Soon after the 9-11 inhuman, cowardly attack on the World Trade Center, various versions of the "Where Was God" letter began to surface in emails and eventually became well known.

I found what may possibly be the original letter at "Forever In God's Hands".

I have reproduced the letter below.

The letter speaks of the writer's faith in the God of the Bible and the wondrous miracles Biblegod wrought on that fateful day. I witnessed death, destruction, injuries and tremendous damage that day.

I fail to recognize the occurence of any miracles or wonders such as the ones the writer of the letter claims below.

The miracles were brought about by the brave and heroic rescuers, many of whom forfeited their lives on 9-11 to save their fellow human beings.

If Biblegod exists and was present that day, it is very difficult to recognize where He was helpful!

How many of us have heard that question, "Where was your God when the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were attacked?" Well, I know where my God was the morning of September 11, 2001, and He was very busy.

He was trying to discourage anyone from taking these flights. Those four flights held over 1000 passengers and there were only 266 aboard.   On one of the flights he was giving strength to passengers to try to overtake the hijackers.

He was on four commercial flights giving terrified passengers the ability to stay calm. Not one of the family members who were called by a loved one on one of the hijacked planes said that passengers were screaming in the background.

On one of the flights he was giving strength to passengers to try to overtake the hijackers.

He was busy trying to create obstacles for employees at the World Trade Center. After all, only around 20,000 were at the towers when the first jet hit. Since the buildings held over 50,000 workers, this was a miracle in itself. How many of the people who were employed at the World Trade Center told the media that they were late for work or they had traffic delays.

He was holding up two 110 story buildings so that two-thirds of the workers could get out. I was so amazed that the top of the towers didn't topple when the jets impacted. And when they did fall, they fell inward. God didn't allow them to topple over, as many more lives would have been lost. 

And when the buildings went down, my God picked up almost 6,000 of his children and carried them home with him. Reassuring his frightened children that the worst was over and the best was yet to come.

He sat down and cried that 19 of his children could have so much hate in their hearts. That they didn't choose him, and now they are lost forever.

He sent his children that are best trained for this disaster and had them save the few that were still alive, but unable to help themselves. And then sent many others to help in any way they were needed.

He still isn't finished though, He held the loved ones that were left behind in His arms. He comforts them daily. His other children are given the strength to reach out to them and help them in any way they can.

And I believe He will continue to help us in what is to come. He will give the people in charge of this great nation the strength and the wisdom to do the right thing. He would never leave us in our time of need.

So, when anyone asks, "Where was your God on September 11th?", you can say "Everywhere!" And yes, although this is without a doubt the worst thing I have seen in my life, I see God's miracles in every bit of it.

My comments follow. Again, the actual text of the letter is in BLUE. My comments are in RED.

How many of us have heard that question, "Where was your God when the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were attacked?" Well, I know where my God was the morning of September 11, 2001, and He was very busy.

Knowing that the writer was referring to the Christian God of the Bible, Jehovah, Yahweh or Biblegod we know immediately that his God is omniscient and omnipotent. This God knows all and can do anything. He has no limitations. According to His 'children', He is a God of love, mercy and compassion. He loves His human creation above all things. He knows the number of hair on each of His children's head. The writer knows these things because the Bible, which is of course the 'living Word of God tells him so.

He was trying to discourage anyone from taking these flights. Those four flights held over 1000 passengers and there were only 266 aboard.

Trying? Oh, of course. Biblegod has given His children 'choices'. He doesn't force them to do anything they don't want to do. Apparently, for that reason, He was 'trying' rather than forcing his children not to take the flights.

One wonders how He was "trying to discourage anyone from taking these flights". What methods did He use to cause the discouragment? Apparently, whatever methods He used, they were not successful since 266 of His children failed to heed Him or pay attention or possibly didn't notice that their God was trying to discourage them.

Was God's discouragement so subtle that 266 people just failed to notice it Being all-powerful, it is difficult to understand how He would lovingly allow 266 of His children to board the airliners which were destined to be destroyed along with all of their passengers.

On one of the flights he was giving strength to passengers to try to overtake the hijackers.

Trying? There is that word again. "Trying". "...to 'try' to overtake the hijackers"?

Was it not possible for Biblegod to simply give the passengers the ability to take control of the hijackers? According to the Bible, Biblegod caused his 'children' the Israelites to defeat huge armies. Populations of cities were often utterly destroyed because Biblegod willed it to be so.

Come to think of it, Biblegod destroyed the entire population of the world, with exception of six people, because the inhabitants were so wicked.

But in this case, Biblegod was apparently unable or unwilling to grant the power to overcome the hijackers. He only "tried". And his children, the passengers, failed to overcome the hijackers. They crashed in a field, being totally and instantly disintegrated on impact. And the hijackers were already willing to die for their cause. Clearly not a victory for His children, the passengers.

He was on four commercial flights giving terrified passengers the ability to stay calm. Not one of the family members who were called by a loved one on one of the hijacked planes said that passengers were screaming in the background.

The ability to stay calm? Yet he allowed all of the passengers to be murdered rather than save them from their instant disintegration and cremation as they flew into buildings with full loads of jet fuel at speeds of over 600 miles per hour.

Biblegod was calming his children rather than saving them from obliteration? I wonder. How does the writer know the passengers who were admittedly terrified moments before, "calmed" as they knowingly headed for their destruction, just moments away?

He was busy trying to create obstacles for employees at the World Trade Center. After all, only around 20,000 were at the towers when the first jet hit. Since the buildings held over 50,000 workers, this was a miracle in itself. How many of the people who were employed at the World Trade Center told the media that they were late for work or they had traffic delays.

Creating obstacles? Praise God! I wonder what the obstacles were?

The writer suggests traffic delays. There are traffic delays every day in New York. The delays are not miracles. Were there parking difficulties? Late buses? A lack of taxis? Did the workers wake up late and miss their subway ride? None of these are miracles. Rather they are everday occurences. Yet the writer attributes these conditions to "miracles" on September 11th because it is more convenient to attribute them to Biblegod than to normal, everyday, happenstance events. They are expected.

How many workers were due to report after the time of the impacts? How many had the day off or stayed home due to illness. How many forgot to set their alarm clocks? Are these also miracles?

"...only around 20,000" workers in the buildings at the moment of impact? What a gracious God. Why were there any workers in the buildings? Was Biblegod unable to clear the buildings of people or keep them entirely out of the buildings during the jet impacts?

He was holding up two 110 story buildings so that two-thirds of the workers could get out. I was so amazed that the top of the towers didn't topple when the jets impacted. And when they did fall, they fell inward. God didn't allow them to topple over, as many more lives would have been lost. 

The writer's comments become more ludicrous and absurd as he continues to write.

God "...was holding up two 110 story buildings..." yet he was unable to stop the airliners from taking off from the airports. He was unable to keep the passengers from boarding their fatal flights.

And God didn't allow the buildings to "topple"? It had nothing to do with the structure of the buildings? It had to be Biblegod who didn't allow them to "topple"? Instead, Biblegod "allowed" them to fall on themselves. What a gracious God. This way, "only" 2,823¹ human beings lost their lives.

The miracle would have been if none of the building's inhabitants had been killed or injured in the 2300 degreesfarenheit¹ oven created by the crashes. There was no miracle taking place here! Only the tragedy of 2,823 lives being lost.

The miracle would have been if the buildings had not toppled but rather stayed in placed. But they didn't. Apparently that was beyond Biblegod's will or abilities.

And when the buildings went down, my God picked up almost 6,000 of his children and carried them home with him. Reassuring his frightened children that the worst was over and the best was yet to come.

"...the worst was over and the best was yet to come."? 2,823 deaths, many horrible, excruciating deaths? 1300 children instantly becoming orphans¹ on that fateful day. 19,500 body parts¹ having been collected?

