A shooting in a movie theater.
A shooting in a mall.
A shooting at…an Elementary school?!
If God is so good and so loving, why does he not intervene? Why does he just stand by and allow this to happen?!
Over the next few days I imagine you’ll see multiple blogs and facebook posts that will ask this question as if it is definitive proof that God must not exist, and the counter to those questions put into clever Meme’s or pictures. This, to me, is almost as tragic as these incidents. We reduce the question of God to clever stories and witty questions. All of these are likely without any philosophical or theological merit, and that is the ongoing tragedy. The question of why does God allow evil and suffering starts with the fact that he allows us to have free will. Humans chose to sin. You do it. I do it. God has provided a redemptive work based on love and forgiveness to solve this problem of sin, but it isn’t an instant fix the eliminates all future sin. It also isn’t an all sweeping solution that applies to the entirety of humanity. You have to choose to accept that, and in today’s world, more people reject that truth behind “logic and reason” than accept it. Evil is the result of unchecked sin that is made by human free will. Take this video for example. Richard Dawkins, a well-known proponent of Darwinian Evolution, and outspoken “hater of religion”. Let’s not get into a discussion about that term “religion” here, you can find my thoughts on that elsewhere in this Blog, but in the video below (start at 1:45 if you don’t want to watch the whole thing) he argues that religion is about brainwashing our children based on the culture you are born into, and that brainwashing is what the source of evil acts such as the “blowing up buildings” are.
I'll assume then on some level Richard Dawkins would believe that these shootings of late are the result, albeit indirectly, of Religions. As Dawkins states: “I don’t think that any kind of reasoned argument would do that to people” Dawkins goes on to admit that Religion doesn’t ALWAYS cause this kind of evil but because it can, he wants to “cut it off at its roots”. This argument is so logically flawed it’s not even worth addressing in detail. Dawkins drives home his point by showing the extremes of religious activists around the world; Extremist Muslims, Westboro Baptist Church, The Crusades.
This world isn’t intended to be easy. It is a struggle. God promises this. He doesn’t promise that if you believe in him life will become easier and he will take all your worries away. That is what false teachers like Joel Osteen, who are almost more dangerous than Richard Dawkins, want you to believe. Why? Because when tragedy happens to you, or you see tragedy in the world, you don’t have any ability to process it in terms of your faith, or belief. "Joel Osteen told me if I do good, then I will be rewarded, so then why are bad things happening? Have I angered God?" This makes me more upset than anything Richard Dawkins says because Joel Osteen is just setting up countless people up for disappointment and potentially turning their back on “religion” cause what good can it do. THAT is a problem. It isn’t about when you do this then something good will happen. God is good, but he also gave us the freedom to choose him, or chose sin, and thus evil. Sometimes those choices by others to choose evil, impact us. That is the world we live in, as humanity, this is the path we have chosen, and because God loves us, he is offered an escape route, but he isn’t requiring it, and is going to let us choose.
I would say to Richard Dawkins, you can create your videos that give the impression that the source of evil is religion, you can show extremists in cleverly edited videos with moving music, but I just need to turn the news on to see what evil is. These shootings weren’t the work of some believers who were brainwashed. The evil we see today with shootings at elementary schools pierces our sense of order. The unwritten rule of “not the children”, because that is exceptionally evil. Disasters happen. Evil happens, and it will happen again. I promise. Understanding why it is happening, and if there is a solution to evil is up to you. You can buy Richard Dawkins antiquated argument that Religion is the source of evil, because broken human beings have done evil in the name of religion. Or you can choose to understand that all of humanity is broken, and lost, and there is only one solution.
The video below, is a video showing a tragedy of a bridge collapse with John Piper talking bluntly about Evil and Suffering. It seems like you could take his words, and place it over any collection of video showing any number of tragedies…including the most recent one in Connecticut, Oregon, and Colorado.
This isn’t a political issue, this isn’t a science issue. At its core, this is a problem of Evil. There is a solution. It is love. Specifically it is whether or not we accept the free love Jesus has offered us. The good news? He gave you the free will to accept it, or reject it…
In the beautiful phrasing of Tenth Ave North’s song “The Struggle”:
“Hallelujah, I am free to struggle, but I’m not struggling to be free.”
Jon
