EVEN IF GOD DOES ALLOW EVIL FOR THE RIGHT REASONS DO WE AGREE WITH HIM FOR THE RIGHT REASONS?
The debate about if we should say that a good God might let innocent people
suffer is a raging one.
Believers have a bad attitude towards human suffering. In human nature, we might
go along with somebody doing bad but there will be a line that will prompt us to
say no more. In religion there is not. No matter what happens or how terrible
the evil that God allows to happen is, the religions glibly say, "I don't know
what the reason for such suffering is. I just know God cares. I know the answer
to the problem of evil is not the notion that God does not care or does not
exist. I don't know why people suffer but I know it is not because God is
indifferent to them or hates them. He loves them." Imagine the torment a
battered wife would endure by telling herself that her husband cares when he
lets terrible things happen to her. It would be a struggle for her on top of all
her terrible troubles.
There is great vulgarity in religious people who have great lives or at least
tolerable lives who condone what they see as their God letting others suffer
horrendously. You should suffer as they do and in exactly the way they do before
you condone! Their attitude does not deserve respect and we need to break the
conditioning that makes us feel, "They mean well".
Those who condone typically do it because they feel it is condonable. Or at
least it is mostly because of the feeling. Even if they think it is rational to
condone it, it will not be the reasons that will make up the prime motivation
for condoning. A person condoning the suffering of another - particularly a
child - because they feel it is condonable is outrageous in its arrogance and
selfishness. You cannot be a truly good person and excuse evil for you feel you
want to.
Finally
It is always wrong to condone God letting people suffer when there is no proof
that he cares and is right to let this happen. You need proof because it is such
a serious matter. You don't want to trivialise suffering to any level.
Belief in God cannot help the sufferer. It only helps those who want to degrade
the suffering of others by wanting to rationalise it and attempting to
rationalise it.
We must not forget that it is extremely serious to say that we are to blame for
evil not God. The atheist can blame nature. That is much better.
If you believe God is right to allow so much evil to happen the problem is that
even if he would be it does not mean there really is a God. You are still
worshipping something that harms people. To worship a God who does not exist is
still to worship something - maybe nature or your imagination. You are still
condoning the evil happening when it should not happen. To respect those beliefs
is to disrespect those who hold them.
It should be very difficult if not impossible to have a loving trusting
relationship with God when he can prevent suffering but lets it happen. A person
who loves a tyrant who starves babies for fun shows that they are no better
inside than the tyrant. Think about how easy it is for that person to appear
good and not be good.
If you see evil as the useless thing it is, you create rapport properly with the
person who suffers. Trying to pretend the evil has a purpose only leads to a
failure to listen to the person who tells you how they feel it is useless. If it
is useless it needs to be seen as useless. Suffering people have to learn to
bring about good in spite of it and not because of it. Talking about a purpose
is about you trying to feel better and not about you helping them.
By the way suppose too many don't and never have had the right reasons for sanctioning God letting evil and suffering happen that would be a strong indication that there is no God or that he is letting them happen though they are not improving us.