A Wholly Unsatisfactory Explanation On the Problem of Evil

And so, it's back to the horse beating. I've been thinking alot about why this problem of evil thing just won't go away. I know that there are plenty of reasons why we think that there is a "problem" with making our belief in God jive with the fact that there isn't just evil - but a fairly significant amount of evil in the world. Just this week, some dude in Oakland shot and killed four police officers, and here in SoCal, some lady killed her 18-month old daughter and left her body by the side of a freeway (she says it was an accident). Nonetheless, I completely see why, with all the evil in the world, we look to the heavens and demand to know why a loving God would allow such evils to exist. I guess, if I had to nutshell the problem, the problem (in the form of a question) goes a little like this: why does God, if he is all-knowing and totally good, permit evil? Like I said, I've been thinking alot about this lately, and I think that the answer may be this: evil just is. That's it. Evil is. It hit me while I was watching last Sunday's episode of Cold Case. The soundtrack for that episode was John Lennon songs. There's one (doesn't really matter which) that has a line that goes, "I tell them there's no problem, only solutions". I think that our problem of evil is a little like Lennon's lyric, only twisted. So, there are no answers, only questions. What I'm saying is that we may be asking a question for which there is no answer. Our questions are like John Lennon's solutions. We keep on giving them, hoping that we'll hit the right one (the one that we expect will give us an answer), but the real trick is, is that there is no answer to the question, 'why does God permit evil?'. This isn't an entirely unphilosophic outlook on the situation - since the point of philosophy is to ask questions. We ask, even in the face that we might never actually get to an answer or that our answer, despite all of our well-reasoned arguments, is wrong. This idea is, I'll admit completely unsatisfying. But, still I see no problem in including the idea that for some questions there may be no answers along with our list of possibilities. I know that humans want answers. We want them especially if we are talking about our beliefs in God. It's the answers that give us reasons to believe or to obey. This is unsatisfying, especially for the philosopher, because we are indoctrinated that every event must have a cause and so forth... we just cannot accept the notion that the answer why God permits evil is "because he does". If you think about it, that reason, in a way underpins all of our defenses and certainly it's the foundation of every theodicy out there. God has his reasons, we say. We just don't want to admit that a reason may be that his reason is that he has no reason. That's scary. Maybe for God, our lives (the ones that he watches 24/7 like Santa Claus), are like one big reality TV show. What we call "evil" are merely plot devices for God to move the plot along. Our evils are what they say in the biz "dramatic tension". It makes things interesting... for God. I remember hearing Miles Copeland, the brother of Stewart Copeland of the Police, saying that when he worked for the Moody Blues, he tried to get VH1 to do a Behind the Music on the band. He said that he told the execs that the band had been around a long time and was very successful, so they were a perfect example of a true music success story. He said that VH1 rejected the idea. Why? No dramatic tension. No drug overdoses, no rehabs, no backstabbing or drug-induced accidents in which the drummer loses a body part -- they weren't interesting enough for the show. Maybe it's the same for God. Maybe without evil, humans are like the Moody Blues. Plain boring and not much fun to look at. Still, this is unsatisfying. Worse yet, it paints God as some sort of sadist who screws with our lives for shits and giggles. My answer to this is 'oh well'. Look, God does a great many things that do not please us, because things happen to us. As much as we would like for there to be a reason, we gotta get hip to the fact that not only may we not find an answer, but also to the fact that there may be no answer! And really, no matter what God tells is is his answer, we won't be satisfied no matter what he says. We'd still ask him if there was another way that he could have accomplished the same result? God could tell us that things happen according to his plan, or to serve a greater good, or tell us "look, it doesn't matter how you die, all people die. What matters is that you go to heaven, which by the way you will". we'd still complain! If God told us, no matter how carefully his reason, we'd never say ok and have done with the question asking. We'd never understand his reasons becuse we can't understand his reasons, even if he draws diagrams. But God, lucky for us, doesn't ask us to understand his motives. He justs tells us to accept. Accept that God moves (mysteriously so) with no reason whatsoever -- at least none that we can ever understand. I know that this makes no one happy at all.

