Will an almighty loving God allow for evil and terrible suffering to exist?
Last updated on 4th October 2017
Note: Readers who do not like to read about distressing matters may please skip reading this post.
Today I saw some videos, including live USA TV coverage videos, of the horrific and deadly shooting in Las Vegas, USA. Here's an article on it: More than 50 dead and 200 injured in shooting on Las Vegas Strip; police say lone suspect is dead, http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-las-vegas-mandalay-bay-20171001-story.html. The suspected killer who was killed by the police is a 64 year old man who lived in a retirement community in Las Vegas!
The cell phone videos of the attack and eyewitness accounts have horrified me, and to be frank, really angered me. I shouted some expletives to release some steam. Reports are that the killer, from a vantage point on a 32nd floor hotel room, fired using a sophisticated automatic weapon, for ten to fifteen minutes (with reloading breaks in between, it seems) on a helpless music concert crowd of thousands on the ground next to the hotel. This killer seems to be an American and, as of now at least, there are no reports of him being related to any global terror organization.
Surely such acts of killing and injuring such helpless people in a random way has to be viewed as evil.
In the midst of this evil, the theological question that has been debated for millennia I guess, pops up yet again. If God is almighty and benevolent or loving, why does he allow such evil to happen?
Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, my beloved and revered Gurudev (spiritual master), said that God is Love and Love is God. Further, Sathya Sai would regularly refer to people like listeners of his discourses, as Premaswarupas - embodiments/forms of love - and DivyaAtmaswarupas - embodiments/forms of divine soul/being.
But from an intellectual analysis point of view, an almighty loving God concept (and an almighty benevolent God concept) does not seem to be consistent with existence of evil and terrible suffering.
However, I am willing to give space for an explanation/interpretation of Sathya Sai's above statement which is beyond my intellectual ability and current intellectual understanding of life and existence.
So I do not reject in any way Sathya Sai's above statement. I just say that I do not have an intellectual understanding of it.
To some extent I can understand Karmic suffering as a way to force man to pause and reflect on his (or her) behaviour and attitude, and correct himself for the future. I guess this has some parallel with the justice system in our world today where people are sent to jail as a way to not only punish but ideally, also correct/transform.
But the extent of suffering is so much in nature that I find it very hard intellectually to understand why such horrific suffering is needed as a way to correct/transform a person. I mean, why should children suffer from cancer and the horrific pain that may accompany it? Isn't there a better and less painful way to drive home any karmic lessons? And then how can a child learn such karmic lessons? How can a God that delivers such karmic punishment to children be viewed as a loving God?? My intellectual understanding of such issues gets completely stopped in its tracks!
What karmic lessons are being given here in this Las Vegas tragedy with at least 50 helpless people being killed and over 200 being injured by one evil gunman with a killing machine? Once again, my intellectual understanding gets completely stopped in its tracks!
But Sathya Sai was an extraordinarily powerful mystic. Maybe on my human plane of existence I am not able to comprehend something that is apparent on a higher mystical plane of existence.
I believe my spiritual master's words in this matter and further believe that it must be true at a higher plane of existence than my current human level of existence where I cannot intellectually understand or justify this belief of mine.
I pray to God to shower His Grace on the souls of those killed in this Las Vegas, USA mass shooting, and shower His Grace on the injured. I further pray to Him to give strength and courage to friends and family of those killed or injured, and to the first responders, police & security agency staff, and hospital staff involved in responding to this tragedy.
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USA President Trump's statement on the Las Vegas mass shooting, https://youtu.be/eBWwf6th0Yw, 5 min 10 secs.
The text of USA President Trump's statement: http://edition.cnn.com/2017/10/02/politics/donald-trump-full-statement-las-vegas-shooting/index.html.
Some parts of President Trump's statement are given below:
My fellow Americans, we are joined together today in sadness, shock, and grief. Last night, a gunman opened fire on a large crowd at a country music concert in Las Vegas, Nevada. He brutally murdered more than 50 people, and wounded hundreds more. It was an act of pure evil.
