God Can’t Stop Your Suffering And Evil

By Mike Edwards

It is reasonable to ask why a loving. all-powerful God wouldn’t stop suffering that serves no good purpose. Please don’t tell rape survivors or a tortured loved one that God had a good/hidden purpose for not intervening. It is true some suffering may eventually serve a good purpose just as an addict hitting rock bottom. Any human parent that has the power to prevent a rape, murder, sexual assault and doesn’t isn’t truly loving. Why would we judge God, who is supposedly all-powerful, any differently if a Creator surely created us to love like them?

God can’t be all-powerful logically 

Most who have grown up in the institutional church have been taught that God is all-powerful. Logically, how can God be all-powerful and humans have some freedom/power? It makes no sense to say God can exert all power and creatures can exert some power. Even the Bible doesn’t claim God is all-powerful and can do anything. God can’t tempt others (Jas. 1:13). God can’t lie or be unloving. God can’t make one believe or freedom would be a farce. 

In defense of freedom

It is not logically possible for God to create freedom unless there is the possibility of love or hate.  I don’t know of any human parent who brings children into the world not desiring their children freely reciprocate their love as opposed to being forced. Without freedom we could accuse God of not creating the very best world where only true, authentic relationships can develop. Freedom allows human to develop qualities of moral character that cannot be created initially.  Freedom cannot guarantee a pain free universe.

God can’t be all powerful and be loving

Perfect love can’t be controlling for explaining why God can’t intervene in suffering. This may be an unsatisfactory explanation to many – but better than some rationalizations given. A parent may think they know best for their adult child, but interfering in a child’s life could make them even more rebellious. I am suggesting maybe God can’t control some evil because God’s very nature is love and true love is uncontrolling. Controlling love is an oxymoron. Even the Bible claims love does not insist on its own way (I Cor 13:5).

Typical rationalizations to defend what God doesn’t intervene in suffering:

• It is claimed a mystery how God can allow evil but not be evil. Humans don’t get a free pass if they can stop evil but don’t. Some claim all evil eventually leads to good as if some grand plan by God. Hardly! Ask sexual abuse victims or family members of murdered victims.
• We sinners have no right to question a Holy God. This is not the moral of the story of Job
• God doesn’t have to be fair because They are God! It is nonsense to suggest God requires impartiality in us but not of Themself (James 2:1) 

No, God doesn’t plan or control tragedies in your life 

• God doesn’t plan for you to be unable to have children if you desire to be a mom or dad

• God doesn’t plan for your body to be wrecked by cancer

• God didn’t want you sexually or physically abused as a child

• God didn’t want your partner to leave you by wanting a divorce

• God didn’t want your loved one murdered or severely injured in a car accident

• God didn’t want you let go from your job

What about miracles and God not being all-powerful?

I admit I don’t have the best explanation for how God can do miraculous things – against natural laws such as bringing Jesus back from the dead – and not be all-controlling. I am convinced miracles are real but lots of prayers asking for healing aren’t answered. Thus, why I write.  Do miracles not happen because some people are less sinful or beg better at the feet of an arbitrary God? A possible better explanation for healings is that various biological and environmental factors are involved such as cells and organs. It may not be a stretch to say God has to account for natural freedom as well. Perhaps miracles can happen when God’s love aligns with countless factors known and not known. God cannot intervene singlehandedly, but a loving God always wants to intervene whenever circumstances will allow.

Why bother to pray then?

We don’t have to assume God can answer our prayers but doesn’t for some unknown reason. God suffers with us, but the unfortunate truth in a free world is suffering happens, though God is dying to help. We can pray but we can be more understanding when God can’t answer our prayers. Lean on God and others for emotional support and encouragement in difficult times. Prayer is more than asking for things. We can also talk to God for self-examination, for sharing our concerns so to not feel alone in a chaotic world. Seeking God’s influence in our lives can lead to making wiser choices. God is already doing all they can in a free world. Pretending God can simply heal without accounting for freedom and other factors makes one’s suffering worse. God is tireless in working through individual lives to change the world.

