RELIGION TURNS NATURAL SUFFERING INTO AN IDEOLOGICAL WORD GAME

When people go too far to defend their belief in God that shows this is not about God.  It is not about truth either.  Therefore it is not about morality as morality.  There is no morality if truth is not regarded as important.

God and evil give rise to tensions.  How can a good creator let such terrible crimes and evils happen?  Religion denies that God has anything to do with evil.

Moral evil, the evil that people willingly do, is thought of as the absence of a good that should be there and is not. Natural evil is thought of as the absence of a good that is not there too. These ideas are calling evil black. Black is said to be the absence of colour and light.

Now some religious people deny that natural evil is evil but they are clearly saying there is nothing evil or bad about being killed by an earthquake. It is one of these: good, bad, neutral, non-moral. They hold morality does not apply. But if a God is making such things possible and they happen under his watch this is not true. Even if morality as they say does not apply to God, the question, “Is God being evil/cruel/harmful to us?” does. They just simply assert that morality does not apply but what use is that? You may as well assert that it does and he is evil.  This is about what they prefer the truth to be not the truth.  Even if you could make out that a God allowing terrible things to happen to babies when he has a way of saving them - we are not saying he should save all but that there are cases where he would be best intervening - does nothing to detract from his goodness, your understanding of good is not what human nature can relate to.  It is hand waving fuzzy nonsense.  Ideologies always abuse language.

It makes no sense to wish nature was better and to say you wish persons were better. Better is good whether it’s nature or people. You clearly just want to use evil as a weapon against people so that you can moralise.

Black is not a true colour and is the absence of colour and light. Or so we are told. But what if we have something so dark it seems to be black but is not? Then if evil is not real it is virtually real or as good as real. If evil is as good as real even if it is not quite real then the following argument collapses.  "Evil is only disordered good, the absence of a good that is needed and is not there and is not a force in its own right so the suggestion that God makes it is silly.  There is nothing to make."  This turns God into an evil monstrosity that you make look good. 

You may present the morals and guidance he gives as his gift and as the truth.  The morals given by an evil god are cosmetic and opinions.  They are inauthentic.  Look at this.

Tyrant x rules. He kills at a whim and many cannot bear the torture he sends to them and they kill themselves.

So what will you think of this person?

You can assume that he thinks morality is only opinion or so messy that rules are impossible to work out. That view would be too soft and will ensure that firm action against him may not be taken or discouraged.

You condemn x as unfair and cruel and morally wrong. That is the alternative.

If your ideological view is that right and wrong are only opinions or at least to be treated as such for we cannot know for sure then you cannot think of it as unfair and cruel and morally wrong.

If you have the softer view that right and wrong are real but very shadowy meaning that opinion is involved too much then you cannot be firm on his actions being unfair and cruel and morally wrong.

To reject what somebody does is weak and shallow when both of you have the same ideology.  This is when both of you agree that there is no decisive way to tell right from wrong. Using God to argue that there is, is only shifting the problem to God. If morality is only opinion and you are not happy with that then trying to drag a God into it will only make you less happy. You are saying he has the last word simply because he is or has power. But that is condoning his bullying and using him to bully and wanting him to be a bully. People focusing on God’s opinion may create order but that is all it does. It remains a mere opinion.

God belief should make you know your place and be humble instead of imagining you are better than you are. If you are using God to pretend that your moral ideas are firmer than they are then you are not connected to God but are twisting ideas about him for your own benefit.

We conclude that preferences influence the believer too much and their account of evil is inadequate and self-serving.  This is people's wellbeing and lives we are talking about.  It is not a game to play ideology with.