How could God let the Buffalo Shooting happen?

How could God Let the Buffalo shooting happen?

 I have been thinking a lot about this since it hit the news so I thought it might help to talk about it.  Of course this is the age old question, "How can an all powerful God of love allow evil in the world?"  Now there are whole books and classes on this subject and I am certainly no expert but here is a brief synopsis of my understanding.  [ This is a long read but it is a tough question so bear with me.]

First off God gave us the gift of free will. I think all of us would like the freedom to decide what we do.  To actively do good ( Love God and do His will) or decide "not today".  Well, God gave us this gift and it certainly has consequences.  If God didn't actually allow people to make poor, selfish and even evil decisions than He really didn't give us the gift of free will did He?  And despite what most independent loving americans think, our decisions rarely affect only ourselves.  So If someone is so full of hate that he wants to take a gun and shoot up a grocery store in Buffalo, God will shake His head sadly and sigh. Those of you who are parents and watch your children do bad things but realize it is how they learn will know what I am saying.

Now a few of you will say, "Sure, I get the free will thing. But wouldn't a God of love have the shooter trip and fall and knock himself out before he could start shooting?  My God, 10 people!"  

Now this is where it gets tricky.  I couldn't find any snappy quotes from our friend Lao Tzu but Taoism and Zen see "evil" as the other side of the coin from "good".  Good verses bad is often just a matter of perspective because everything in the universe is in balance.   

Judeo/Christians see ( or should see) God working in the world everyday according to God's plan.  So even if human beings want to use free will to go against God and His plan, He will use those actions to bring about good.  My friend St Thomas Aquinas writes, 

While this might seem far fetched, if you look around you can see examples of tragedies making good things happen; communities unite, laws get passed, alliances strengthen.  Judas betrayed Jesus and God used that to help save us all.  

Now let me be clear, God doesn't cause evil, man does that all on his own.  But God is there with us showering us with graces before, during and after.  If you go back and read my day 14 lenten reflection, Thomas Merton says war is the best proof of God that exists. He writes,

People seem to think that it is in someway a proof that no merciful God exists, if we have so many wars.  On the contrary, consider how in spite of centuries of sin and greed and lust and cruelty and hatred and avarice and oppression and injustice, spawned and bred by the free wills of men, the human race can still recover, each time, and can still produce men and women who overcome evil with good, hatred with love, greed with charity, lust and cruelty with sanctity.  How could all this be possible without the merciful love of God, pouring out His grace upon us?

So a judeo/christian response as to why God let the Buffalo shooting happen would be that  " While I can't understand how someone could do that I know God will be with the families of all involved to strengthen them in their time of sorrow.  While I don't know how, God will use all this pain and tragedy to do good."   

Now some of you will say, "Dr Joe, that seems like a convenient answer.  "God will make good of it.  How?  I don't understand?" 

My ways are not your ways says the Lord.  My words are not your words says the Lord.  God is an infinite being, there is no way we can fathom Him or His goodness.  We are certainly never going to understand His ways. Let me give you an example.  I normally feed my dog from the table every time I eat.  The dog knows this and expects it.  When I am eating chocolate cake I don't give him any because his enzymes can't break down chocolate and he will get very ill. As I am eating I know he is impatient with me as I am not giving him anything to eat.  I know he is thinking, " Dude, what is up? You always give me something and now you are eating cake.  How can a loving master not give me a piece of cake?"  I tell him it is for his own good but there is no way he is ever going to understand.  I think it is like that with us and God.  We just can't fathom His ways.  

And someone will still say, I still don't buy it. I won't believe anything I can't understand or prove.

 Merton tried to give you a proof several paragraphs above.  If love, the sun and redemption aren't proof enough of God and His grace then I got nothing for you.  For St Aqunias also says, 

Now just because God will use this evil that man has created to make good happen doesn't make it any less horrific.  It doesn't make the pain and suffering less genuine.  It should not lessen our efforts to help, it should double our efforts to be part of God's solution.  

Well Dr Joe, I am still not sure.        

Pray.  Pray for faith.  Pray for the victims and their families.  Pray that our society can discover a way to help and stop the people who want to perpetuate this violence.  Let's be part of the solution. 

 
 Pax

 

Joe