mwt.
Natural science and the Jewish creation stories both agree that the world is natural. That is, the world does not possess mind and is not an organism. In the creation stories the world is quite separate from God, a distinct object. For natural science, the world being an organism is impossible since investigation into matter requires that that matter be just that, matter. Making the world an organism, is a form of pantheism, so God is in the trees and the mountains and in the tidal wave. What then do we do with our understanding of natural process? The tsunami may be explained in terms of the collision of tectonic plates, we have no need of an explanation framed in terms of a world mind. What sort of world are we constructing when bad thoughts produce bad events in the world? It seems to me that that would lead to a huge loss of mental freedom, a kind of totalitarian thought control. And all of this despite the complete absence of any evidence that this may be so!

SELLS.. not a bad article.

THE INVENTED GOD...
I draw attention to an important point, you raised, that people tend to manufacture an image of God, which suits their world view and circumstances, and when a disaster occurs, that 'god' is resented because it upset their lives. This is the 'god' that Atheists usually refer to when they say "Humans invent a god because they are weak and need a crutch".
I find little resemblance between 'that' kind of god and the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob.

THE REAL GOD.
"God was in Christ, reconciling the World to Himself" It is summed up in the incident of the blind man in John 6 "one thing I know, I was blind, but now I can see"

LUIGI ..
u crusading Atheist you :) U have missed a crucial issue.
your words, u feel you will be defeated ===> "because the human ego, which is at the heart of religious belief, will always win out against truth and the rules of evidence. "
Some points there.
a) The Christian message is nothing about ego. "The first will be last and the last first. If any man want's to be first among you, u must become the servant of all"
"If any man will follow me, he must deny himself"
Much as I try, I just can't find 'ego' there.

TRUTH and the RULES of EVIDENCE
Luigi, the blind man was confonted by the 'intellectual heavies' of his day. He didn't come back with sophisticated arguments, he just said "duh. I was blind, now I see" well.. the homer simpson version might sound like that, but u get the point.
I could include personal experience here, but you would most likely write it off as a further invention. If I told you my close friend who has been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor, has had the initial surgery to remove what they could, and is undergoing chemo and radiation, was suddenly healed by Christ.. how would you react ? Seriously, think about it ..because if God did this, and you could see that it was medically verifiable by x-rays and disinterested parties you would have little choice but to offer your life up to God in selfless and generous service till you died. The more typical reaction would be ..."err.. it went into sudden inexplicable remission" :) (in a period of minutes ? .. hmmm)
We must be careful about what we expect God to do for us, we might just GET it :)
Soooo... perhaps an 'attitude reality check' is in order for you ? I'm not being unkind, I'm simply interacting with you in a vigorous way.

TSUNAMIS and other natural disasters.
I have a proverb for all of us. There are variations on the theme.
He who buildeth his home in the middle of the Dandenongs, while knowing about Ash Wednesday, should not blame God when the fire comes again.
He who buildeth his home on low lying coastal land, while knowing that tsunami's are a fact of life, should not blame God when the waves come.

The way we tend to think is that "But we have honored God all this time, we built our community around a Church or mosque etc WHYYY did He let this happen ? But the flaw there is that somehow we gain special privileges and protection from natural disaster by our faith, while ignoring common sense. And in so doing, we have just re-invented the God of convenience.

We should all pour out as much compassion and help as we can manage. But lets not blame God for such things.