The Billiken's Bluff

I don’t know all that much about William Safire. I do know that he is the token conservative on the otherwise left-leaning editorial staff at the NY Times. When I think of him I picture-

-A distinguished older gentleman.
-Wearing a tweed jacket.
-Who is either currently outfitted in a Tucker Carlson style bow-tie, or who has sported one at some point during his career.

I brought these biases with me as I read his Op-Ed column in today’s Times titled “Where Was God?”

Not your usual NYT headline, but then again Safire is the dissenting voice at the paper. I figured the editorial that followed would have something to do with the Tsunami. So one could say I was with him up until this point. But from there he lost me (and that's certainly not to my credit given that the Times is supposedly written at a 6th grade reading level). Safire sermonizes:

In the aftermath of a cataclysm, with pictures of parents sobbing over dead infants driven into human consciousness around the globe, faith-shaking questions arise: Where was God? Why does a good and all-powerful deity permit such evil and grief to fall on so many thousands of innocents? What did these people do to deserve such suffering?

Safire went on to take few shots at Voltaire and 18th century French philosophy (and its cynicism). From there he proceeded to critique Bible translations, and give a dissertation on the book of Job. All in the name of the Tsunami? Safire writes:

Job's lessons for today:
(1) Victims of this cataclysm in no way "deserved" a fate inflicted by the Leviathanic force of nature.

(2) Questioning God's inscrutable ways has its exemplar in the Bible and need not undermine faith.

(3) Humanity's obligation to ameliorate injustice on earth is being expressed in a surge of generosity that refutes Voltaire's cynicism.

My understanding of the editorial section of any paper is that it consists of opinion columns that not only pertain to the current issues of the day, but that are also written in response to some sort of popular opinion. For example another of today’s editorials in the NYT was a critique of the Bush Administration’s plan to privatize Social Security.

Safire seems to be on his own with this “Where Was God?” editorial. Maybe, I’m missing something but has there been a public outcry questioning God’s role in the Tsunami? The only thing that was straightforward is that Safire has issues with the French (but seriously what Conservative pundit doesn't?).

The editorial seemed to come completely out of left field which is strange given Safire's propensity for playing in the right field (hardy har har). No but seriously can someone walk me through Safire's column?