Does God Exist: The Argument From Evil?

[Eilonnwy]

The world works exactly as it would be expected to if there was no god.

That said, the contradiction is obvious to us but not obvious to Christians. I had a discussion with someone who told me that people suffer because of free will and in the same breath said it was god's plan, everything happens for a reason. It's a "have it both ways" argument that I used to buy into and it's amazing how hard it is for Christian's to grasp the contradiction.

What it comes down to is that everyday people whoa re not theologians believe free will means evil people exist and suffering is a way of being closer to god. (Mother Theresa anyone?) They think that God plans everything for good people and even though you can't possibly comprehend why your child died it's all in God's plan and good will come. And yet if you daughter was murdered by some evil man it's his free will that did it. You can argue till your face turns blue and people will still not see the contradiction.