Evil Absence

According to conventional religious doctrine, the problem of evil is resolved by the presence of free will. God lets bad things happen because it's important that we have the freedom to choose good or evil. In the case of tragedies not caused by anybody's choices - like natural disasters, or childhood cancer - it's all part of God's plan. What is God's plan, you ask? We're not allowed to know. Or we couldn't possibly understand. What's important is that in either of these cases, there is no material difference in reality whether there is no God, or there is an unreachable, unknowable God.

Why, then, should we believe in a God, when no God would result in the exact same reality? Because believing it has a positive psychological impact, perhaps? Understand that the question of whether believing in God helps us is very different than the question of whether God exists. In a lot of cases, that belief IS helpful to people - especially people who are coping with grief and tragedy. Because, like air rushing in to fill a void, it provides us with something that is lacking. In other words, we believe in a God because we NEED there to be a God, to make sense of what is unfortunately a senseless reality.

On the other hand, history provides us no shortage of examples of the worst kind of horrors perpetrated for the glory of God. The problem is that blind, unquestioning faith has - as atheist activist Greta Christina once put it - no reality check. It can be (and has been, and continues to be) used as a blanket to cover up the justifications for all manner of atrocities. If it can go both ways, then isn't it better that we stick to a philosophy that's beholden to rational analysis? Reason can be questioned. It can be put on trial. Our judgment may be inferior to God's, but who is fool enough to believe the man who says his own judgment IS God's? Because he figured out how to put on a priest collar? Shouldn't God be able to speak for Himself?

So why does He remain silent? If God exists, why does He permit men to do evil in His name, when He could easily set the record straight? Is such a being even worthy of the title? Worthy of being worshipped? What kind of an egotistical narcissist must He be, to care more that you show your devotion in the absence of any evidence, than He cares to actually be present in our lives and provide guidance to those of us who so desperately need it? He's no better than an absentee father, demanding but undeserving of your love.