God. where are you in suffering?

In our suffering we don’t have to feel God doesn’t care or that God could do something and doesn’t. God knows and empathizes with us in our suffering. God grieves with us. God can empower, inspire, and accompany us. God can influence us to follow Jesus’ example which can make for a much grander world. God doesn’t derive pleasure by seeing us in pain but the unfortunate truth in a free, uncontrollable world is that God’s power it limited and suffering happens. Lean on God and others for emotional support and encouragement in difficult times.

Mike Edwards has been writing for Done with Religion for some time and has been a great addition to the site. He couldn’t find enough people to discuss God openly so he started blogging years ago. Mike also has his own site where he writes that can be found at What God May Really Be Like  He can be contacted by email at: medwar2@gmail.com

What God Can’t Stand The Most!

By Mike Edwards

You probably thought I was going to rant about some sin in your life. Nope! Read on. God is like the cool grandparent I try to be. My grandchildren are still young but when I am with them, I don’t rattle keys to entertain them and hope they go away. I get on the floor and play despite back issues. I tell them you can’t have all the sugar you want, but I will understand you want it and we will work it out. I won’t say do as I say, not what I do – most of the time. I confess that I am more the 4-hour type than the 24/7 type grandparent. When they get older and more independent, we can hang out longer. I did enough all-nighters with my kids.

What kind of parent is God?

I may not do all that my kids wish I did with their kids but when my kids are in pain, I am as miserable as hell. I am convinced God as well when we are in pain. Something breaks and my kids need money, I am there unless using money to get high! A work responsibility comes up and you need childcare, I may have to break my 3-hour rule. I can’t stand them having ANY anxiety about a duty coming up. I can’t stand when their heat quits at their home in the winter. Imagine how God feels when those in poor countries die due to harsh weather and they have no shelter.

I got a feeling God is a more caring, lover than I am. The type of relationship I only know to compare God and me is a parent-child relationship. And God has a lot more children/creations than I do. You may have been taught God feels angry and you will reap the consequences of your sins. So, I guess God has emotions. If God can feel angry, God can feel sadness, etc. I understand tough times may build character, but God hates unnecessary challenges we may face because we live in a broken world. God can’t stand when you are in pain!

How does God love us? 

God’s love surely is the same as supreme parents – other-directed not self-consumed. Love gets excited when we do well and make a difference in the lives of others. Love anticipates, hopes for my success, believes in me. God is pulling for me, even when failing, because I do the same for my children. God may worry but still hopes. We are dependent on our children for intimate relationships. God is dependent on us. God puts trust in us by giving us freedom. A God who claims to love but doesn’t believe in, hope for us, doesn’t love us at all. Heck, even the Bible claims God wants to be friends with us (John 15:15, James 2:22-23), as I do with my adult children.

How dare you compare God’s love to human love!

Even the Bible suggests God’s love is the same as perfect human love: “Be perfect, therefore as your heavenly Parent is perfect” (Mt. 5:48); be imitators of God (Eph. 5:1); be merciful like God (Lk. 6:36). God must love like perfect humans. Bible folks say we are made in the image of God. God’s image is our perfect image! It is only intuitive that God’s love means what we mean when saying we love others on a deep level. Even those who accuse God of being mysterious agree. When one’s interpretation of Scriptures suggest God appears evil from a human perspective, they are assuming God and human love are the same by accusing God of being mysterious.

But can’t God control our suffering unlike earthly parents?

Good News – God Can’t Be In Control!

God can’t stand if you don’t understand how much God loves you

It pumps me to no end when my parents or partner feels genuine respect for me! They committed to me not knowing how the relationship would turn out. God too! If you claim to love someone, you trust them, you hope they succeed, you have faith in them. Even some who don’t believe Jesus was really divine and human, they believe Jesus may have been the most perfect person in the world like God. Jesus had trust, hope, and faith in others. So does God! God is the kind of spiritual Parent I have longed for in my journey to love others like I want to be loved.  How do you want to be loved by your parents? That is how God loves you!

