Author: Arthur Zulu Contact Author: mailto:
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2002 Word Count: 507 Web Address:
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WHY DOES GOD PERMIT WICKEDNESS & SUFFERING? (Part 1)
By Arthur Zulu
“WHY”. That three letter word is so common when disasters
strike. It is the final question when war or natural disasters
happen. Or when epidemics exact their toll on humans. Or when a
rapist, or robber goes on rampage. Or perhaps when children are
abused by persons who are supposed to be their custodians, or
when a loved one drops dead.
Sometimes though the “WHY” is elongated to “WHY GOD WHY” That
suggests the person acknowledges that God allows evil. If so,
why does he permit wickedness and suffering?
If we say we are not victims of wickedness and suffering, then
we are deceiving ourselves. For have we not lost someone in
death? Or are we ourselves sure we will be around to shoot
fireworks at the end of the next one hundred years? Perhaps not.
Man through the ages have resigned to the inevitability of
misery and death. A sample of the following quotations will shed
more light on this matter.
“For suff’rance is the badge of all our tribe”. -- Shakespeare.
“The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary;
men alone are quite capable of every wickedness.” -- Joseph
Conrad.
“Account ye no man happy till he die.” -- Euripides.
“Out out brief candle/Life’s but a walking shadow”. --
Shakespeare.
“Vice increases, and men grow daily more and more wicked.”--
Berkley.
“To each his suff’ring: all are men/Condemn’d alike to groan…. “
-- Gray.
“Death! the poor man’s dearest friend, -- The kindest and the
best.” -- Burns.
“Death is here and death is there/Death is busy everywhere/All
around, within, beneath/Above is death -- and we are death.” --
Shelley.
“. . . In this world nothing is certain than death and taxes.”
--Benjamin Franklin. “When life is woe/And hope is dumb/The
world says, ‘Go’/ The Grave says, ‘come!’ “ -- Arthur Gutterman.
“Ask not for whom the bell tolls/It tolls for thee.” -- John
Donne.
“Pale Death, with impartial step, knocks at the poor man’s
cottage and the palaces of kings.” -- Horace.
“Time goes you stay? Ah no! Time stays, we go.” -- Austin Dobson.
“Life is not worth living. Existence is only a burden.” -- Mark
Twain.
“When the gods want to punish us, they answer our prayer.” --
Oscar Wilde.
“We men are wretched things, and the gods, who have no cares
themselves, have woven sorrow into the very pattern of our
lives.” -- Homer.
“Solomon Grundy/Born on a Monday/. . .Died on Saturday /Buried
on Sunday/This is the end /Of Solomon Grundy.” -- J.D. Halliwell.
The story of Solomon Grundy is the story of us all. Somebody was
once asked to define man; and he simply said: “He was born, he
suffered, he died.”
The account of human suffering have elicited different reactions
from various victims. Some believe that God is responsible for
wickedness and human suffering. As an example , one whose house
was shattered by an earthquake in a South American country said
:” God, see what you have done to us! ”.
Yet, others feel that there is no God, or if he exists, he
doesn’t really care about us. Asked a World War I victim: “Where
was God when we needed him?”
The depth of pain that is caused by the wickedness and suffering
in this world cannot be fathomed. Said a Nazi holocaust victim:
“If you could lick my wound, it would poison you”.
Now the question remains: Why does God permit wickedness and
suffering? Does he really exist? When would wickedness and
suffering end?
But first, what is the origin of wickedness?
(To be continued)
Copyright © 2002, all rights reserved
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