The God of the Judeo-Christian Tradition according to the Bible is All-knowing, All-Powerful and All-Good – and yet we have so much suffering going on in the world. The question is why? God knew these sufferings, had all the power to prevent it and refuse to prevent it.
The typical counter argument to this premise is of course: Because God gave us free-will.
Well then, is free-will worth all these sufferings? Adding to the fact that not all sufferings are caused by free-will.
For example, drought happening caused by erratic change in temperature. This change is caused by nature, with or without people messing up with her, environmental changes do occur. These droughts caused all the sufferings and deaths of so many animals that are so dependent on nature’s provisions – watershed and grasslands alike. And eventually, this natural calamity had taken a toll on human conditions. It made humans suffer too. Same is true with earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes and so on.
Christians always interject that suffering is the cause of sin. But how could you believe and imagine an innocent cuddly little baby gets crushed under a falling building during an earthquake? He has sinned, therefore deserved that fate?
Add to that, the animals who died during the drought, they did not sin. But they suffered as well.
Those are just couple of examples among the thousands.
It seems that this world is implausibly created by an omnipotent and all-loving God. In the human plain, a mother will not allow her child to be bitten even by a hapless tiny little ant. And she’s just human. But an All-Powerful and All-loving God will and will even allow you to die in great misery with His All-knowing eyes wide open poking on you while you die in pain.
However, religion is not totally irrelevant in our current or even ancient social affairs. It serves as a comfort blanket for people who are suffering and cannot find solace in science. It serves as a rebound for religious people who seems tossed and entangled in a rational or religious hubbub. For people who can’t seem to understand and stand the scientific answers to the why’s of the world, religion is their asylum – regardless if God exist or not.
And because of this, more often, religion is giving us this so-called mental slack. Where we virtually or literally stop thinking. Religious people stop right there, lay there back luxuriating in the coach of satisfaction. Because, why kept pursuing something that is incomprehensible why not just settle with comforting religious assertions?
Most religious hate science because according to them there is no spirituality in it. Well, it depends on how you define spirituality. But most scientist are very spiritual beings. They love and romanticize mysteries – the mystery of nature and the mind, the mystery of the universe, the stars, galaxies, planets – you name it. In fact, they are more in touch with it. There wide-eyed bewilderment is as religiously spiritual as religious zealots themselves.
One more incoherence we find about religion, Christians more in particular, is that they are made up of more than 30,000 religions and denominations – each of those religion guarantee that they are the True Church founded by Jesus. And since they are the only true church, all others are false. There cannot be a Duality of Truth or duality of the True Church (as Jesus has said, he will build his Church not churches). And if you are soul-searching for the right church to strengthen your spirituality, what is your chance of getting into the Right and True church of Christ?
As to the concern about morality, conscience and justice. This can be easily answered no other than by reason, the natural laws, human laws, the golden rule. These scruples don’t need religious reinforcements or even religious origins for it to be workable in a society.
In fact, the irony is also true about the religious texts and books of religion, it is not morally upright either. In fact the Divine Command Theory which says religions or God is the source or morality, was questioned and put by Socrates in the hotbed of his inquiring mind.
It is only in the Bible where you can read an All-Loving God slay an entire village (Book of 1 Samuel) for no reasons at all (or if there is, how do you equate that to an All-Loving and Moral God?). God even allowed the massacre of innocent babies during the time of King Herod (Book of Matthew). Koran on the other hand, promise paradise to those who blow themselves up among the innocent hapless people. The more and the more of them innocent people die – the better!
What moral standards do you think these books have?
So, the paradox of an all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-good God in the face of so much suffering and moral confusion is a deeply troubling question in the Judeo-Christian tradition. While religion can provide comfort and refuge for those in need, it is important to continue asking questions and pursuing understanding, even when faced with incomprehensible mysteries.
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