Resource and must read: Wm. Curtis Holtzen, The God Who Trust: A Relational Theology Of Divine Faith, Hope, and Love 

What God Can’t Stand The Most!

Mike Edwards has been writing for Done with Religion for some time and has been a great addition to the site. He couldn’t find enough people to discuss God openly so he started blogging years ago. Mike also has his own site where he writes that can be found at What God May Really Be Like  He can be contacted by email at: medwar2@gmail.com

Why Doesn’t God Prevent Evil And My Suffering?

By Mike Edwards

Many don’t have more of a relationship with God because they can’t justify why an all-loving, all-powerful God doesn’t prevent more evil in this world. Anyone inclined to believe in a God likely believe such a God must be all-loving. No other God is worth believing in! So, why doesn’t a supposed all-loving/powerful God intervene in evil or suffering more than they do. Any human parent that has the power to prevent a rape, murder, sexual assault and doesn’t isn’t truly loving. Why would we judge God any differently if a Creator surely created us to love like them?

If God Is All-Powerful …. 

Most who have grown up in the institutional church have been taught that God is all-powerful. God can cause miracles without any human help or cooperation. It seems only intuitive that an all-powerful God can control suffering if able to create, be in all places at one time, resurrect Jesus from the dead, etc. But it is obvious God doesn’t answer many prayers to relieve suffering.  One may claim God is all-powerful or Omnipotent to show respect, but a God acting arbitrarily toward human suffering isn’t easy to answer – unless blame unanswered prayer due to one’s sins.

Maybe God can’t be all-powerful 

A less popular assumption is that God can’t be all-powerful. Logically, how can God be all-powerful and humans have some freedom/power? Besides, a perfect God’s love can’t be all-powerful. See here. Suffering (prayer unanswered) may be because God cannot intervene single-handedly. God can’t physically interfere in evil or suffering without human help. See here.

Don’t miracles prove God is all-powerful? 

I believe in the possibility of miracles but lots of prayers asking for healing aren’t answered. Is God’s love infrequent or arbitrary? Do miracles not happen because some people are less sinful or beg better at the feet of an arbitrary God? I believe a better explanation for healings is that various biological and environmental factors are involved such as cells and organs.  If God doesn’t deny human freedom, it may not be a stretch to say God has to account for natural freedom as well. Perhaps miracles can happen when God’s love aligns with countless factors known and not known. God cannot intervene singlehandedly, but a loving God always wants to intervene whenever circumstances will allow. 

Who do you imagine God is like?

The Bible can’t be the definitive word on God since subject to interpretation and questioning if God agrees with all written about God. We are free to speculate. Most Bible-quoting folks believe we are made in the image of God. If a Creator exists, perhaps that Creator informs us through our moral intuitions how we ought to love others. Image bearers should act as we think a loving God/human parent should act. I am convinced God is always seeking to intervene when possible.  We don’t have to assume God can answer our prayers but doesn’t for some unknown reason. God suffers with us, but the unfortunate truth in a free world is suffering happens. Lean on God and others for emotional support and encouragement in difficult times.

Why Doesn’t God Prevent Evil And My Suffering?

Mike Edwards has been writing for Done with Religion for some time and has been a great addition to the site. He couldn’t find enough people to discuss God openly so he started blogging years ago. Mike also has his own site where he writes that can be found at What God May Really Be Like  He can be contacted by email at: medwar2@gmail.com

How Is It Possible A Good God, Evil, And Suffering Co-Exist?

By Mike Edwards

Many are inclined to believe a good God exist but rightly question why then so much evil in the world exists. It doesn’t help some of the explanations given by Christian leaders. A great deal of suffering is either self-inflicted or inflicted upon us by others because of personal evil. Abuse, adultery, and addiction are decisions that cause harm relationally or individually. Freedom doesn’t always explain why an all-powerful God doesn’t intervene more often, especially when evil doesn’t lead to any good in the future.

