THE NOTION OF EVIL BEING THE ABSENCE OF THE RIGHT GOOD IS

MANIPULATIVE AND HAS A BAD SIDE YOU ARE NOT TOLD ABOUT

Believers in God when confronted with evil and suffering insist that God does not make these things but only makes good and these things happen because the good is being deformed. In other words, evil only describes an abuse of good and is not a power as such.

The argument tries to make out that what evil is, matters not that evil is. It's a distraction from the real point, it does not matter what evil is but it matters what God's intentions are. So for that reason it is a trick. If you see a murder taking place you have no excuse for denying it is a murder - "It was not his choice. It was necessary for the alternative would be worse." So when you need an evil argument and this argument that evil is not real is evil but only if there is a God then what do we conclude? God is an evil idea in itself.

THE ARGUMENT AND THE DIVINE PURPOSE

The teaching is that evil is useless though God may bring good out of it. Evil is the definition of waste and uselessness. God allegedly brings good out of evil but that is only trying to make the best of a situation that should not be. There should be no evil. "God judged it better to bring good out of evil than to suffer no evil to exist” (St Augustine of Hippo, Enchirid., xxvii).

This does not alter the fact that making yourself sick in order to feel superb and maybe so high that you will do a record amount of good for others to spread your joy and have it come back to you when you get better is still wrong. It cannot be better. God cannot make you sick to help you later.

Some believers say evil is not a power but a misused good power. But if it is a misused power then it is a power. Evil must be a power for misuse exists so it must be something real. What is misused is evil.

If evil is a power, then it deserves to be used and forced to make a greater good for it is owed no respect and there is nothing good in it. The problem then is how something useless can be used to do any good. It implies that evil people should be forced to do good but we consider that degrading and tyrannical.  Evil is nothing without people so those who talk as if it is something by itself are trying to fool us.

What if God makes evil, as in power not a negative thing, for a good purpose that he needs it for? The good purpose won't be done without it. The Church says that this is impossible. It says the creation of evil power is never necessary. Why? Because evil is necessarily useless. If evil is so bad that God can't make it even for a good purpose that justifies it, then it follows that if it is a negation then it is still intolerable. God cannot allow it even it he needs to so that we might have free will. It is an odd argument that evil is useless if it is a force and useful if it is a lack. The lack doctrine is really seeing evil as some kind of good rather than as evil.  It is an odd argument that a shameless cruel evil is really worse than a craftier one that pretends to be good and latches on to good things to camouflage.

If evil is not a power but just an absence of good then the idea of a good purpose for evil wouldn’t work. How could God have a use for the misuse of good? A misuse is necessarily useless. It is only whatever aspects of the situation that are good that produce more good.

Some say that God never has a purpose for evil but if it happens he will try to bring good out of it. But that means if it happens against his will he gives it a purpose and starts using it. This view implies that God is not the all-powerful creator when things can happen despite him.

Sometimes evil is followed by such great good that one might be glad the evil happened. That is human nature.  It is not a cognitive or thinking thing but a sign of relief.  We dismiss this as a human trait that is not relevant in the discussion concerning if evil can effect or be used to effect a good result. 

 If you think God brings good out of evil and can use evil so that the evil is almost worthwhile or actually worthwhile then surely as long as you wish and intend God to do this and you do harm then the good outcomes are his concern not yours? Why should you feel guilty or that you shouldn't have done the thing? You can murder with a merry charitable heart then!

The Church says that God has to facilitate the increase of evil to create some good that makes the evil worthwhile - for example when he allows and creates temptation and weakness. They deny that amounts to encouraging but it clear is.  Anyway, when evil is being used to destroy evil then evil shouldn’t exist in the first place. In other words, there is no purpose for it that justifies it. We know that people aren’t entirely to blame for the evil they do. God could make us nicer if he tried. That is why attempts to save God’s reputation which is beyond salvation are so offensive.

If good is a power as religion says then what does it need God for?  If evil is just a distortion of good then it is a parasite and has to go away sometime anyway so what do we want God for? We don't really think it can go on its own! So we must think it is real! As fear leads to hate are we using God to hide the fear from ourselves? It is evil to tell yourself something is working on evil when it may not be for that empowers evil. You need to get it right about how you can expect it to fade.