I have a hard time understanding why a "loving God" would perform such an
act that would destroy lives. I don't think these things have anything to
do
with God.

I have a simple problem with the logic....

To assume that God was the cause of the heatwave to kill 14,000 means you
have to accept the fact that God delivers judgement on nations that He feels
are in error.... that is, have broken his laws.

One of his most basic 10 laws is "thou shalt not kill" (and, actually, it
has
been interpreted that this really means "thou shalt not *murder*")... this
being so, why hasn't the nation of islam been completely struck down
by lightning bolts? Why haven't nations like Israel suffered judgement?
Why did the United States have to unseat saddam hussein after he
gassed tens of thousands of his own people, threw men into woodchippers,
had mass graves and.. well, you know the rest of the atrocities...

At the very least, to accept the idea that God renders judgement upon
nations is also to accept the idea that he does so *selectively*, randomly,
and not in proportion to the sins He sees they are commiting. Whatever
the french have done to the United States, it pales in comparison to
mass atrocities that are now currently happening through the entire world.

My $.02 worth.

Clint