God and evil
The problem of evil, in terms of philosophy and theology, is that it challenges the very existence of God. How do we account for its presence in the world if there is a just and loving God? This is, in particular, the problem the Holocaust presents; so does child abuse, especially chronic, egregious maltreatment of small children, helpless invalids, and the elderly.
Some rationalize this problem in terms of tests: "God is testing us. Evil is there to test our faith and devotion to God." The problem with this is that you can't test infants and very small children, because they simply don't have the neurological equipment in place yet to comprehend the idea of any test, or that they are being tested, or what the point of a test, any test, is. The same is true of those with Alzheimer's and similar disorders, which entail a breakdown of brain function that leaves those with that condition in no condition to understand or appreciate such concepts. And "testing" nonhuman beings in that way is just as monstrous. Such tests are lost on the innocent, and deciding that it is those around them who are being tested by God begs the question of why God uses -- and uses up -- the innocent in such "tests" and what that implies about the nature of God. Only a monster would conduct such "tests" on the innocent and helpless; a just and loving God would not.
Others conclude that God doesn't exist, can't exist, that evil proves the nonexistence of God. But there are far more frightening possibilities.
The first is the possibility that God exists -- and doesn't care about His creation, or, at least, certainly that part of it that includes Earth and humanity. Second, and far worse, is the possibility that God exists and enjoys the impact of evil on His creation. If God is omnipotent, omniscient, and, perhaps, omnipresent, in the first case we are without recourse, and in the second, we are in a Hell devised by Someone who is mad in ways we can never hope to cure.
Nota bene (added to this post on May 15, 2010, at 2:33 p.m.):
Some time after writing this post I discovered that there are a number of beliefs having to do with the idea that God is not good, or at least not wholly so. They are as follows:
Misotheism is comparable to the original meaning of the Greek word atheos, meaning "rejection of the gods, rejected by the gods, godforsaken." Strictly speaking, the term connotes an attitude towards the Gods (one of hatred) rather than making a statement about their nature.
Dystheism is the belief that God does exist but is not wholly good, or that he might even be evil. The opposite concept is eutheism, the belief that God exists and is wholly good. Eutheism and dystheism are straightforward Greek formations from eu- and dys- + theism, paralleling atheism. However, many proponents of dystheistic ideas (including Elie Wiesel and David Blumenthal) do not offer those ideas in the spirit of hating God.[7] Their work notes God's apparent evil or at least indifferent disinterest in the welfare of humanity, but does not express hatred towards him because of it. A notable usage of the concept that the gods are either indifferent or actively hostile towards humanity is in the Cthulhu mythos of H.P. Lovecraft.
Maltheism is an ad-hoc coining appearing on Usenet in 1985, referring to the belief in God's malevolence inspired by the thesis of Tim Maroney that "even if a God as described in the Bible does exist, he is not fit for worship due to his low moral standards." The same term has also seen use among designers and players of role-playing games to describe a world with a malevolent deity.
Antitheism is direct opposition to theism. As such, it is generally manifested more as an opposition to belief in a god (to theism per se) than as opposition to gods themselves, making it more associated with antireligion, although Buddhism is generally considered to be a religion, however its status with respect to theism is more nebulous. Antitheism by this definition does not necessarily imply belief in any sort of god at all, it simply stands in opposition to the idea of theistic religion. Under this definition, antitheism is a rejection of theism that does not necessarily imply belief in gods on the part of the antitheist. Some might equate any form of antitheism (or even atheism) to an overt opposition to God, since these beliefs run contrary to the idea of making devotion to God the highest priority in life, although those ideas would imply that God exists, and that he wishes to be worshiped, or to be believed in.
Misoligare is a relatively obscure term coined by Michael Owen Vaughan-Albert. This term is used to refer to the hatred of religion itself, rather than its participants or god(s).
Post-theism accepts the validity of the concept of God as inducing morality at a certain stage of human development, but postulates a stage where morality can exist without support in religious cult, rendering the concept of God superfluous.
Certain forms of dualism make the assertion that the thing worshipped as God in this world is actually an evil impostor, but that a true benevolent deity worthy of being called "God" exists beyond this world. The Gnostics believed that God (the deity worshipped by Jews and Christians) was really an evil creator or demiurge that stood between us and some greater, more truly benevolent real deity. Though there is no reason given why the higher God is not a creator God as well, nor why the higher God allows the realm of the evil demiurge as flawed and unjust to continue to exist. Similarly, Marcionites held beliefs deemed maltheistic in nature, depicting God as represented in the Old Testament as a wrathful, genocidal, malicious demiurge.