It Ain't Just A Song, Baby (more thoughts on God)

There's this song that came out some time ago by this guy named Rich Mullins. In the years since its release, his song has become a non-denominational church staple. It's called "Awesome God". The song is basically a litany of what makes God well, awesome (and if I were Michael Palin I might add that we're all pretty impressed down here). His list, set to sweeping strings and full chorus, is accompanied by one of the catchiest choruses in the history of contemporary Christian music. (I know that those of you who know the song are humming it right now). But this is all besides the point. The song's list of God's deeds brings up the perennial question asked by laymen, theologians, and (heaven knows why) philosophers -- exactly how awesome is God? Of course at the heart of the question is the question of God's omnipotence. I thought that I'd look up what "omnipotence" means before I'd venture any opinion on the subject. This is what I found: omnipotence is defined as "infinite in power" and "having very great or unlimited authority or power". What really struck in my mind was the word "unlimited" (I'll get back to why it did later). Ok, there's already a problem here and it's obvious. Why on earth would an atheist be so interested in the power of a God that, according to them, does not exist? Good question. The real deal is that, try as an atheist might, there's just no escaping God talk. And if one takes up philosophy, then God talk is inevitable. What's worse is that, as an ordained philosopher, I feel that it is my imperative to have an opinion about everything -- even about things I claim do not exist. Aquinas wrote that God's omnipotence meant that God can do all things that are possible. But then, what does "what is possible" mean? What is possible is certainly different from something that is unlimited. Saying that I have a possible power is not the same as saying that I have an unlimited power ( at least at first glance it appears to be the case). So I read on: According to Aquinas, God being able to do what is possible means that, so long as there is no contradiction, God can perform an act. For example, God, after watching a little PBS, may decide that he wants to create a creature that is simultaneously dead and alive. Well, we know that a thing cannot be both alive and dead -- that's a contradiction. Once God has given the being life, he cannot make it dead at the same time. He's perfectly free to give the thing life, and then kill it, but he cannot do both simultaneously. Ok, so far it's making sense, but there's something that still is bugging me. Let's get back to definitions. Omnipotence is defined as "unlimited power". So, I ask, if one definition of omnipotence contains the idea of unlimitedness, then how does that jive with Aquinas' notion that God can do all things that are possible?When we say "possible", what are was actually saying? Are we implying, when we use the word possible, that God's powers are not complete? Are we saying that there are things that God cannot do? This question, whether God's powers are limited, started me thinking about the paradox of the stone. Tell me if you've heard this one before: Someone, obviously begging for a slap or two, decides to throw out "Can God create a rock so heavy that he cannot lift it?". This question, of course, is a question of God's omnipotence. The gist of the thing is that we are to ask if there is some quality of God that dispermits him from creating such a rock. If we answer yes, we are saying that God is somehow lacking in (total) omnipotence. If there is one thing that God cannot do, then God is not all-powerful. Stranger than that, a yes means that, if God possesses the ability to limit his own powers. But somehow this seems counterintuitive. God is all-powerful, yet he is able to will himself the inability to lift a rock. When we talk about God's omnipotence, we are talking about God's qualities, that is, what makes God GOD. God, we're told, is omnipotent, omnipresent, and really good (Only God and Mary Poppins are practically perfect in every way). God's perfections are all or nothing. If his qualities are deficient in any way, he is not God ( well, not a perfect God. He may still be "god"). This was all starting to sound strangely familiar. It began to remind me of --The Problem Of Evil. The Problem of evil, if you haven't heard of it, goes a little like this: there exists an all-powerful, perfectly good being (God). An all-powerful, perfectly good being would prevent evil (assuming that it would do so if it could). But, there is evil. Therefore, no all-powerful, perfectly good being exists, or at least we have reason to be skeptical that one does exist. This power of God quandary is of the sort similar to the paradox of the rock. The question once again is are there acts