Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Evil (Blog 2)
Evil is all around us. It takes many forms. Many have argued that evil is a direct result of God giving humans free will. Because we have free will, one of the choices is evil. The problem with this argument is that it does not account for all evil in the world. It explains moral evil, “evil or suffering that results from the immoral choices of free creatures” (http://www.iep.utm.edu/e/evil-log.htm#H6), but not natural evil. Why do earthquakes exist at all? Why do floods kill people? Could these natural evils exist for another reason? “God allows or brings about evil as punishment for sin”. (https://www.uvm.edu/~phildept/pereboom/PEFin.pdf) There are many sins that go unpunished and many righteous that are hurt from natural evils. It does not follow then, that punishment is a logical explanation. Pain and suffering are argued to be “ useful warning signals”. (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pain/) Why then doesn’t the pain stop once we have been “warned” and are aware of the problem? Also, what about instances where we do not feel pain? Suppose someone contracts the HIV virus while having sex. They will not feel any pain as the virus infects them. So this argument is not sound. So why do we have evil?
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Those are some intense questions about evil. But by being the complex beings we are, we still don't have all the answers. Evil works in numerous ways around the world, by preying on the innocent and hopeless, let alone the bad. Evil is a cycle, just like death and birth. There can be no good, if there is no bad. How could we experience joy if there is no pain? Or if nature was always calm, the world would not be what it is today.
Love the reason why you have to right this, its classic.
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