Freedom is a good thing 

It is not logically possible for God to create freedom unless there is the possibility of love or hate.  Human parents hope their children freely reciprocate their love than being forced. Without freedom we could accuse God of not creating the very best world where only true, authentic relationships can develop. Freedom also allows humans to develop qualities of moral character that cannot be created initially. Freedom though cannot guarantee a pain free universe.

But, why doesn’t a supposedly all-powerful God intervene more often?

Freedom can explain why much of evil exist, but why doesn’t God intervene more often if all-powerful? It cannot be argued all evil leads to a greater good. Physical abuse can lead to the cycle continuing for generations. Lots of prayers asking for healing are obviously not answered. Is God’s love infrequent? Do miracles only happen because some people are less sinful or beg better at the feet of an arbitrary God?

A possible better explanation for healings is that various biological and environmental factors are involved such as cells and organs.  If God doesn’t deny human freedom, it may not be a stretch to say God has to account for natural freedom as well. It may not be a stretch to suggest miracles can happen when God’s love aligns with countless factors known and not known. God cannot intervene singlehandedly, but God surely intervenes by all means possible when circumstances will allow.

Typical rationalizations to defend an all-controlling God include:

• It is claimed a mystery how God can allow evil but not be evil. Humans don’t get a free pass if they can stop evil but don’t. Some claim all evil eventually leads to good as if some grand plan by God. Hardly! Ask sexual abuse victims or family members of murdered victims.
• We sinners have no right to question a Holy God. This is not the moral of the story of Job
• Any good is grace and more than we deserve since God’s standard is perfection and we all fall short as sinners. Then, my sinful parents loved better than such a supposed loving God!
• God doesn’t have to be fair because They are God! It is nonsense to suggest God requires impartiality in us but not of Themself (James 2:1)

We may have to accept God isn’t all-powerful

A God who can prevent evil but doesn’t is counter-intuitive to love. It is worth considering that God can’t be all-powerful or controlling and be true to God’s nature. Controlling love is an oxymoron. How can God be all-powerful and creatures have some freedom? Evil and suffering in the world may be because God cannot intervene single-handedly without being controlling. God can’t interfere in suffering without human help.

It may be more comforting for some to believe God can’t control their suffering than God sits idly by. One can stop questioning if they are being faithful enough. We can believe though that God empowers and inspires others to choose to do good. God knows and empathizes with us in our suffering. God obviously grieves due to all the evil in the world. God suffered when Jesus was crucified. God suggested through Jesus’ example and words what kind of life lived by all here on earth can make for a much grander world.

How Is It Possible A Good God, Evil, And Suffering Co-Exist?

Mike Edwards has been writing for Done with Religion for some time and has been a great addition to the site. He couldn’t find enough people to discuss God openly so he started blogging years ago. Mike also has his own site where he writes that can be found at What God May Really Be Like  He can be contacted by email at: medwar2@gmail.com

Why Doesn’t God Stop More Suffering?

by Mike Edwards

Some suggest God doesn’t cause suffering, but allows it to bring about a greater good. The problem is that greater good doesn’t always come about. A surgeon may have to break open your chest to save your life, but what purpose is served from rape, torture, betrayal, murder, deception, corruption, incest, and genocide as if part of some grand plan?  From this twisted perspective, evil is good! God never wills or desire suffering. God desires to always bring joy to all. 

God’s love cannot be controlling 

We must come to some understanding why a loving God doesn’t stop a lot of suffering. A perfect God’s love must be uncontrolling just as it can’t be manipulative. Perfect power is uncontrolling. Ask older kids about their parents! A God who supposedly can prevent suffering but doesn’t is no different than a parent who stands by and watches their child suffer. Keep in mind God doesn’t have hands and feet but is a Spirit. Evil and suffering in the world may be because God cannot intervene single-handedly without being controlling. God can’t interfere in suffering without human help.    

