HOW PERCEPTUAL IS OUR VIEW OF GOD'S LOVE? DOES IT SAY ALL ABOUT US AND NOTHING ABOUT HIM?
Spinoza wrote that we only judge things to be good because we want those things
(page 204, The Book of Atheist Spirituality). So because we want comfort for
ourselves in the face of suffering and because we want to believe that God
supports us we warm ourselves to the suffering of nearly all creation. It does
not repel us the way it should.
Believers say that theories about why God allows evil to happen may help you
adore him but only if they develop your perception of good and your attraction
to it. They tell us, "It has to be about perception not theory. It would not be
right to accept the problem of evil being solved theoretically when it should be
solved perceptually." Perceptual is more holistic. Theory leaves the heart out.
Perception includes it. Suppose you can see the good that results from evil and
that it is justified. It is explained. You perceive why God let the evil take
place so now you can create a theory but you don't really need to. What
believers really mean is they want us to look at evil and no matter how bad it
is and if the whole universe turns into a hellhole they want us to twist our
minds and see this as somehow justifiable and good as far as God let it happen.
It is not about perception of reality but perception as in seeing what we want
to see.
It is strange that God urges you to see how evil leads to good and how evil has
a good side and believe in him because of this but does not let you try to test
him! It is too strange to contemplate! It is man that does not want you testing
in case you find out there is no God! To cause something to be untestable is bad
for it is too risky in many ways. To blame God for engineering spiritual affairs
to put them outside the range of testing is blasphemy.