that at all. Just like I don't see myself as an angry, punishing mother. When I discipline TJ, I do just that, discipline. There's a BIG difference. Consequences are not punishment. God is our father. He is entitled to, and expected at some times to keep us in line. His actions must be on a grander scale, of course, as He has, oh, I dunno, trillions of children! He has to make a big wave and wake us up! There are lots of misbehaving children out there! Those Hebrews that needed a God to "keep them in line" are just like us. We need God to keep us in line, too. He doesn't have to be an angry God, but hey, He has every right to get upset and disappointed in us, and to show us the error of our ways sometimes. Like I said before, He did say that He was going to come back and destroy the world with fire one day, and who knows when that day will be. It was promised, which means He is free to do it whenever He pleases, without warning. I think everyone, while not being paralyzed in fear of it, should accept that one day, anyday, it could happen. As horrible as the thought is to perish in a fire the size of the world, God did say He would do it one day if necessary, and thus, it could happen. I don't like to think of dying, either, but I know that one day, it will happen, whether I like it or not. Will I blame God and call Him angry and punishing b/c I had to die? No. It was bound to happen one day, and it was part of my plan that He has for me. Will I be upset and sad, and maybe others will be sad, too? Yes, I hope, but that's much different from mad, and quite expected. I am sad that those people had to die. I'm sad that any person ever has to die. I'm sad that anything bad ever has to happen. I'm a really sad person sometimes. I don't blame God, though. I thank Him. I thank Him that I have been fortunate enough to be here as long as I have been, and that He have given me what opportunities I have been allowed, and given me the ability to learn from His lessons.

Do I think the end of the world is near? No. If anything, I think that this is a warning. I think that God is saying, "Hey, wake up! You guys need to heed my warnings, and you need to clean up your act. You're acting badly, and you need to start listening, before it leads to a much worse consequence." Could the end of the world be near? Sure. Could I wreck my car and die this afternoon? Sure. I don't know what's in store, and that's what I love about the world I live in. However, I think that God loves us so much that He's willing to do such a thing as have a terrible hurricane to help us. He knows that this will bring us closer together, and awaken us to how terrible things really can be. Who knows? Again, this is just my opinion.

Have a great day! I'll see you later!