Why did God bother creating freedom? 

It is not logically possible for God to create freedom unless there is the possibility of love or hate.  I don’t know of any human parent who brings children into the world not desiring their children freely reciprocate their love as opposed to being forced. Without freedom we could accuse God of not creating the very best world where only true, authentic relationships can develop. Freedom allows human to develop qualities of moral character that cannot be created initially.  Freedom cannot guarantee a pain free universe. 

God not interfering may be the most compassionate

If I try to force my rebellious son to do right presently, he may further rebel or stay away forever. Not stopping my son may be the only hope I have that he eventually freely chooses good and experience joy from that. If I am patience and allow time for possible moral development, then he may freely choose to trust I have his best interest in mind. God didn’t create suffering to foster dependency; God created freedom out of love. Controlling love can have negative consequences.

Possible explanation for lack of healings 

Lots of prayers asking for healing are obviously not answered. If God can control disease and other evils, we are left to assume God’s love is infrequent. Miracles don’t happen because some people are less sinful or beg better at the feet of an arbitrary God. Conditions in our body may not always be right. Various biological and environmental factors are involved such as cells, organs, etc. If God doesn’t deny human freedom, it may not be a stretch to say God has to account for natural freedom as well. Miracles can happen when God’s uncontrolling love aligns with countless factors known and not known. God surely intervenes by all means when circumstances will allow.

Where is God?

An uncontrolling God may not always be comforting, but controlling love is an oxymoron. God has to be true to their loving nature. God is always doing all they can to stop suffering, but seeking God’s influence in our lives can be powerful. My seeking to influence others for good with God’s help is how I can best impact this world for good. A world seeking God’s guidance is unimaginable.

Mike Edwards has been writing for Done with Religion for some time and has been a great addition to the site. Mike also has his own site where he writes that can be found at What God May Really Be Like  He can be contacted by email at: medwar2@gmail.com

Why I Doubt God Knows The Future And Why It Matters!

by Mike Edwards

I understand many may not think about or find all that relevant whether God knows the future or not. It may sound sacrilegious or odd to suggest an all-powerful God doesn’t know the future. But, even an all-powerful God may not being able to do the impossible such as change the past, force true love, or know an undetermined future until it happens.

It matters if God can know possible future suffering.  

A woman asks God for wisdom in marrying their partner. All think it is a match made in heaven, but the husband becomes abusive and the children suffer. It is hard to imagine God wouldn’t warn if God knew this was going to happen. Much of suffering is the result of current and future human free decisions. God and parents risk creating knowing this can lead to great joy or great pain. Not even an all-powerful God can create free will necessary for genuine relationships and guarantee life without death, violence, suffering, and struggle.

Decisions and our relationship with God are less complicated if the future is open.  

The greatest freedom perhaps in believing God doesn’t know the future is realizing God isn’t failing to communicate or we may disappoint God with decisions. God isn’t hiding a “known” future for important decisions. We already know the mind of God when it comes to moral decisions; otherwise, God supports us in making decisions that make our lives and the lives of others better. There isn’t one correct decision to make in a free world. Joy and good can be achieved by taking any number of paths and avoiding immoral paths. God wants us to feel free without strings attached, unlike what we may feel from human parents when making decisions.

It matters relationally if freedom is real.

Most agree love must be freely chosen, or we are simply robots than humans. How am I truly free to make decisions if the future has already supposedly happened? A determined future contradicts that God created us with the freedom to make our own choices. We don’t have to rationalize God created freedom but somehow future decisions are predetermined.

A God who doesn’t knows the future is more relatable. When the Bible says God grieves with us in our suffering, we can know God agonizes with us each step of the way and deters any suffering possible without violating freedoms. God is not aloof as if simply gazing into a future crystal ball. God’s uncontrolling nature doesn’t mean God isn’t active in making for a better world. God constantly seeks to inspire us to shun evil and strive for a better world.

