Why would a god do this to his creation?

As I write this, the last few hundred human lives are slowly and agonizingly being snuffed out in the piles of rubble in Turkey and Syria. This, after days of agony for tens of thousands from the completely natural process of plate tectonics. 23,527 lives gone and counting.

As it happened at 4 a.m., essentially all these people were asleep in buildings. Families, sleeping. Pregnant women, children, babies, elderly people, good people, and nefarious people, sleeping. On top of the initial quake, there are the aftershocks which endanger rescuers’ lives and kill or trap even more. As if that’s not enough agony, nature threw in freezing temperatures and snow to make the misery stew even richer.

Imagine being under this landfill that was once a city. Come with me now using your own imagination. How will you finally die? Dehydration? Slowly bleeding out? Suffocation? Hypothermia? Or were you one of the lucky ones who died instantly as your skull was crushed to the thickness of a pancake? Will you hear your child, only a few feet away, screaming in terror and crying while you’re unable to do anything for them?

Will you tell them that everything is going to be fine, “God will take care of us”? Will your wife’s crushed corpse be draped over your still living body as you realize that her broken rib cage is what saved you — for a while. Will you wonder if a rescue will ever come? Will you drink your urine to stave off dehydration? Will you still believe in a god?

If you are a theist, I encourage you to examine these questions honestly and ask yourself why a god would do this to his creation. What possible benefit is there to this level of human suffering? Don’t settle for a weak answer.