Why does God permit evil????

Here we go again defending the faith but only till it gets too difficult. Im not attacking a particular faith but any description that has been offered for debate. If you are here to defend any description of god then be particular, don't divorce yourself from a certain questions but include them when you find it beneficial. You don't have to be a true creationists to believe god created humanity.

Xris,

I've stated my position pretty clearly. If it doesn't conform to your presupposition of theism, gosh, that's too bad.

--IntoTheLight--

I don't believe that God created evil. I think that humans choose to be evil. I think evil is entirely a human attribute.



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So you make rhetoric statements and don't think it should be debated? how strange.

But the question of this thread is, why does God permit evil. So who created evil, or where does evil come from, is irrelevant. Wherever it comes from, who's fault it is, and even if it is just natural evil, so it is no one's fault, the question remains, why does an all-powerful, all good God, permit evil? So whether God created evil or not has nothing to do with it.

It's difficult to debate with people when they consistently mis-quote you or try to pigeonhole you into a belief system that you don't subscribe to.

It seems to me, based on your style of attack, that you are used to dealing with Christians and traditional theists. Since my views do not conform to these standards, you are in a quandry and, honestly, seem to be striking out blindly.

In one post of yours, you criticized my views as "designer", as if there was something wrong with holding an individual perspective on theism. Then, in the above post (two posts up) you tried to pin the label of "creationist" on me even though I've clearly stated that not only am I not a creationist, but also that I find the argument irrelevant.

If you want to discuss my actual views, I'll be happy to have that discussion with you, but it's getting tiresome having to correct you in each post because you deliberately misconstrue something I clearly stated. And I believe it is deliberate, because you're obviously an intelligent person and I'm sure that you are more than capable of comprehending the actual words that I've written.

These shenanigans don't appeal me me; believe me I've seen this sort of thing many, many times before. Stick with what I wrote or please don't reply to me. Thank you.

--IntoTheLight--

---------- Post added 11-21-2009 at 06:01 AM ----------



Fair enough.

Q: Why does God permit evil?

A. Because God allows us to have free will. If God prevented evil from occuring, then we would not have free will.

Better?

--IntoTheLight--

It's difficult to debate with people when they consistently mis-quote you or try to pigeonhole you into a belief system that you don't subscribe to.

It seems to me, based on your style of attack, that you are used to dealing with Christians and traditional theists. Since my views do not conform to these standards, you are in a quandry and, honestly, seem to be striking out blindly.

In one post of yours, you criticized my views as "designer", as if there was something wrong with holding an individual perspective on theism. Then, in the above post (two posts up) you tried to pin the label of "creationist" on me even though I've clearly stated that not only am I not a creationist, but also that I find the argument irrelevant.

If you want to discuss my actual views, I'll be happy to have that discussion with you, but it's getting tiresome having to correct you in each post because you deliberately misconstrue something I clearly stated. And I believe it is deliberate, because you're obviously an intelligent person and I'm sure that you are more than capable of comprehending the actual words that I've written.

These shenanigans don't appeal me me; believe me I've seen this sort of thing many, many times before. Stick with what I wrote or please don't reply to me. Thank you.

--IntoTheLight--

---------- Post added 11-21-2009 at 06:01 AM ----------



Fair enough.

Q: Why does God permit evil?

A. Because God allows us to have free will. If God prevented evil from occuring, then we would not have free will.

Better?

--IntoTheLight--

So asking a question about the free will your proposing your god gave us is not relevant? hows that then ???..I am used to debating with new reconstructed believers, they are constant visitors. In the end they make the same claims but you have to drag it out of them.

Your god, did he realise the consequences of free will ? did he comprehend our imperfections would result in mass murder and genocide?

?

Better, but no cigar. How about natural evils like earthquakes, floods, famine, disease, and so on. What has that to do with free will?