"...the worst was over and the best was yet to come" after 17 babies were born after 9-11 whose fathers perished in the 9-11 holocaust⊃1?

"...the worst was over and the best was yet to come" after 10,000 school children suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder¹ as a result of 9-11?

...the worst was over and the best was yet to come" after the loss of an estimated 100,000 jobs in Lower Manhattan area¹?

"...the worst was over and the best was yet to come" when, at the end of the year 2002, approximately 1.8 million jobs will be lost as a result of 9-11¹?

"...the worst was over and the best was yet to come" after the United States, in the following 6 months dropped approximately 20,000 bombs on Afghanistan¹?

"...the worst was over and the best was yet to come" when, 91 days after 9-11, Pat Flounders committed suicide by shooting herself after loosing her husband in the 9-11 holocaust¹?

"...the worst was over and the best was yet to come" after an estimated 3,620 Afghanistani civilians (including children) would be killed by the bombs dropped by the United States during its attack on Afghanistan¹?

Hundreds upon of hundreds more losing their father, mother, husband, wife, or loved one. Yet the writer tells us the "...best was yet to come."

I envision the countless thousands of nightmares after 9-11. I feel the pain and grief of those who said their final goodbye to their loved ones on that fateful morning without even knowing that they would never see or talk to them again.

He sat down and cried that 19 of his children could have so much hate in their hearts. That they didn't choose him, and now they are lost forever.

This statement assumes that all of the victims killed on 9-11 had "chosen Him" except for the Muslims who hijacked the airliners for their suicide mission.

The Christian writer doesn't mention if perhaps Biblegod "...sat down and cried..." for the others who were killed as non-Christians on that fateful day.

He sent his children that are best trained for this disaster and had them save the few that were still alive, but unable to help themselves. And then sent many others to help in any way they were needed.

"He (Biblegod) sent...?" The rescue workers who responded to 9-11 were there because they desired to be there. How did "He send them"? The rescuers were professionals performing their duties. They were firemen, policemen and volunteers. They were there from a sense of duty and compassion to help the vicims and the dying - not because they received orders from Biblegod.

And what of the trained rescue workers who were not his children? What of the Jews, the Muslims, and others of non-Christian beliefs? I wonder who sent them!

If Biblegod could have subtly caused all of these workers to help, He could have also completely prevented the entire disaster from even happening.

He still isn't finished though, He held the loved ones that were left behind in His arms. He comforts them daily. His other children are given the strength to reach out to them and help them in any way they can.

And yet Biblegod could have completely prevented the 9-11 tragedy had He wished to do so. The Christian will reply "But often we don't understand His ways" and "His thoughts are higher than our thoughts". We should therefore accept this tragedy and be thankful that only a few thousand human beings died and that the suffering of the extended families is beyond description.

And I believe He will continue to help us in what is to come. He will give the people in charge of this great nation the strength and the wisdom to do the right thing. He would never leave us in our time of need.

"...continue to help us..."? The murderers who flew the airliners into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the field in Western Pennsylvania had complete control of the planes. Where has His help then? We needed His "help" earlier, not after the tragic 9-11 events. At the onset until this present time help has not been forthcoming from Biblegod!

And wisdom? Our president, George W. Bush, stated immediately after the attacks that any country who was not for us was against us and that there would be consequences for those countries who are against us.

Of the 19 hijackers, 15 of them were Saudia Arabians&supl;. So far, the United States has bombed Afghanistan. The president has insisted that the United States go to war with Iraq immediately.

When the Saudis were first approached for the use of their bases to go war with Iraq, they refused. They refused to recognize the United States but rather deferred to the United Nations. Yet there has been nothing forthcoming from our president or his cabinet to suggest the Saudi Arabia is our enemy.

So, when anyone asks, "Where was your God on September 11th?", you can say "Everywhere!"

Thanks, but that won't be my response.

