MAD

 

Evil happens, including Evil in Life and Evil in the Nature of Things. A young man sets a brush fire then shoots and kills firemen who respond, then kills himself: Why, God? Something is terribly wrong. Why, God? A tornado touches down and kills innocent people, Why? A hurricane, an earthquake, a tsunami. A wildfire. Cancer, Why, God? Evil in the Nature of Things.

Years ago, my most perfect and innocent-ever parishioner died of brain cancer and I remember that, during my funeral homily I turned in tears and rage toward the Altar and shook my fist at God, shouting, "What the hell's the matter with you?" 

Years ago someone was challenging me to defend God when, I don't recall the details, but someone had died unfairly and unTimely, perhaps the death of a child and grieving survivors were blaming God for the outrage. My response was, and probably still is, that I refuse to defend God who is big enough and old enough to defend Himself; and further that if God is ascribed and accepts the credit for all the blessings of this life, God can dee well stand and answer when things go wrong, regardless of God's blustering go at intimidating poor Job. 

Carl Jung wrote, as mentioned here any number of Times these blogging years, that the crucifixion and death of God the Son was not God's sacrifice for the forgiveness of human sins, but precisely God's penance for God's sin against Job, who is humanity. That's a fair proposition. If you dare not go there, your God is too small. 

As well, I'm of a mind with Fr. Pierre Wolff, SJ, who, in his little book "May I Hate God?" wrote that a grace God offers us is Himself, His own Self as target when life is cruel and we need someone to rail at. Wolff wrote that if, when hurting, we cannot lash out at God, then God is not grace. But God IS Grace, Grace who's there when, raging and sobbing, we need someone to scream at and kick.

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With that as faith's foundation, the problem of Theodicy is somewhat obviated. Life is what it is, thank you, God; Life is Good and when it goes south on us we are not to look to our sins as having brought punishing fate down upon us. Rather, looking to God who surrounds and permeates us, we can demand, "WHY?" 

And further, Psalm 116:15, "How painful it is to the LORD when one of his people dies!" (Good News Bible), Heaven joining us in our sorrows even as we rage at Heaven for Life's unfairness.

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Why am I writing along this line today? Maybe because my vocation is to work out theologies about the nature of God, rather than economic things, as, in college seventy years ago, I thought at the Time that I would be doing with my life's Time. I am consternated over a federal budget that will increase the national debt unconscionably. There are a couple of problems, one being the political issue of one supposedly equal branch of government abandoning its balancing responsibilities in political fear and cowardice, cowing to a branch that is bullying whosoever will be bullied; bullies can be stood up to, you know, but it takes guts. 

The other, my studies in economics taught me that National Debt, which means pushing today's costs of government and life onto future generations, probably won't be painful until its debt service, the interest that is paid on the debt by taxes on the populace, becomes untenable, unbearable. 

National Debt theory does not contemplate that the National Debt ever be paid off like buying a car or a house, simply that Interest will be paid to the debt holders, bond buyers. But National Debt service now is greater than our next greatest national budget item, which is Defense. Ostensibly, the Time will come when national debt service is finally unbearable in taxes, dwarfing all other budget costs. Beware, investors: at that juncture, government may resort to chicanery that includes manipulating the value of the dollar, declaring bankruptcy, reducing debt service to .001%, or sending each debt holder a check for a millionth of a mil on a dollar and declaring it paid off; or even renouncing the debt itself. Such games become less and less a moral problem in a developing political environment that laughs off legal obligations and obligations of honor in the face of no challengers. 

Why worry? What, me worry? Like climate change, it's a problem for the future, nomesane? I mean, if National Debt service, or the National Debt itself, suddenly disappeared, how would my life be different? Maybe America will win the lottery by capturing some enormous solid gold and diamonds asteroid, and pay off the National Debt, eh? Maybe the Treasury Department will print currency and pay it off, what will that do to the purchasing power of my savings? 

Greed in Power knows no bounds. Unrestrained Power will take and consume everything.

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Still more interested in the Theodicy "problem," which is only a problem to the obtuse. The "problem of theodicy" is expressed, "If God is all Good and all Powerful, why is there suffering in the world?" Only idiots press on with the question instead of challenging the question itself. The opening premise is false: "God is all Good and all Powerful" is no axiom, it's a Christian faith statement whose collapse leaves just the facts to observe: there is suffering. God is not as humans construct God to be in order to satisfy human wants and needs, God is Other, He Is, I AM, "ehYeh asher ehYeh," I Will Be what I Will Be - - whoever and whatever God makes of God's self. 

Either God is not all Good and all Powerful or, if God is all Good and all Powerful, it is clear that God does not bind God's self to those characteristics or does not define them as humans do. My seminary theology professor suggested, "the experience of human life is that either God hates us or God does not exist." Professors and seminarians do not tiptoe on eggshells in Mainline theological seminaries. 

Rabbi Harold Kushner ("When Bad Things Happen To Good People") wrote that, as between a God who is all Good and a God who is all Powerful, he would choose a God who is all Good.

Perhaps we are not as central to Creation as we imagine, but a failedn experiment, or an accident of Nature, ending soon enough in celestial Time.

If one is using the problem of Theodicy as justification to bail out on religion and faith, as many do and have done, one is still left with the fact of suffering, and the answer that there is no answer. That, like death and taxes, suffering is simply part of Creation and Life. All the same and anyway, praise God for what we have: baruch ata Adonai Eloheinu Melech haOlam shehecheyanu, blessed art thou Lord our God King of the universe who gives life.

Life is free and costly, cheap and dear. 

RSF&PTL

T89&c

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MAD magazine's Alfred E Neuman, What, me worry?