Should We Fire God? (Part 2a)

Punishment from above
Up until perhaps the last few years, moreso the last few months to a year, I had never really considered some of the questions presented in the previous post (Part 1) concerning God and pain and suffering. Had I been presented with those same questions then, it wouldn’t have bothered or shaken my view of God because although I could see pain and suffering around me and in the world, God was good, merciful, and love. I thought, our suffering and pain is due to the effects of sin since the beginning of time.  Not that your sin has a direct cause and effect relationship like the Jews of Jesus’ time believed, but in the sense that we live in a broken world tainted by sin, and the only hope we have of eradicating this would be the full return and glory of Jesus Christ to end all pain.



I can’t say that I can blame the first century Jews for thinking about their relationship between God and themselves in terms of cause and effect with regard to their sins and what happens to them in life. Israel’s history was full of examples where God would command obedience to what he said, and time and time again Israel would wander and go its own way like a ‘whore prostituting herself’. God would bring down wrath to punish them for their ways so that they would realize he was the one and only true God worthy of their devotion and praise. Israel would come back to God and he would bless them through certain times. Then they would eventually start going astray and repeat the process. Not all Israelites went astray, but God dealt with them as a nation, a Holy people he called out.

So if this is how God had interacted with his people, then doesn’t it make more sense that the first century Jews would believe that if a person was going through bad times (disease, death, etc) it was a direct result of God punishing them for their sins, such as assumed Job's friends? But how did Jesus respond to this, and why the seeming change? Perhaps because in the old days God dealt with Israel as a people, and Jesus seemed to turn everything on its head and break it down to the individual level?

"And his disciples asked him,"Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"  Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him." John 9:2-3

Luke 13:4-5 seems to hit the same point.  Bad things that happen to people are not a direct result of their sin.

So if pain and suffering isn’t a direct divine response to one’s sins, then that would follow that pain may be either caused by God for non-punishing reasons or that he merely allows it to happen (or a combination or perhaps something else even). Assuming that God at least loves some people, how could he standby and watch it happen to them? He certainly saw it coming and didn’t do anything to divert it from their path.

Neglect speaks for itself
I’d like to go through a story presented in Jim’s book. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported:

“The crime scene photos of Sierra Tisdale shows a lifeless, emaciated baby with curly dark hair in a soiled crib, with feces oozing from every corner of her unchanged diaper.

At the time of the child’s 2002 death from starvation, the case was considered on of the worst examples of child neglect in Clark County in recent memory.”

Sure, the mother Sophia Mendoza was under many pressures: she was nineteen, had five kids, an abusive boyfriend, and there were indications she did meth. That is not the best home life, but is there any excuse for what she did? Baby Sierra was found dead for 24 hours the same day her mommy went out to celebrate her own birthday. A wax apple in the house was found to have bite marks in it. As Jim agrees that much neglect is just too much.

“To some, God is guilty of similar levels of neglect and abuse. The specifics are different, but the lack of care is the same. To some, God’s explanations aren’t important – in much the same way that many would say that Sophia’s aren’t. Many people aren’t looking for the deeper issue, the bigger pictures. The facts are what they are: Sophia created a child and then let that child slowly, and probably painfully, die. Enough said.

Just imagine a friend comes up and starts talking to you about Sophia Mendoza. Let’s say he doesn’t’ just bring her up, he talks about the great things she had done. As he talks about Sophia’s selfless acts, he sees the look of disbelief on your face. He responds with a knowing smile and says, ‘I get this all the time. You are missing the point! She is really a wonderful woman!’ Then he describes to you how you should follow Sophia’s example in your life!

The problem is that you don’t think you have missed anything at all. To some, the good things someone (or God) might do simply don’t make the bad go away.” Should We Fire God? [page 52]

I can’t say that I have been free from the same thoughts and accusations placed on God. He then goes on to quote a somewhat common view of God:

“The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.” – Richard Dawkins

That’s quite the accusation, though with the world we live in God can seem to deserve having some of those characteristics applied to him.

On the job
I walk into work. I go to my desk and logon to my computer. I decide that I won’t be doing my responsibilities and I play games and watch videos on youtube.com. Some co-workers need my help, but I decide not to do anything. I just sit there idly and watch. I say I wish I could help you but you’ll have to do this one on your own or with someone else, I can’t do it now. It wouldn’t take too long for an employer to recognize this sort of blatant disregard for ones job and they would likely be packing up their things shortly thereafter. Is this what God is doing with our world? Just watching and not helping? Should he be fired?

In Part 2b, I will discuss my personal stages of doubt leading me to question God, my faith, and his character.


Should We Fire God? series:
Part 1
Part 2a
Part 2b
Part 3a
Part 3b-1
Part 3b-2
Part 3b-3