that God cannot do? (The situation is worse with the problem of evil. Not only are we asking if God permits evil, we might find ourselves asking if God performs evil). And once again, if we answer yes, we are not only left to question God's omnipotence, but we question God's all-goodness as well. Barring some reason that we do not know (e.g. God permits evil in order to accomplish some greater good), why would God permit or commit evil? The sunny side of this one is that no matter how many times we ask, no matter how many arguments we construct, we'll never answer the question! But, unlike the paradox of the rock, the problem of evil is considered a real pantybuncher of a philosophical question. It shakes the soul of man. This seems to be the view that everyone believes. And that's fine, if it works for you. But these "problems" don't work me up to the hurl-myself-out-of-a-window-because-my-world-is-crashing level that they seem to do to everyone else. The God, if I believed in one, that I'd want to believe in is indeed AWESOME, which means that he would inspire awe. I don't know about most people, but when I think awesome, I want to see something that completely floors me, somethng that I won't ( and won't want to) see everyday. The God that I'd like to believe in literally can do anything. But, wait a minute. What do I mean by "anything"? I mean just that. Not just what is possible, but what is conceivable. And since God's knowledge is infinite, he can conceive of a great deal more than my puny brain can ever manage to cook up. My God can do what is impossible. Now, this is just my opinion (like none of what else I wrote hasn't been?!?) but, I feel totally at ease with a God that creates rocks that he cannot lift, and performs the occasional evil deed or two. Not because he has to ( I totally reject the idea that God has to obey the laws of physics and such. The question there, then, is if God has rules that he must abide by, then who imposes those rules on God? Are we to assume that there is a Supreme Supreme Being that is even more omnicompetent than God that rules over God's rule over us?), but because he wants to. I know that every philosopher out there will object. They'll say that there is no way that God can create round squares and reverse the laws of physics! But I ask, why can't he? I'd like to think that he can. He can because he is God. I had once, or several times -- I really can't remember -- asked if God is bound by the same laws that we are bound by. A good ten out of ten times, the answer is yes. The answer usually has to do with some explanation involving irregular worlds or worlds that aren't actualizable. It's all supposed to make some kind of intuitive sense that there are things that God can't do. But for me it doesn't. I understand that I, the human, cannot create four-sided triangles and be 5 feet tall and 6 feet tall at the same time. But that's because I live in a physical universe that is governed by natural or physical laws that are constructed by God. But God, so far as I know, does not exist in the same world as I do ( that's the heart of the problem of interaction, isn't it?). There's really no other reason to believe that, other than that it makes sense for me to think so, God has to adhere to the same laws of physics and such as humans. I think that God chooses to "obey" the laws of nature, not because he has to, but because God, like us, has the free will to keep to the rules (he created, by the way) or not. God can just as easily and arbitrarily create a world where ingesting Clorox won't kill you and where flowerpots fall out of windows and rise up towards the heavens. But God doesn't. And if anyone asks me why I think this is so I will tell them this: God chooses to keep the world constant because he loves us. He knows, having designed us so, that humans would be disturbed ( putting it mildly) if he created a chaotic or "massively irregular" world. It's not that God cannot do certain things or that there are worlds that God cannot actualize. Just like I choose to write this particular blog posting, God (totally knowing that he could do otherwise) decided that this world was the best for his creation. Thank God he's consistent. *And may I add this personal note: I do not have a problem with possible worlds scenerios concerning everyday metaphysical of epistemological claims or quetions. For instance, I'm not put off to imagining or thinking about Matrix -like scenerios or the brain in a vat as a means of learning about the extent of our knowledge or the nature of our existence. However, I am adverse to speculation about the powers and/or intentions of a being that possesses a nature that I cannot comprehend. In short, I usually don't mind talk of possible worlds. Hell, I'm a Star Trek fan -- but I question the usefulness of such inquiries when it comes to God.

