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Why does evil exist? Why does God let it happen?
Many a minister, sheik, or rabbi will tell you it is because of one main reason. It is a little thing called 'free will'. According to a site called 'lavistachurchofchrist.org', the Minister there says:
"God created man to beings free to chose whether to serve God or not. God desires people who freely chose to serve Him. If God did not put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden, then there would have been no choice.
But notice that something else must also exist for man to be able to chose to follow God or to disobey Him. God had to give him a law. Without a law, no choice can exist. Right and wrong always exists, but unless we are made aware of the choice through a law, we cannot be held responsible for keeping or breaking the law. See Paul's comment on this fact in Romans 5:13. What we call sin is when a law of God is broken (seeI John 3:4).
Therefore, God put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden and He gave man a law stating that eating of its fruit would produce death. God even made it easy to keep the law. It wasn't as if the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was the only source of food nearby. God put the tree in the middle of a very large garden that contained very type of flowering and fruit producing trees. Adam and Eve had to pass by may alternatives in order to chose this one tree that was off-limits.
Why do innocent people suffer? There are a variety of answers to this question:
1) They suffer because they are not truly innocent. All people sin (Romans 3:22) and sins have consequences.
2) They suffer because other people sin. The consequences of sin is broader than just the one who sins.
3) They suffer because Satan wants to bring people down (Job 1:6-12).
4) God allows suffering to strengthen His people (Hebrews 12:4-13;James 1:2-4)."
When taken at face value, this makes sense.
However, what will happen if we dig a little deeper?
God gave us free will for us to choose to obey him. The angels have no other choice but to obey, which means the value of their worship is decreased. It has more value and significance to God when a species that are inherently sinners turn their backs on their very natures to worship and 'love' somebody they cannot see, hear, or otherwise sense. So what does this mean? God gave us free will so that the worship given to him would be of more value, even though he is omniscient, and knew that evil would be spawned from that free will.
In a nutshell, the atrocities happening in the world today and throughout history, were a result of God wanting an ego boost.
And if we dig even further, we'd fine something else too.
God doesn't truly care about good, now does he? Think about it. The main point he created us - the main reason he gave us free will to make life a test -is to see how many of us would worship him (even though he's supposedly all-knowing, and would already have known how many of us would do this) , and not to see how many of us would commit good. Now, if told that God wanted to test us and see if we did good even though we are nowhere are pure as the angels, that would be proof that the main thing God cares about is us doing good.
But that's not what he cares about.
According to many - if not all - religious scriptures, non-believers and sinners go to hell. Nonbelievers, not 'bad' people. Sinners are not necessarily wrong-doers.
Let's say you don't believe in God, or maybe call him by his wrong name (Yahweh instead of Allah, or Allah instead of Vishnu, or Vishnu instead of Yahweh, etc), but you are a good person with a pure heart. Are you going to heaven?
The answer is no.
Let's say you're a sinner, because you had sex outside of marriage. However, the sex was entirely consensual. As a person, you are honest, generous, and pure-hearted, but you just like sex. Are you still a sinner?
The answer is yes.
Now, let's turn the tables.
You are a horrible person. You murder innocent people in the name of God. But you follow the 'right' religion, whichever one it might be. Are you still going to heaven?* Well, why wouldn't you? You sin, every single day. However, come Friday or Saturday or Sunday, you get down on your knees and beg God for mercy and forgiveness. Are you a sinner? Not anymore. You are part of the Israelite army. You attacked Midian as the Lord had commanded Moses. You captured all the Midianite women and children and seized their cattle and flocks and all their wealth as plunder, and burnt all the towns and villages where Midianites lived down the the ground. You gather all the captives - people and animals - and take them to Moses and Eleazar the priest, and the whole community of Israel. They go out to meet you outside the camp.*Moses is furious, he asks you why you have let the women live. He tells you to kill all the boys and and all the woman who have slept with a man. He tells you that only the young virgins may live, and that you may keep them for yourself, as your captives. Are you still a 'good' person?
