Good to see you again. It’s has been a while since we have met here in the old crow’s nest. I got a new computer with all the latest cool stuff on it, but I’m a bit slow in learning how to use them. Some say that I need a crash course in computing, but the truth, is I’m really good at crashing the computer. So here is my first attempt with my new computer. Hang on, here we go!
To refresh your memory, we have been briefly discussing the subject of God. Is there really a God? Who is God? Can we really know Him, Her, It or Them? It seems that when it comes to the creation of the universe, the ultimate purpose of mankind, or other deep philosophical matters we can remain rational and fairly clear headed in our debates about such matters, but we tend to lose perspective when it comes to sin and suffering. That is because we all are affected so personally by them. Watching loved ones wither away from cancer makes us cry out for Divine intervention. We become disillusioned when nothing happens. Whether justified or not, we hate the death and destruction that war produces. It does not make sense that someone would be angry enough to take the life of another human being. Why would anyone sexually or physically abuse a child? Sensible people find no justification in such violence. Inevitably, we ask, “Where is God? How can He allow this?” Many come to the conclusion that either there is no God in control or He does not deserve our respect.

If there is no God at all, we mortals have some serious problems. Inspite of a constant effort to improve the overall behavior of our species, things are just getting worse. Nothing seems to quell our warlike nature. Old conflicts continue unabated while new ones break out in all corners of creation. Differences in race and culture fuel fighting. Religion, which should make us better, is the reason some seem hell-bent on killing or enslaving those who disagree with them. Murder, rape, robbery are all on the rise. Disrespect and rudeness have become the standard in dealing with others.

If a reasonably intelligent alien were to land on Earth and observe our behavior do you think he would want to become part of our world? Or would he write us off as losers? Face it, we humans have miserably failed. If thousands of years of existence have brought no improvement could we say that we and our world are hopeless? And there is no divine power to blame, only ourselves. That would lead us to the position of the Epicureans whose philosophy was, “Eat, drink, be merry, for tomorrow you die.” Life has no defined purpose, so indulge yourself in your short stay here.

For those who concede that there may be a deity of some kind, but He, She, It, or Them are unapproachable have a greater problem. They acknowledge there is a deity, but the deity just doesn’t care about creation or is unable to control it. It’s like having a broken air conditioner at your house in Florida in July. You try looking up a repairman in the phone book and all you find is listings for repair services with no phone numbers and no business hours. Out there somewhere is a trained service tech sitting in an air conditioned office and does not care that you are sweltering away in 98 degree heat. Even the calmest among us would tend to be angry at such callousness. A deity that ignores the agonizing cries of earth’s multitudes dying with aids, malnutrition, crippling diseases, and the ravages of war should enrage us. Such a god should not be honored.

That brings us to the toughest questions of all, “If there is a deity out there that is greater than we mortals, how does He, She, It or Them explain pain, evil, and death?” Or, “How can a loving deity allow us to suffer?” How about, “Why doesn’t deity stop the horrible injustices all around us?” People are starving to death because their rulers don’t like their particular tribe or their faith. Can’t deity over ride their actions? Could not the attack of 911 been stopped before three thousand innocent people were killed? Some folks really struggle with a god who allows the abuse of children. What’s up with this thing called death? And where do the dead go? Would we want to go live with a god that caused such suffering in the first place?

There are various approaches to the subject of suffering. Since this a blog and not a book I will limit my discussion to a one word explanation- freewill. We humans are the cream of the crop of all earth’s creatures when it comes to intelligence, emotions, and reasoning. Most of the animals react from instinct or triggers in nature. Being a hunter I know that the mating season of the wild turkey is somewhere around the middle of March to the middle of April. The mating ritual is not caused by a burst of romantic feelings between a tom and a hen, but rather by the lengthening of the daylight hours which triggers the hen’s cycle. Now it is true that the tom will strut and gobble in order to attract the hen. All he is doing is showing her that he is capable of fertilizing her eggs. Of course, he does the same thing to any other hen that he can lure. They are simply responding to an instinct that allows them to procreate their species. Once the hens are properly impregnated the toms go off by themselves leaving the hatching and rearing of the young to the hens.

On the other hand, we humans exercise our freewill to pick and chose the one that we marry. It is our choices that determine whether we arrive at happily ever after or divorce court.

The truth be known, our choices determine the entire outcome of our lives. Some may say that there are circumstances in life that we have no control over that seriously affect us. We still have the ability to choose how we react to what we can't control. Either we let the events crush us or we work our way out of them making the most of it. That corny cliche, "If life hands you lemons make lemonade", is a formula for success.

Freewill is the cause of our problems as well. Clashes over power results in war and all of its awlfulness. Wanting what is not yours leads to theft. Not taking care of our bodies leads to health issues. Choosing to lie tears apart friendships and damages reputations. All of our sins and our sufferings can be traced back to someone's or some group's actions.

So, if there is a god, why don't he, she, it or them stop our bad choices? Hey, sounds fair to me. God can correct all that is bad and leave all that is good, right? But what is free about that and whose will is being exercised? For freewill to be actually an unhindered choice both good and bad actions must be allowed, otherwise, we are mere robots. A four year old girl makes her doll do whatever she wants with no input from the doll. What kind of god would create a world where the creations were mere play things? What would be the point of such a thing? Having raised daughters and now granddaughters I have kissed my share of dolls who did not respond to me at all. I would much rather receive one kiss from my wife that is freely given than to give ten thousand kisses to a plastic doll. God is willing to risk some choices that are wrong in hopes of some genuine expressions of love and worship.

My brain is fried, how about yours? Sin and suffering are hard subjects to comprehend, but maybe we have seen some insights. That still leaves the question of who is God unanswered. Next time we will attempt to begin an answer.