When something goes horribly wrong in our lives we tend to wonder what happened. Sometimes we even wonder if it could possibly be God’s fault. Many people begin to believe that God is to blame because he is the acclaimed almighty power. The idea of theodicy defends God’s goodness and justice in the face and existence of evil. I think that we shouldn’t blame God for everything that is going on in our world and for the hardships we have faced in history.
I believe that we shouldn’t blame God for the existence of evil in our world for many various reasons. If we do in fact put the blame on God, then why should we even think that he exists? Just because God doesn’t make his presence known in the face of evil that doesn’t mean that he is doing it on purpose. People tend to think that it is easier to put the blame on someone else rather than taking the heat for themselves. When Leibniz published Theodicy he believed in God. He also believed that God created this world to be the best of all possible worlds. Pangloss, from Candide, also had a similar philosophy. With all the mayhem and destruction going on around him, Pangloss believed that everything happened for the best and he never blamed God. God created this world for all of us and he did it out of his own love and kindness for us. He wanted us to live in the best world possible and that is what he created for us. God put Adam and Eve in a stress free zone, the Garden of Eden. God wanted them to stay there and he basically guaranteed their eternal happiness but they both screwed it up. Many people believe that God was wrong for kicking them out, but why shouldn’t he. God had every right to punish them because he gave them everything else they could ever want and only gave them that one rule. They still decided to eat the apple and it was their own fault and they couldn’t blame God for that. This was one of the first examples of God punishing his children. During Leibniz’s time there were many atheists that tried to prove that God didn’t exist. They began to spread the idea that God and evil are not compatible and that if God existed he would not allow evil to exist. They also said that if God is the creator of the entire universe then he is also the creator and the cause of evil. They also stressed that if God did exist why couldn’t he remove the evil from this world instead of maintaining it. The spread of atheistic beliefs also made it difficult for philosophers like Leibniz to get his point across.
Over the years we have been put through a lot of suffering. If God is the creator, destroyer, and sustainer of this world why is he putting us through all of this? I think that everything that happens to us happens for a reason. If this world was perfect and everything went our way we would never realize how good we have it. Even today we take everything for granted and we don’t see that it could bring us to an early demise. As human beings we aren’t built to last forever and neither is the Earth that we live on. Many philosophers today would disagree with the likes of Leibniz, just because of the time period we are in. There are many things that happen in today’s times that we can’t really find an exact answer for so many people think that it is God’s fault. I personally think that God wants us all to suffer at one given point in our lives. I think that if we can overcome our obstacles and look evil in the eye we can prove ourselves worthy. I believe that if we can overcome evil we can achieve God’s goal for us. God wants us to be able to be happy with ourselves and to reach our full potential. If we didn’t face suffering and obstacles in our lives then we wouldn’t have anything to strive for. I believe that God is everywhere and everything is composed of her. I try never to doubt God because I believe that he has a plan for each and every one of us. Some people think that if we are all God’s children why does he make some of them suffer and die like in third world countries. I think that God makes people suffer like that to show the rest of us that we shouldn’t think that were invincible. I also think that God makes these people suffer for another reason, if we are all truly God’s children why shouldn’t we extend a helping hand to our brothers and sisters. I think that God wants us to show the same generosity that he showed us towards others in need. God created this world for everybody and we can’t be selfish and have it for ourselves. I think that God wants us to treat each other equally because that’s the same way he created us, equal. Instead of blaming God I think we should blame ourselves because most of the wrong that happens in this world is our own fault. God isn’t the one going around killing people and declaring war on other countries, we are. God gave of this world to live and be happy with not only ourselves but with each other. God never wanted us to turn this beautiful world into a nightmare. We as a whole need to realize that if we all act together we can make a big difference in this world and perhaps even eliminate evil from this world.
Overall I think that God is not to blame for the existence of suffering and evil in this world. I think that God had a plan for us since the beginning and we are currently prolonging it. I also stand by my opinion that we as a people should put some of the blame on ourselves. I consider life to be a test that God is putting us through and it is important that we try our bests to pass it. If we can pass the test of life and prevail over the suffering, pain, and evil of this world then we can reach our ultimate goal of happiness.
