how could God "let" this happen...not why did God do this? The Bible tells stories of God's punishments but it also tells that God "causes it to rain on both the just and the unjust"...Christians are not exempt from God's punishment. My interpretation of Larry & Alice's post was that it pointed towards a deterioration in values, kindness and consideration in American society that may be attributed in part to removing religion from (or not allowing it into) areas of our society. That's just my take on it... Steve B