Jim Anderson

Why Does God Allow Terrorist Attacks?



Posted: Saturday, November 14, 2009

by
Weddings That Last

In the recent attack at Ft. Hood by Major Hasan, shouting "Allahu Akbar" as he shot fellow American soldiers, we are reminded of the attacks of September 11, 2001.  We all are reminded of the pain and suffering.  Many people begin to also ask the question, how can a good God exist if He lets these things happen to good people?  This is one of the biggest objections to Christianity that exists.  The argument is that if God really existed, he wouldn't let these things happen.  Essentially, if God existed then He would immediately eradicate all evil and bring heaven on Earth without delay.  Why would He let evil exist for even a moment?  These are good questions and they are difficult questions to answer.  However, there are answers.  It is difficult to get to the answers in the flood of emotions we experience when bad things happen to us or our family.

There was woman whose husband was in the hospital again for a chronic problem with his large intestine.  He had been in and out of the hospital for years now.  This time he had to go through another operation to remove more of his large intestine.  The difference was that this time the operation had gone on for 6 hours.  When she went to see him in intensive care he was worse than she had ever seen him.  The doctors had informed her that the operation was successful, but it wasn't without challenges.  He was lucky to be alive.  During all this time that he has been suffering from this malady, he has been trying to collect on his state disability insurance to help him while he could not work.  The insurance adjusters were denying his disability claim on some technical issues.  Now he is clearly disabled, why aren't they delivering on the promise of the insurance?  She thought about all these things as she looked at her husband lying in intensive care, lucky to have made it through alive.  She turns to the nurse outside the station and asks, "Is there anywhere I can go to scream?"  The nurse directed her to a room and they mused over the idea that every hospital ought to have a screaming room.  To be human is to wrestle with the reality of evil and suffering.  These things cause heightened emotions and we all cope in our own ways.  We are often flooded with questions of why.  We want answers, but they often elude us at the moment.   However, I'll try to answer the key question here.

Why Does God Allow Evil and Suffering To Exist?

Norman Geisler, a Christian philosopher, puts it this way in his book When Skeptics Ask, "To be free we had to have not only the opportunity to choose good, but also the ability to choose evil.  That was the risk God knowingly took."  Let me explain it this with an illustration.

There is a doll out on the market for women called the Mr. Wonderful doll.  He knows all the right things to say to make women feel good.  He is either 12" or 5" tall.  Whenever the woman who owns one wants to feel good, she can just push a button and hear statements like, "You know honey, why don't you just relax and let me make dinner tonight." Or "Here, you take the remote, as long as I'm with you, I don't care what we watch."  Here is another good one, "The ball game isn't really that important, I'd rather spend time with you."  As long as you keep the three AA batteries fresh he'll say something perfect when you push the button.  He never gets grumpy and he isn't selfish.  Those of us who are married can certainly understand why this doll sells.

God could have done the same thing with us.  We could be robots that just go around all day saying things like "You know God, the ball game isn't important, why don't I just read the Bible instead?" or "God you are holy and perfect, I will never disobey you."  If He had done this then there would be no evil because lying, racism, sexual abuse, and terrorism would not be part of how He programmed us.  But would a relationship with the Mr. Wonderful doll be satisfying?  What are the drawbacks of that kind of relationship?

God gave us free will because He loves us and wants a relationship with us, and yet we choose evil.  We are the ones who have created the world of pain and evil with our choices.  God grieves over our choices.  Our choices have created seemingly unrelated consequences such as natural disasters and bad things happening to innocent people.  Peter Senge wrote a series of books around his idea of "The Fifth Discipline" which is a business book about System Dynamics.  It is the concept of how a butterfly in Africa can cause a hurricane halfway across the world.  Senge relates this to business decisions.  If you understand this concept, you will begin to see how sin can ultimately result in natural disasters, deformed babies, and terrorism.  God allows it because He gave us the freedom to make our own choice to either love Him or not.

Jim is a personal financial authority and author, an ordained minister, and an independent music artist. He has a Bachelor of Business in Finance, and a Masters of Religious Studies, graduating with honors. Jim has built multiple businesses since 1990. He now owns a financial services business and does premarital counseling and customized wedding ceremonies. For more information see his website www.weddingsthatlast.com

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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)
» left by Anonymous
 2 years 89 days ago.
Hi Jim! Great article..... I agree and add, if we didn't have pain or suffering on Earth, we wouldn't pray to God, reach out to Him, or have conversations with him. And mostly, if there weren't all the suffering here, we wouldn't look forward to the perfection of Heaven and being with Him for eternity. I do struggle at times and get frustrated, but I know that He is in control and sees the whole picture. But yikes,sometimes it is hard! Thanks for writing... Tracey : )
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» left by Jim Anderson 2 years 89 days ago.
23 fans. Follow Jim Anderson on twitter!
Tracey,
 
Thanks for reading and commenting, and for the rating. You are right about the pain and suffering.
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» left by Marijo Phelps
 2 years 89 days ago.
139 fans.
Great explanations - I hope you might write more on this topic! (By the way, I ordered the book you suggested!) Thanks! Marijo
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» left by Jim Anderson 2 years 89 days ago.
23 fans. Follow Jim Anderson on twitter!
Thanks for the comment. I'll probably write more about this. I think you'll really enjoy the book!
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