[Vision2020] God's problem

[Chasuk]

On Thu, Feb 21, 2008 at 4:27 PM, Donovan Arnold
<donovanjarnold2005 at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Every bit of suffering by humans is caused by humans, without exception.

There are legion tsunami, hurricane, earthquake, flood, fire, and
drought victims who might disagree with you.  Ditto all of the victims
of malaria, pneumonia, tuberculosis, cancer, encephalitis, parasitic
infection, and birth defects.  I could make the list much longer, but
I'm sure you get the idea.


> God does not prevent humans from causing other humans from suffering because he
> gave us freewill.

So, I give my kids a gift that is so dangerous they will
unquestionably kill and maim themselves, and others, with it.  This
suffering will be also be visited upon their children, and their
children's children, etc., and I know it when I give them this gift.

What court wouldn't convict me?

I'm sidestepping the issue of whether free will exists, and running
with your ball.

If we had not been gifted with free will, we certainly wouldn't have
missed it.  I'm sure that my toddlers would have been fascinated by
razor blades, but I wisely decided against razor blades as a gift.
And do you know what?  They didn't complain, not even once.  We are
toddlers -- possibly infants --  before any putative God, so the
comparison is apt.

Now consider how well God engineered pain.  I'll admit that pain is a
pretty nifty idea, arguably even a necessity.  Think how badly we
might injure or disfigure ourselves if it weren't for pain causing us
to pull our hand out of the fire.  But did he really need to invent
phantom limb pain?  Or pain that continues for years and years, even
after its purpose has been served?  And did he have to make it so
intense?  A burn wouldn't have to hurt half as much and I would still
quickly pull my hand out of the fire.

Bravo, God.

Can we dispense with the piety now?