Here we go again defending the faith but only till it gets too difficult. Im not attacking a particular faith but any description that has been offered for debate. If you are here to defend any description of god then be particular, don't divorce yourself from a certain questions but include them when you find it beneficial. You don't have to be a true creationists to believe god created humanity.

Naturally occuring events aren't "evil" unless you're suggesting that earthquakes, floods, famine, and disease are sentient lifeforms capable of making moral decisions.

--IntoTheLight--

No, I am suggesting that natural disaster cause pain and suffering, and pain and that the pain, and suffering of innocents like children or animals, are evils that a good-God would want to prevent, and that an all-powerful God could prevent.

I still do not see how free will explains suffering and pain caused by natural disasters. And how free will mitigates the suffering of the little five year old girl found dead today in North Carolina who was sold into prostitution by her mother.

For the sake of simplicity let's just consider cancers that are not the fault of man. Then what?

Maybe because of the forbidden fruit and adam and eve (no offense meant to anyone) because man was tempted, it's pandora's box all over and maybe because God wants us to realize the good because there can be no good without darkness, light does not exist without the darkness to let it shine through. It is through the plight of man that God's goodness shines through.

We pray in our closets but we pray for our needs, we pray for our sorrows, we pray for our joys, we pray to thank God he gave us the life He did. Worship is but a prayer of thanks to God in fellowship.

I don't believe that God created evil. I think that humans choose to be evil. I think evil is entirely a human attribute.

Why should God be accountable for what other people do? That doesn't make sense to me.

If God was to intervene every time humans caused a problem, we would be mindless puppets under the control of God.

I don't believe that God directly influences the natural world in the way that you perceive. Maybe God has no control over such things. Did that occur to you? Your questions assume that God is all-powerful and directly causes all things to occur or "permits" things to occur.

No offense intended to the original poster, but I find these kind of questions sort of silly. Many people apparently seem to think that the only reason God exists is to fix all the problems of humanity.

What we have to question is the reasons for geographical change such as earthquakes and tsunamis which I'm not really qualified to answer, all I know is it is what makes our world today, that is plate movements, I would not like to live in a country that was frequented by earth quakes or tsunamis, if I did I would like to be warned in plenty of time. Animals in general sense these things coming and make a break for it before it comes but yes it is horrible to see people suffering and one can only ask why.

But indeed they are. Cancer starts out in thought first. Taking a step back, NOTHING can be created without first the seed of thought. First comes thought, then comes the manifestation of that thought. So cancer is something that effects mankind. Without cancer, we might have a lot more people on this earth than we do now and a lot more imbalance. It's been said that ANGER causes cancer.

Cancers come and go, mankind comes and goes and every living thing on this earth and in our existence comes and goes in a cycle of utter and complete balance.

Cancer can be caused by stress, I think maybe that is what Justin is trying to say and a child suffering from leukemia for instance can be said that it was because of the chemicals put by man in the soil, that's what I mean by you have to be more specific. Geography is geography Kennnethmay why is it Gods fault?

Well Kennathmy as explained previously in this thread, God cannot intervene man's free will or else we would be all mindless robots, it does matter how the child got cancer because a lot of cancers are caused by man thus explaining the imbalance of the world that man chooses. Therefore the responsibilty lies with man, don't pass the buck off to God, that's the easy way out, you all don't have to do nothing about it then, do you?

I said specifically it is not God's fault, and also that it doesn't matter whose fault it is. Since the question is why, no matter how the child got the cancer, God did not prevent it in the first place, or at least cure the child. Forget about fault. It has nothing to do with it. It has to do with why an all-powerful God who is also all-good, doesn't do something about it.

How would God interevene a child with cancer, what with suddenly curing him, that's weird Kennathmy you're asking the impossible, if the child got cancer because of what man did then the fault lies with man. Why doesn't he cure him, huh?

That's a very simple answer. This is because the all-powerful god we're discussing here is the all-powerful god developed in the mind of men. So how is it that a mythological deity can step in and do something about it?