# The problem of evil, restated. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 15, 2012, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-problem-of-evil-restated/644105 "2012-12-15T12:59:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-problem-of-evil-restated/644105/81 "2012-12-18T15:10:17Z")
Anyone saying anything akin to “The massacre of those 20 children does nothing to disprove the existence of a benevolent God-it’s just a drop in the bucket compared to all the other evil things happening to innocents around the world” isn’t seeing the forest for the trees. ---
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-problem-of-evil-restated/644105/82 "2012-12-18T17:34:43Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > I’ll restate. How much evil would not disprove an omnipotent, benevolent god. Any amount of evil greater than is present in heaven. Otherwise, the most benevolent action would be genocide. If the free will on earth outweighs the pleasure of heaven, then eternal bliss is a punishment. Ed: “[to the victims of this tragedy](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8ouBFh04DU)”. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-problem-of-evil-restated/644105/83 "2012-12-18T18:03:50Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Anyone saying anything akin to “The massacre of those 20 children does nothing to disprove the existence of a benevolent God-it’s just a drop in the bucket compared to all the other evil things happening to innocents around the world” isn’t seeing the forest for the trees. The whole opposite. The 30 dead is a tree, we’re poiting out that the forest contains so much evil that one, in perspective, minor event doesn’t change the underlying facts. I can’t see how a person that understands the level of evil that happens every fucking second i n the world can have his faith shaken by this particular event. > [@gamerunknown](#): > > Any amount of evil greater than is present in heaven. Otherwise, the most benevolent action would be genocide. If the free will on earth outweighs the pleasure of heaven, then eternal bliss is a punishment. > > Ed: “[to the victims of this tragedy](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8ouBFh04DU)”. I thank you for the answer. Since the rewards of heaven are infinite, any suffering we may experience is, in hte end, 0. It’s less than the prickle of a vaccine. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-problem-of-evil-restated/644105/84 "2012-12-18T18:11:05Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > You have to figure the Bible is like a highlights reel. It may seem like God was constantly dropping in but the divine interventions it recounted were spread out over a couple of thousand years. But it’s been 2,000 years. Assuming God kind of showed up in Jesus, 2,000 years before that was pre-Exodus. Isn’t it time to admit that God has left the building? Beckett didn’t choose the name of the title character in his play randomly. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-problem-of-evil-restated/644105/85 "2012-12-18T18:19:47Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > The whole opposite. The 30 dead is a tree, we’re poiting out that the forest contains so much evil that one, in perspective, minor event doesn’t change the underlying facts. > I can’t see how a person that understands the level of evil that happens every fucking second i n the world can have his faith shaken by this particular event. You still don’t get it. Those twenty deaths _alone_ should shake your belief in a benevolent God. The fact that it is a mere drop in the bucket of violence against innocents points out the utter stupidity and incredible deliberate ignorance of believing in such an entity. It’s as if you said you believed that all cats had stripes, I showed you a cat without stripes, and you replied “So what? That’s just a drop in the bucket. I’ve seen thousands of cats that don’t have stripes and I still believe that all cats have stripes, so why should your little example convince me?” ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-problem-of-evil-restated/644105/86 "2012-12-18T23:37:07Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > You still don’t get it. Those twenty deaths _alone_ should shake your belief in a benevolent God. Agreed. > [@](#): > > The fact that it is a mere drop in the bucket of violence against innocents points out the utter stupidity and incredible deliberate ignorance of believing in such an entity. It’s as if you said you believed that all cats had stripes, I showed you a cat without stripes, and you replied “So what? That’s just a drop in the bucket. I’ve seen thousands of cats that don’t have stripes and I still believe that all cats have stripes, so why should your little example convince me?” Your example does not make sense. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2012, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-problem-of-evil-restated/644105/87 "2012-12-19T01:15:02Z")
> [@Troppus](#): > > Taking a break from all your selfless charitable works to craft this driveby, Guin? Yep. You too? (Hey, someone asked, I offered a possible explanation as to his comments. I really don’t give a shit what his belief system is either way) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-problem-of-evil-restated/644105.md?page=4)