Does terrorism challenge God’s existence?

THE EDITOR, Madam:

For many, it appears that evil presents one of the major difficulties for believing in God. They see the collective spiral in global suffering as evidence that there can be no true divine being. Perhaps they base their reasoning on Epicurus’ syllogism that goes as follows: “If God is willing to prevent evil, but not able to, then he is not omnipotent. If he is able, but not willing, then he is malevolent. If he is both able and willing, then why does evil exist? If he is neither able nor willing, then why call him God?”

Obviously, a very sound and persuasive line of reasoning there, and yet, it may be a selective and conservative deduction that omitted other involved factors. Apparently, Satan also claimed that humans could manage their affairs much better without relying on God’s involvement. (Genesis 3:5) Thus, granting such self-governance to man suggests that God is not a dictator, even while having limitless power. A very admirable quality. It would also be self-defeatist to assist your enemy to prove you wrong. Wouldn’t it? And yet, God is merciful. (Jeremiah 29:11) Further, mass killings such as that happened recently in Cherry Tree Lane in Clarendon, along with the many terrorist attacks which take place almost on a daily basis, cannot therefore be signs of divine indifference or evidence of Gods unreality.

Moreover, to deny a creator by virtue of the evils in the world, is inconsistent with facts. For example, when you look at the ruins of buildings in Palestine, Israel, Iran, Ukraine, Russia and other countries that are coming to terms with their losses, would it be logical to conclude that these ruined structures had no builders in the first place? Similarly, it would also be preposterous to blame man’s ruined condition on the absence of a God, or on the non-existence of a creator.

HOMER SYLVESTER

Elmsford, New York