I recall stories from the Old Testament which speak of Biblegod's "love".

"At midnight the LORD struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well. Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead." (Exodus 12:29) (Italics mine)

" Now kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man, but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man." (Numbers 31:17-18)

And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem....let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity: Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women...." (Ezekiel 9: 4-6)

"Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt." ":Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, childrem and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys." I Samuel 15:2-3

"The sword without, and terror within, shall destroy both the young man and the virgin, the suckling also with the man of gray hairs. I said, I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men" (Deuteronmy 32:25)

"The people of Samaria must bear their guilt, because they have rebelled against their God. They will fall by the sword; their little ones will be dashed to the ground, their pregnant women ripped open." (Hosea 13:16)

"Then he said to them, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: `Each man strap a sword to his side. Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother and friend and neighbor." (Exodus 32:27)

And yes, although this is without a doubt the worst thing I have seen in my life, I see God's miracles in every bit of it.

There were NO miracles from Biblegod. If Biblegod actually existed He would have proved to be an ineffective but murderous demonic entity, experimenting with His creation, causing death, deep grief and unbearable circumstances.

Killing and violence is a way of life to Biblegod and his generals and other followers. Of course the bibliolaters respond with "God's ways are not our ways" and "He's God. He can do anything He wants". And that includes not having to follow His own rules. Wholesale killing ordered by Biblegod seems to be the order of the day in the Bible

Though I would very much like to, I fail to see any miracles or love coming from the events on 9-11. I see, rather, a non-existent mythical deity in which many have chosen to place their ":faith" and trust for naught.

For many, the questionable comfort of having a deity such as the demonic, murderous, Biblegod excuses them from having to think for themselves.

When events such as 9-11 occur, they can ease their minds by pretending that Biblegod exists and cares. They draw the strength of their faith from others who have also decided to suffer under the same God delusion.

They attribute a belief in Biblegod to our leaders, beginning with the president. And of course, with Biblegod giving our leaders His "wisdom" we are also excused from questioning the motives of our leaders in government.

I have tried but so far, I have never heard Biblegod's voice or felt His inspiration.

The photos above were taken by AARON who originally posted them on the "Extian" email list and has given permission to have them posted here. Thanks, Aaron!

Aaron writes:

"This is a statue of Jesus that is supposed to be crying, with his back turned to the rubble of the [Oklahoma City] Federal Building. I took these pictures because I thought how impotent this god is, how weak this god is. The dead lay behind him and what did he do to stop it? This is the god that supposedly created the Universe!"

"People put this up to comfort themselves because of loss, but they should tear this statue down, and put some far more deserving character in its place, an official, or a rescue worker."

"The guy they’ve got there now not only didn’t do jack shit to stop it; he is an accessory to murder for not using the power and knowledge he possessed to save these people’s lives!"

-Aaron Aaron's website:

http://www.salt-of-the-earth.net

Oklahoma City Federal Building Bombing

"Suppose we had a man in this country who could control the wind, the rain and lightning, and suppose we elected him to govern these things, and suppose that he allowed whole States to dry and wither, and at the same time wasted the rain in the sea. Suppose that he allowed the winds to destroy cities and to crush to shapelessness thousands of men and women, and allowed the lightnings to strike the life out of mothers and babes. What would we say? What would we think of such a savage?"

"And yet, according to the theologians, this is exactly the course pursued by God."

"What do we think of a man, who will not, when he has the power, protect his friends? Yet the Christian's God allowed his enemies to torture and burn his friends, his worshipers."

"Who has ingenuity enough to explain this?"

"What good man, having the power to prevent it, would allow the innocent to be imprisoned, chained in dungeons, and sigh against the dripping walls their weary lives away?"

"If God governs the world, why is innocence not a perfect shield? Why does injustice triumph?"

"Who can answer these questions?"

"In answer, the intelligent, honest man must say: I do not know."

ROBERT G. INGERSOLL, WHY I AM AN AGNOSTIC. 1896