What about the Bible or prophecy? 

Hundreds of biblical passages could be cited to defend either God does or doesn’t know the future. The Bible speaks about God sometimes regretting certain decisions (i.e. Gen. 6:6). If God knew the outcome of certain decisions by knowing the future, why would God make such regrettable decisions? Does God really know what decisions are made ahead of time but pretending otherwise? The Bible often speaks as if God thought the future was open, thus undetermined and unknown.

Prophecies aren’t peering into the future but can serve as warnings. Jesus predicted Peter would deny Him three times but Jesus also prayed Peter’s faith would not fail (Lk. 22: 32-34). Predictions by God can be conditional. A professor may observe a student and warn they will fail their class but hoping the student avoids such failure. Keep in mind the future is not totally unpredictable for humans much less God. A skilled physician can predict the death of a seemingly healthy individual because of symptoms that escaped the untrained eye. Remember, God’s Spirit is present everywhere, thus God’s knowledge is unimaginably extensive.

God is loving not controlling.

God can’t control the future if God is to act uncontrolling and respect freedom. God can’t make someone truly love others and not harm others. If God can create, God can fulfill a promise to provide eternal life after life here on earth for those who desire to be with their Creator. Meanwhile, God seeks to partner with us to make for a better world.

MORE POSTS IN SERIES: I DOUBT GOD REALLY ……

Why I Doubt God Is An Excluder Of Religions

Why I Doubt Heaven Is Closed To Anyone After Death

Why I Doubt Hell Is Real

Why I Doubt God Is A Homophobe

Why I Doubt God Is A Sexist

Why I Doubt God Is A Mysterious, Moral Hypocrite

Why I Doubt God Is A Blood-Thirsty Child (Jesus) Killer

Why I Doubt God Expects Every Word Of The Bible To Be Viewed As Inspired

Why I Doubt God Is An End-Of-The-World Doomsayer

Why I Doubt God Is An Angry Egomaniac

Why I Doubt God Is A “Hidden Agenda” Proselytizer

Why I Doubt the god of Extremists Or Terrorists

Why I Doubt God Is A Prayer Genie

Why I Doubt God Controls Evil And Suffering

Why I Doubt God Controls Evil and Suffering!

by Mike Edwards

The problem of evil is a main reason people indicate they don’t believe in God. How we think God and suffering co-exist in the midst of personal suffering can cause us to wonder if God truly exist. I suggest HERE how we can decide what God is really like. Why would a Creator not love us and others how we were seemingly created to love others? 

Why is freedom so important?  

The majority of evil results from the freedom to be kind or cruel toward others. It seems God creating freedom necessitates one being able to do as much harm as they can do good. There is not some divine or “greater purpose” in the suffering of innocent people. But authenticity, the highest good in relationships, is impossible without freedom. Not even an almighty God can force true love. God, like parents, had a choice – to not create or to create knowing suffering was a possibility in the pursuit of intimacy. Divine love limits divine power.

God can’t!!!

Saying God can’t may seem sacrilegious, but a God who can prevent evil but doesn’t is no different than a parent who stands by and watches their child being physically or sexually abused. Are you dissatisfied with conventional answers such as: “It’s all part of God’s plan;” “God wants to make you stronger;” “God’s ways are not our ways;” “You didn’t have enough faith;” “Everything happens for a reason” (Thomas Oord, God Can’t: How to Believe in God and Love after Tragedy, Abuse, and Other Evils, p.11). If evil is some grand scheme God can control, why does the Bible say God hates evil so much? 

God doesn’t cause or allow evil!  