Why of course, you are only obeying God's orders, aren't you? For those of you who see nothing wrong with the above, let me ask you. Isn't adultery a major sin in the Bible, Quran, and Torah? Adultery is defined as voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and a person who is not his or her spouse. Well then, didn't the men in the Israeli army commit adultery? Or were all of them unmarried too? Let's say they were. Wouldn't that be extramarital sex? Why the contradiction? Either way, I'm sure any decent person would agree that rape is nothing like consensual extramarital sex. *Does God truly care about the evil being committed here, then? Obviously not. All three religions approve of slavery and rape of slaves, don't they? And yet God strongly disapproves of things like homosexuality, or laziness. He'll have your very flesh burn for all eternity because you're gay, with no possibility of heaven, but if you're a rapist or slave-trader, there is a good chance you'll still make it to heaven.
I think I'll be better off in hell, don't you?
And then, you have the religious people who say 'God loves us'. If God truly loved people, he would send you to heaven based on the good you did in this world, and nothing more. Maybe the suffering you faced on this world and the way you handled it would increase your chances of getting there. Take your reward, you earned it. Here's your break, you deserve it. If you were 'bad', you stay on planet Earth, slaving away and suffering because of the wrong you committed. Having all the hurt you caused other people rebound back on you. Maybe you'll be given another chance, with a better income, a better childhood. If you still harm people, then you stay on planet Earth and have all your deeds rebound on you. If you eventually show remorse, or regret, you are forgiven. That is fair, that is merciful.
But God doesn't work that way.
All of you who did what I told you to do, all of you who stroked my insurmountable ego, go to heaven. The rest of you, go to hell. I don't care what you did during your time on Earth. All I know is that you never prayed to me. Then religious people have the gall to come back and say 'our God is the most loving, and the most merciful'. Sending someone to hell because they didn't believe in you, hear about you, or follow you, or because their lives sucked they committed suicide, because they liked men instead of women, or because they questioned you, doesn't sound very loving or merciful. Personally, I'd sooner worship people like Princess Diana than any God in all these religions. And I'm sure lots of people would be better off doing the same.
You can argue that believers are sent to hell too. And you know what? That is exactly my problem. You say it meaning 'If you believe in God, but sin, you might still be going to hell'. I say that meaning 'If you believe in God, and don't sin, you're most likely still going to hell if you followed the wrong religion.' Nobody but Christians make it to heaven. Everybody else goes to hell. Nobody but Muslims make it to janna (heaven). Everybody else goes to jaheem (hell). How do you know which one to choose, then?
Religion is the notion that everybody is wrong but you. The way I see it, if there's no proof you're not wrong, there's a 50/50 chance you're right. However, other religions have that 50/50 chance. Which one? Everyone is convinced their religion is the right one. But how do you prove it? It's even more difficult to decide because in most religions, you are not allowed to ask questions. You just shut up and believe. Well, what if you're shutting up and believing the wrong religion? That means you're going to hell, aren't you?
And besides, with all the differences in thought patterns, personality, natures, cultures, and opinion, how does somebody like God - who made us with all these differences anyway - expect everybody to follow the same religion? And how come he refuses to be the least bit understanding of these differences, and difficulties with proving which religion is the genuine one. Why does he insist that those who follow the wrong religion are going to hell?
Simple.
Because God doesn't care about you or me, or anybody else in the planet. He doesn't care about good, or about love or mercy, or justice. The same reason evil exists, the same reason he sends good people to hell, the same reason he condones so much violence, is the same reason he made this world in the first place.
It's because the only thing God cares about, is himself.
And that is all.
PS: If any of you have any answers or explanations, I promise I am willing to hear them. And though I might have appeared disrespectful in this post (and I apologize for that) I will respond to you with respect. I will not talk down to you, judge you, or berate you based on your religion. It is God I am mad at, not necessarily his followers. Although I might have a word or two to say to those religious extremists...
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Originally Posted by eraser
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