For more on these and related ideas, see Misotheism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, which links to articles on the meanings and origins of the terms given above and to those of related ideas and concepts.
Some rationalize this problem in terms of tests: "God is testing us. Evil is there to test our faith and devotion to God." The problem with this is that you can't test infants and very small children, because they simply don't have the neurological equipment in place yet to comprehend the idea of any test, or that they are being tested, or what the point of a test, any test, is. The same is true of those with Alzheimer's and similar disorders, which entail a breakdown of brain function that leaves those with that condition in no condition to understand or appreciate such concepts. And "testing" nonhuman beings in that way is just as monstrous. Such tests are lost on the innocent, and deciding that it is those around them who are being tested by God begs the question of why God uses -- and uses up -- the innocent in such "tests" and what that implies about the nature of God. Only a monster would conduct such "tests" on the innocent and helpless; a just and loving God would not.
Others conclude that God doesn't exist, can't exist, that evil proves the nonexistence of God. But there are far more frightening possibilities.
The first is the possibility that God exists -- and doesn't care about His creation, or, at least, certainly that part of it that includes Earth and humanity. Second, and far worse, is the possibility that God exists and enjoys the impact of evil on His creation. If God is omnipotent, omniscient, and, perhaps, omnipresent, in the first case we are without recourse, and in the second, we are in a Hell devised by Someone who is mad in ways we can never hope to cure.
Nota bene (added to this post on May 15, 2010, at 2:33 p.m.):
Some time after writing this post I discovered that there are a number of beliefs having to do with the idea that God is not good, or at least not wholly so. They are as follows:
Misotheism is comparable to the original meaning of the Greek word atheos, meaning "rejection of the gods, rejected by the gods, godforsaken." Strictly speaking, the term connotes an attitude towards the Gods (one of hatred) rather than making a statement about their nature.
Dystheism is the belief that God does exist but is not wholly good, or that he might even be evil. The opposite concept is eutheism, the belief that God exists and is wholly good. Eutheism and dystheism are straightforward Greek formations from eu- and dys- + theism, paralleling atheism. However, many proponents of dystheistic ideas (including Elie Wiesel and David Blumenthal) do not offer those ideas in the spirit of hating God.[7] Their work notes God's apparent evil or at least indifferent disinterest in the welfare of humanity, but does not express hatred towards him because of it. A notable usage of the concept that the gods are either indifferent or actively hostile towards humanity is in the Cthulhu mythos of H.P. Lovecraft.
Maltheism is an ad-hoc coining appearing on Usenet in 1985, referring to the belief in God's malevolence inspired by the thesis of Tim Maroney that "even if a God as described in the Bible does exist, he is not fit for worship due to his low moral standards." The same term has also seen use among designers and players of role-playing games to describe a world with a malevolent deity.
Antitheism is direct opposition to theism. As such, it is generally manifested more as an opposition to belief in a god (to theism per se) than as opposition to gods themselves, making it more associated with antireligion, although Buddhism is generally considered to be a religion, however its status with respect to theism is more nebulous. Antitheism by this definition does not necessarily imply belief in any sort of god at all, it simply stands in opposition to the idea of theistic religion. Under this definition, antitheism is a rejection of theism that does not necessarily imply belief in gods on the part of the antitheist. Some might equate any form of antitheism (or even atheism) to an overt opposition to God, since these beliefs run contrary to the idea of making devotion to God the highest priority in life, although those ideas would imply that God exists, and that he wishes to be worshiped, or to be believed in.
Misoligare is a relatively obscure term coined by Michael Owen Vaughan-Albert. This term is used to refer to the hatred of religion itself, rather than its participants or god(s).
Post-theism accepts the validity of the concept of God as inducing morality at a certain stage of human development, but postulates a stage where morality can exist without support in religious cult, rendering the concept of God superfluous.
Certain forms of dualism make the assertion that the thing worshipped as God in this world is actually an evil impostor, but that a true benevolent deity worthy of being called "God" exists beyond this world. The Gnostics believed that God (the deity worshipped by Jews and Christians) was really an evil creator or demiurge that stood between us and some greater, more truly benevolent real deity. Though there is no reason given why the higher God is not a creator God as well, nor why the higher God allows the realm of the evil demiurge as flawed and unjust to continue to exist. Similarly, Marcionites held beliefs deemed maltheistic in nature, depicting God as represented in the Old Testament as a wrathful, genocidal, malicious demiurge.
For more on these and related ideas, see Misotheism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, which links to articles on the meanings and origins of the terms given above and to those of related ideas and concepts.