MYSTERY OF INIQUITY - WHY IT IS IMMORAL TO CALL EVIL AND SUFFERING A
MYSTERY FOR YOU HAVE NO ANSWER
Some say the answer to the problem of evil is that it is a mystery. Others say
it is not but that specific evils can be a mystery but the problem as a whole is
not.
Each solution to the problem of evil is itself a mystery for it is really
only a possible solution.
If we know that evil is compatible with the existence of God, then the evil he
lets happen is a mystery in the sense that we cannot know what his plan is.
Suppose we need evil to be happy or good. That would prove that a loving God can
permit evil to happen. But what if there is no reasonable explanation for why
evil and God can fit? What happens if you say it is a mystery then? That is what
we are talking about here.
Religionists commonly preach that the solution to the problem of evil exists but
is undiscovered. We know what good and evil are and if there is a possible
answer we would have found it ages ago. And they have no reason to think there
is a solution. It is evil to excuse the behaviour of a being whose existence you
cannot really and rationally be as sure of as the existence of an evil and cruel
person. It is best that if you are going to excuse two people, excuse the one
whose existence is best verified. And excuse the evil man or woman next door
because no matter what they do, they are not entities who supposedly run the
universe and let babies suffer to a magnitude we will never understand. If you
believe in God then you have to believe that it is best to excuse the evil and
cruel person. The being that is more likely to exist should get the best
treatment and that is your neighbour.
The less evidence you have that somebody exists, the more likely it is that your
head is filling in the blanks. Condoning the evil of a God you do not know well
or cannot know well is therefore saying more about you than God.
The doctrine that evil is a mystery is itself evil. The evil might be implied
but it is still evil. We tend to be too tolerant and happy with implied evil.
That is a flaw that we need to weed out. If evil is a mystery then God is
fictitious and an abomination.
The mystery doctrine is a cop-out. Even if it were not intended to be, it could
still be one. It is too serious of a matter to get wrong!
Religion might answer that it is no big deal and the doctrine is to be praised
when we deal with evil being a mystery by battling it. They see battling evil as
a part of exercising our belief that evil is a mystery and helping ourselves see
that better. It is reinforcing the perception that evil is a mystery and to be
battled against. But to say evil is a mystery is to say that it could be a
mystery why evil will reign over many innocent people forever despite the
existence of a loving God. It could be that God's plan does not include you
because it cannot.
The believer simply knows that doing good brings good results. You don't need
religion to work that out. They are using non-religious wisdom and trying to
marinate it in faith.
Such dishonesty is an insult to suffering people.