God Is Just Not That Into You

I think that there's something that I dwell on way too much. Well, actually (sorry alex) two things: 1) God, and two, my philosophy classes concerning God, and -- in particular-- my (attempted) conversations with my philosophy of religion professor. Since I've heard it said that no novel is ever finished ( George Lucas, my personal hero, said that films aren't finished, they're abandoned), I started to think about a paper I wrote in my philosophy of religion class. The class topic (officially) was THE PROBLEM OF EVIL, but the last paper topic was the hiddenness of God. Officially, my position is that something that does not exist cannot hide from anyone (I realize the serious positivist faux pas, here). But, if one wants a grade (a passing one anyway) one must play along and write the required term paper. So I wrote one. Which, now that I think about it, I could have dicked off the class given the fact that I didn't actually (sorry alex) need the class to get my degree, but took the class because ( and I'm being completely honest here) I enjoy talking out loud in class and that professor in particular seemed to indulge my want to gab. In actuality, that man, just short of ball gags, would not have been able to silence me. Now that I think about it, ball gags would have spiced up the class quite nicely. Originally, my conclusion was this: God is all around us, and if one fails to see it, or Him, then one is ignoring the obvious. God need not reveal himself to prove that he exists. I actually reworked my paper as my last blog entry. But then, I thought, somewhere in the Bible, there's a line that says that God is a jealous God. That means, if God is capable of experiencing jealousy, then God may be so inclined to experience any number of human emotions, including plain, old dislike for someone. Brad Pitt says in Fight Club that ther reason why our lives didn't turn out the way that we were promised may lie in the fact that God has abandoned us. That, in all probability, he says, God never wanted us. He doesn't like us -- personally. As I look about the world around me, I'm beginning to think that Tyler Durden is right. Maybe God doesn't like some people. So then I thought about the problem of hiddenness. Maybe God is hiding from us because he doesn't like us as much as we like him. It could be that God is really not that into us. Take someone like Joel Osteen for example. If you don't know who he is ( and really, don't be embarassed at all if you don't), he's what was called in the 1980's a "televangelist". He does the Lord's work via television. And for his work, he's been rewarded. He's got a hot wife, lots of dough, and he's FAMOUS. All rewards, he may say, from God. Now, look at where you are. Swimming in cash? Are you or your significant other "hot" or "smokin'"? Do you have a TV show or millions of followers who are willing to send you cash to read a from a book that is available in nearly any bookstore and that they can read themselves? Probably not. You work hard, you may even pray or go to church. So why is God not sending you earthly rewards in abundance? It's probably because he just plain doesn't like you. Look, any of us knows that when you like someone you want the best for them, right? You at least try to see that the ones you like are safe and secure and are to some degree prosperous. Right? Haven't you ever stopped to think what the hell did those people in Darfur do to piss God off so thoroughly? Why some people seem to be afflicted with so much unpleasantness while for others the worst that happens to them is a stubbed toe? There's a saying that God doesn't give to us any more than we can handle. Which, if we interpret that saying at face value, that means that any woman living under the Taliban can kick my ass in a New York minute. But, why would this God who is alternately described as a loving God give some people a life that, if you allowed the same thing to happen to someone, you wouldn't be asked to babysit anyone's dog anytime soon? Don't we want to help and protect the people that we love? So, if God loves us, and he only gives us what we can handle, I'm guessing that God doesn't love people with really shitty lives. He piles it on these people because he wants them to suffer. And he wants them to suffer because he doesn't like them. It's not that God is hiding. It's that he's hiding from you. I've never seen a miracle. I haven't seen the face of Jesus in a tortilla either, but there are people that have. There are people who have been saved by guardian angels, and survived plane crashes that killed everyone else on board. There are people who, like our last president, claim that they personally talk to God. I used to scoff at them. But now, I realize the truth. God, despite my attempts to get his attention, just isn't into me. It's sort of explaining why Paul ditched Jane the model and hooked up with Linda. It's that he saw her, and that was that. I guess it kind of works the same for God. And since, presumably, God sees all, he knew when he created the world that he wouldn't like me ( which makes the whole idea of predestination all the more crappy, doesn't it?). My God, I think that I really depressed myself there. I'd better stop before I really say something depressing.