The Camp Mystic Tragedy, God, and Darwinism

Most Americans probably know of the July 4, 2025 flash flood tragedies in Texas. The one that is most prominent is Camp Mystic for Girls near Hunt, Texas. At this writing, twenty-seven campers and counselors are dead, and others are still missing. In this and other disasters, people wonder, "Where is God?"

There is a word for attempts to reconcile the love of God (or even his existence) with evil in the world. It is theodicy, but academic discussions can seem glib or self-serving. Interestingly, the Camp Mystic tragedy is a challenge to atheists and other Darwinists.

Camp Mystic, Flickr / crawford orthodontics (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

The camp is a nondenominational Christian. It was established in 1926 as Stewart's Camp for Girls. It was sold in 1937 to the Stacy family. Somewhere along the line, the name was changed to Camp Mystic because the morning mist on the Guadalupe River gave the area a mystic feel, There had been several previous incidents of flooding over the years, but the July 4 flash flooding was by far the worst.

There are times when atheists actually cheer that Christians have died, and perhaps there are some who are celebrating the deaths of these Christians. That would be consistent with evolution, which is essential to atheism. And yet... in atheism, this life is all there is, so all life should be precious. 

How can they call death and suffering evil? By what standard? Atheism has no consistent moral foundation, so when they say something is bad, they are actually appealing to the ultimate authority — God, the Creator. Saying he doesn't exist because evil exists shows that we are fallen people in a fallen world, and his ways are beyond the understanding of us, his created beings. Atheists are not willing to admit that their complaints are not based on reason, but they are spiritual.

Although I am slow to present spiritual material from an Intelligent Design site, this article is worth pondering.

One of the most tragic events I can remember happened this July 4th — a flash flood in Texas killed nearly 200 people (as of the count today), 27 of whom were children and staff at Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp for girls. P.Z. Myers, who blogs at Pharyngula, tried to turn it into a political statement. Here is a quote from his post, avoiding the politics:

. . .

I share Myers’s horror. I found the news reports difficult to watch and can’t even begin to imagine the agony of the families who lost their little daughters. Across our country and around the world, people are mourning for these kids and their grieving families. Undoubtedly it has led many people to ask “Why would God allow this to happen?” — at a Christian children’s camp no less.

To read the entire article, see "The Challenge to Darwinism from Camp Mystic." Recommended: "Texas Floods: Where Is God in Tragedy?" Here is a song that helped get me through after my wife suddenly died, and is appropriate here: