The ISU and Ames community met to question religious implications of the Sept. 11 attacks Monday night in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union.

A panel of five religious leaders answered questions about the terrorist attacks during the forum, “Where was God on Sept. 11?”

The panel included David Staff of the Evangelical Free Church; Ihab el-Kady, president of the Muslim Student Association; Vicky Curtiss, Collegiate Presbyterian Church; David Hunter, Monsignor Supple chairman of Catholic Studies; and Manjit K. Misra, Hindu Community of Ames.

Each speaker was given five minutes to answer why God did not prevent the terrorist attacks. Although the panel represented different religious groups, everyone agreed God was there that day.

They said He was with the rescue workers who risked their lives to save others; He was with the people who ran for their lives as the towers crumbled; and He was even with the terrorists.

Hunter began by recognizing the struggles people face with “God’s silence in the face of human suffering.”

El-Kady cited passages from the Quran. He made it a point to say that God was in the same place He was when He created Adam, during the Crusades, World War II and the Balkan Wars.

Hunter said this is not the first time God’s intervention, or rather the lack thereof, has been scrutinized.

God gave mankind free will to make choices, which have consequences, Staff said.

“God is allowing us to feel the consequences when we choose evil,” he said.

The panelists agreed that consequence was the reason God did not intervene.

Misra offered prayer to everyone as a way to heal.

“Prayer doesn’t change anything,” Misra said. “It changes the person and they change things.”