Patience is a virtue when seeking the big religion story
By Terry Mattingly, On Religion
Saturday, January 13, 2007

Journalists may not know the precise meaning of the word "theodicy," but, year after year, they know a good "theodicy" story when they see one.

The American Heritage Dictionary defines this term as a "vindication of God's goodness and justice in the face of the existence of evil."

Wikipedia calls it a "branch of theology ... that attempts to reconcile the existence of evil in the world with the assumption of a benevolent God."

There were three "theodicy" events in 2005, so the Religion Newswriters Association combined them into one item in its top-10 story list. What linked Hurricane Katrina, the Southeast Asia tsunami and another earthquake in Pakistan? Each time, journalists asked the timeless question: What role did God play in these disasters? the rest