Webster's defines "evil" as "something that brings unwarranted
sorrow, distress or calamity." If God were indeed all-powerful and all-good,
why would he tolerate a world filled with evil forces? How do we explain it?
We all have seen or read stories about present day examples of evil. Even
the Bible gives us many concrete examples of evil. Sadly, though, evil does
seem to keep up with the times, continually updating itself with the latest
technology.
For example, last December news reports quoted the Target retail store
chain as acknowledging that approximately 40 million credit and debit card
accounts of its customers had been "hacked." Target is the No. 3 U.S. retailer.
Affected were Target customers who had made purchases in U.S. "brick and mortar"
Target stores over a 3-week period. The "hackers" apparently had stolen
customer names, credit card numbers, card expiration dates and the three-digit
security codes on the back of the credit cards. Furthermore, it appeared that
PIN numbers on customer debit cards were also taken, possibly allowing
the "hacker" to freely invade and empty the related bank accounts. Furthermore,
lazy "hackers" know they can sell "hacked" card account information for $10 or
more per account, which would be such easy profit for them. This is theft on a
very large scale ---- so often the case with modern electronic evil.
Many believe that God wants people to be free to choose the path of their
own lives. They call this human condition "free will." But to be free to make
"good" choices, one automatically is free to choose evil actions. If God
wanted true "children," rather than robots, there would always be the risk that
we might abuse the gift of free will. Hackers who steal by breaking into the
computer-system code of others, are just a modern symptom of the abuse of
free will ---- evil behavior.
A great deal of the suffering in this world really should not be
blamed on God. It results from mean, cruel, inhuman choices that people
make. For example, people-initiated acts of greed, social prejudice, racism or
oppression, often lead to the evils of poverty and social marginalization,
resulting in misery and premature deaths that could have been avoided. Even
with natural disasters like landslides and floods, much of the suffering that
results could be alleviated if people helped out more in the
aftermath.
However, this does not explain why God does not block the harm to others
caused by our bad choices. We do not let a child run out in front of a speeding
car to let him exercise his free will. Indeed, we would try to block
major harm to that endangered child!! Why doesn't God do that? Is the need for
free will a good enough reason for all the evil that comes with it? Human free
will has something to do with why there is suffering and evil, but does it
completely explain it?
Though we may not discern a reason why God does not always intervene to
block evil, it is hard to believe that God does not have a reason. Could it be
that God is offering us the human space to exercise our free will in a
positive, loving and intentional way, to blunt the evil impact of some
other folks in the negative exercise of their free will? We always have a
choice to make, and God gives us the opportunity to make a positive
choice, to take affirmative action ourselves against evil. Perhaps, if enough of
us make the latter choice, will we begin to reduce the many forms of evil that
God leaves for us to handle.
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These thoughts are brought to you by CPC's Adult Spiritual Development
Team, hoping to encourage you to pursue some personal spiritual growth this fall
at CPC.
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