The Problem of Good

[athrock]

Theist apologists frequently cite free will as being the answer to the problem of evil. It's important that we have the choice to do bad things, even though we're not supposed to do those bad things. So, when people cause problems, we are to blame, even if God could have prevented it.

The problem of this bit of apologetics is it doesn't mesh with the other half of what they claim to believe. It doesn't take good into account. People are always praising God for things that people do. I'm constantly hearing praises for getting a new job, getting better after medical treatment, or doing well on a test after studying. Every single one of these things hinge on human action. When people do good things, they say it is because of God and not the person (don't want to admit to pride), but it's never God's fault when they do bad things.

So, when everything is going great in the world, apparently God can muck around with that all day long, and anything good that happens ever is because of God. But all the bad stuff is never his fault. That's just us. Their stated belief is that God is such a powerful being that he literally sticks his hands in every facet of life, no matter how small, until it comes to us misbehaving. Then, he takes a strictly hands-off approach, because we need to be free to misbehave. Even more strange is that God gets people jobs, allows medical treatment to work, and lets people recall key facts on tests regardless of their behavior. There seems to be no correlation between a person's behavior and how often God "blesses" them.

If moral autonomy is so precious to the theist apologist, they should stop giving their god credit for the good things people do. I thought people have to be free to make those good choices. This god of special pleading is fatiguing and trite.

I would agree with you that people often attribute good things that happen to them to god when it may just have been luck. However, the fact that they make what may be erroneous attributions doesn't actually undermine the theist argument for free will. After all, they may simply be wrong. (Of course, sometimes they could be right if God really does exist.)

For example, players on both teams hold hands in the locker room and pray for victory. But only one team wins. Afterward, the winning side thanks god for the W, but what about the other side? Do they blame god for the loss? Nope.

So, here's the thing: although this is annoying, it has no real bearing on the legitimate discussion of free will. That is a much more sophisticated discussion than talking about how a supreme being helped someone find a parking space when they were going to a job interview.