...
To the families of the victims: We are praying for you and we are here for you, and we ask God to help see you through this very dark period.
Scripture teaches us, "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." We seek comfort in those words, for we know that God lives in the hearts of those who grieve. To the wounded who are now recovering in hospitals, we are praying for your full and speedy recovery, and pledge to you our support from this day forward.
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In times such as these, I know we are searching for some kind of meaning in the chaos, some kind of light in the darkness. The answers do not come easy. But we can take solace knowing that even the darkest space can be brightened by a single light, and even the most terrible despair can be illuminated by a single ray of hope.
Melania and I are praying for every American who has been hurt, wounded, or lost the ones they love so dearly in this terrible, terrible attack. We pray for the entire nation to find unity and peace. And we pray for the day when evil is banished, and the innocent are safe from hatred and from fear.
May God bless the souls of the lives that are lost. May God give us the grace of healing. And may God provide the grieving families with strength to carry on.
Thank you. God bless America. Thank you.
--- end extracts of President Trump's statement ----
Ravi: I humbly join in the above prayers of USA President Trump.
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Some clarifications about this post of mine:
Typical Vedanta/Upanishadic view, as I recall from my readings, does not portray God as a loving force nor as an unloving force. It also says that good and bad are two sides of the same coin, and that the whole world is a dream-world ..... And so in the typical Vedanta view, I think the above logical issue of Almighty & Loving god allowing evil and horrific suffering to happen does not crop up.
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My post is not about why bad things happen to good people. It is about the Almighty and Loving words that do not meet the logical test of problem of evil and suffering in the world.
My belief about why bad things happen (or even good things happen) to people (good people and bad people) is that it has a lot to do with Karma. That karmic belief is very, very deep in devout Hindus including me.
Om Sri Sairam
ReplyDeleteAttempting the Unattemptable : )
1. At a very high level-Death is a Mystery. Birth is a Mystery. Life is a Mystery. Love is a Mystery. Mysteries are not a problem that can be solved- they are a reality to be experienced. The Spirit embodies itself to know and experience the mystery of its own being through birth, life, love, and death!
2. At a slightly lesser level, it's necessary to believe in God and his Plan for a better life after this one for those face death. God knows and loves each of us individually and when we have this faith in confidence in God's love, mercy, justice, and fairness, we can find comfort in knowing that God has good reasons for everything He does or allows-terrorism, disasters, accidents and even natural death at an inappropriate time . People die because it is their appointed time. For some, it could be their time to be relieved of suffering. For others, it may be their time to have a chance in the next life to experience God's love and understand Him better than they ever could in this life. Still for some others, it could be their time to be rewarded for their love and service to Him and humanity. And for those who have done evil for which they have not repented, it is their time to be faced with the error of their ways and the consequences of their choices. Any which way, for them, death is an idea whose time has come!
3. At an even lower level – fear, desire and greed of an unconscious humanity driven by ego is the root cause. This causes stress, tension and depression and drives people to violence. All these are mind stuff. Education and Spiritual awakening can weed out the destructive tendency in the human mind. This is where we can make a difference. Our role is to inspire, uplift and raise the consciousness of humanity so that they can rid themselves of this destructive tendency...
Om Sri Sairam
I think the key question of why an Almighty and loving God does not prevent horrific suffering and evil from happening in the world, has not been answered in your response.
DeleteYou write, "And for those who have done evil for which they have not repented, it is their time to be faced with the error of their ways and the consequences of their choices." This is on the lines of Karma theory. I repeat my questions, "I mean, why should children suffer from cancer and the horrific pain that may accompany it? Isn't there a better and less painful way to drive home any karmic lessons? And then how can a child learn such karmic lessons? How can a God that delivers such karmic punishment to children be viewed as a loving God??"