Pain and suffering
It seems to me that many atheists will use the "pain and suffering" stance (among others) to explain why they think that God does not exist. Just because you can't see or imagine a good reason for why God might allow something to happen doesn't mean there can't be one. If you're saying that you can't think of a reason for all of the suffering in the world, then there can't be any, right? The problem with that, is that it's blind faith of a high order.
Take the story of Joseph in Genesis. He was an arrogant young man who was imprisoned by his brothers. He spent years in bondage and misery, but was strengthened by his trials. Eventually, he rose up to become prime minister of Egypt who saved thousands of lives and even his own family from starvation. If God had not allowed Joseph's years of suffering, he never would have been such a powerful agent for social justice and spiritual healing.
With time and perspective most of us can see good reasons for at least some of the tragedy and pain that occurs in life. Why couldn't it be possible that, from God's vantage point, there are good reasons for all of it?
If anything, pain and suffering may be evidence for God. People, we believe, ought to not t suffer, be excluded, die of hunger or oppression. But the evolutionary mechanism of natural selection depends on death, destruction, and violence of the strong against the weak - these things are all perfectly natural. On what basis, then, does an atheist judge the natural world to be horribly wrong, unfair, and unjust? The nonbeliever in God doesn't have a good basis for being outraged at injustice, which is their reason for objecting to God in the first place. If you are sure that this natural world is unjust and filled with evil, then you are assuming the reality of some extra-natural (or super-natural) standard by which to make your judgment.
Basically, it's a mistake, although an understandable one, to think that if you abandon your belief in God it somehow makes the problem of evil easier to handle.
It seems to me that many atheists will use the "pain and suffering" stance (among others) to explain why they think that God does not exist. Just because you can't see or imagine a good reason for why God might allow something to happen doesn't mean there can't be one. If you're saying that you can't think of a reason for all of the suffering in the world, then there can't be any, right? The problem with that, is that it's blind faith of a high order.
Take the story of Joseph in Genesis. He was an arrogant young man who was imprisoned by his brothers. He spent years in bondage and misery, but was strengthened by his trials. Eventually, he rose up to become prime minister of Egypt who saved thousands of lives and even his own family from starvation. If God had not allowed Joseph's years of suffering, he never would have been such a powerful agent for social justice and spiritual healing.
With time and perspective most of us can see good reasons for at least some of the tragedy and pain that occurs in life. Why couldn't it be possible that, from God's vantage point, there are good reasons for all of it?
If anything, pain and suffering may be evidence for God. People, we believe, ought to not t suffer, be excluded, die of hunger or oppression. But the evolutionary mechanism of natural selection depends on death, destruction, and violence of the strong against the weak - these things are all perfectly natural. On what basis, then, does an atheist judge the natural world to be horribly wrong, unfair, and unjust? The nonbeliever in God doesn't have a good basis for being outraged at injustice, which is their reason for objecting to God in the first place. If you are sure that this natural world is unjust and filled with evil, then you are assuming the reality of some extra-natural (or super-natural) standard by which to make your judgment.
Basically, it's a mistake, although an understandable one, to think that if you abandon your belief in God it somehow makes the problem of evil easier to handle.
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