Most agree God doesn’t cause evil but some say God allows evil to bring about a greater good. Oord reminds us greater good doesn’t always come about. A surgeon may have to break open your chest to save your life, but what purpose is served from rape, torture, betrayal, murder, deception, corruption, incest, and genocide as if part of some good plan? From this twisted perspective, evil is good! When we say God allows, it gives the impression God stands by when God could stop evil. No one respects those who stand by in the name of freedom while individual rights are being violated. God can’t control or violate freedom and love perfectly. God can only stop evil with the help of others so to not violate freedom. Or not create freedom! 

What about miracles if God can’t supposedly control?  

It may be easier to explain God’s uncontrolling nature if miracles could be refuted. Miracles happen as many attest, but miracles don’t happen because people grovel at the feet of an arbitrary God who has to be begged to love more. A good God surely is always working to heal, but so many biological and environmental factors are involved. Maybe it is not a stretch to say God can’t control human freedom as well as non-human factors. I am convinced God will intervene by all means when circumstances allow. Miracles can happen when God’s uncontrolling love aligns with countless factors known and not known.

It matters if God supposedly knows the future.

A young woman may ask God for wisdom in marrying their partner. All think it is a match made in heaven, but the husband becomes abusive and the children suffer. What kind of God doesn’t warn if God knew this was going to happen? Evil is the result of current and unknown future human free decisions. Not even an all-powerful God can create and guarantee life without death, violence, suffering, and struggle and yet there be free will necessary for genuine relationships. 

God is not a magic prayer genie! 

A good God surely doesn’t cause or want us to suffer. Praying doesn’t make God more caring. God is already doing all they can in a free world. Jesus’ prayer to avoid the Cross may be the best model in times of suffering. Jesus asked God to intervene but God if you are unable please stay close to me. Pretending God can simply heal without accounting for freedom can makes one’s suffering worse. Did I not pray enough? Did I not beg enough? Did I not behave enough or have the right attitude? It isn’t that we didn’t pray enough with the right words so God will answer. 

Is God a mystery and we can’t understand evil and suffering?

Some appeal to mystery by declaring God ways are not our ways to rationalize their interpretation of the Bible, but how can we have a relationship with a God we can’t understand with the brain God gave us? How we are supposed to know and love like God if God is mysterious? The Bible says to be perfect like God, but we can’t know what this means if we can’t know what perfect love is. God’s love surely is like perfect human love. If God calls favoritism evil but plays favorites, this plainly makes a supposedly loving God evil.

Why did God even create?

God knew the risks of freedom as do human parents. Are we wrong to bring children into a world hoping they will want to reciprocate our love but knowing our children could cause suffering or suffer at the hands of others? Suffering is avoidable only if God had not created or allowed freedom. Few argue that no freedom is better than freedom. God and parents risk creating which can lead to great joy or great pain. One is not possible without the other.

What is God doing?

God is tireless in working through individual lives to change the world. Hitler may have been stopped if others had gotten involved in his life as a child or when plotting his evils early on. Perhaps the only way to defeat evil in us, other than destroying at the first hint, is for us to persevere and overcome evil. Also, suffering can enable us to be of use to others in a world where suffering is inevitable if any freedom is present. Martin Luther King’s suffering moved the scales from the eyes of many how they tolerated bigotry.

MORE POSTS IN SERIES: I DOUBT GOD IS ……

Why I Doubt God Is An Excluder Of Religions

Why I Doubt Heaven Is Closed To Anyone After Death

Why I Doubt Hell Is Real

Why I Doubt God Is A Homophobe

Why I Doubt God Is A Sexist

Why I Doubt God Is A Mysterious, Moral Hypocrite

Why I Doubt God Is A Blood-Thirsty Child (Jesus) Killer

Why I Doubt God Expects Every Word Of The Bible To Be Viewed As Inspired

Why I Doubt God Is An End-Of-The-World Doomsayer

Why I Doubt God Is An Angry Egomaniac

Why I Doubt God Is A “Hidden Agenda” Proselytizer

Why I Doubt the god of Extremists Or Terrorists

Why I Doubt God Is A Prayer Genie