Living in a Rubber Room (Part 1)
“Why is there so much suffering in the world?” the atheist asks. The believer responds, “Because God made people free to choose between right and wrong, and all suffering is the consequence of wrong (sinful) choices” (Genesis 3:14-19). The atheist follows with, “Why couldn’t God have made the world in such a way so that people could be free to choose between right and wrong without any negative consequences?” The answer: “Without negative consequences, we would live in a ‘rubber room,’ a place
where one is entirely ‘safe’ because no one can harm another, and one cannot be harmed. What kind of life would that be? It would be prison, and that’s not freedom.” Let’s break the answer down further.
There are only two possibilities to eliminate all suffering. First, God could intervene and stop the person who chooses to create suffering. This would mean that any time a person was about to do something wrong, God would simply take control of the person’s body and stop them, preventing the bad
consequences from happening. Is that freedom? No. Who wants to be a puppet? This “solution” prevents suffering but eliminates freedom.
Second, God could eliminate the consequences. In other words, God allows the murderer to pull the trigger, but the bullet transforms into a bouquet of flowers. The person who jumped off a building would find gravity suspended until he safely reached the ground. God would only allow “safe” things to happen. There would be no risk in the world. All outcomes would be guaranteed “good.” This is just another version of the “rubber room,” but without any consistent laws of nature, which would mean that it would be impossible to do just about anything that involves risk, and what kind of life would that be? (Continued next week.)
God bless you, and I love you.
Kevin Cauley