Where Sam doesn't play anymore ...Rick's Cafe Americain

Whenever something horrible happens to innocent people, like the Holocaust, the recent tsunami, or the presidency of George W. Bush, someone pipes up to exclaim that this disproves the existence of God.  It doesn’t, so stop saying it does (you know who you are).

When good things happen to bad people, it can mean one of three things: (1) there is no deity pulling the strings, protecting the weak and promoting the righteous; (2) there is a deity, but he/she/it is a wicked deity and takes pleasure in the suffering of mankind; or (3) there is a just, loving deity who is waiting to punish and reward each of us in the afterlife.  Each of these scenarios is consistent with reality as we perceive it, and the third is consistent with the Judeo-Christian belief system.  In fact, belief in an afterlife allows the faithful to reconcile virtually anything with their belief in God.

In the case of bad things happening to good people, imagine a family of righteous, good-hearted people.  Now imagine the father (Bob) is actually a serial pederast, but his wife and kids, who are as pure as the driven snow, have no idea.  It is hard to imagine a way to punish Bob in this life without also punishing his wife and children, who don’t deserve it.  Multiply that little dilemma by several billion, and you begin to realize that it is mathematically impossible for any God to mete out punishment justly in this life.  Hence, the afterlife, where Bob is sodomized with barbed wire for eternity, while his wife and children sing in a choir of angels.

So, if you believe in an afterlife, lucky you!  If you don’t, well, then you probably don’t believe in a just and loving God—but that doesn’t mean others can’t.