If God created everything, then God created evil. That’s a challenging idea, but it is true. In His plan, in his creation, God created evil. Evil is as much a part of this experience of life as the rest of it. In fact, God created death as well as life. He never meant for any of us to live forever here on Earth.
All my life, growing up in the Catholic church, I was taught about God being good. I was taught about the idea of a war of good triumphing over evil. However, I don’t believe anymore that those ideas aren’t influenced by man. The further removed a person is from a situation, the more lines become blurred.
For example, look at the recent wars in our history. If you are in the middle of the war, then surely it seems that one side is right and the other side is wrong. Hamas killed innocent Israeli citizens and took over two hundred hostages including women and children. That seems like a clear-cut case for one side being right and the other wrong, but is it? Step back. How many people have died in that land over the years? How many Jews and Palestinians have lost their lives out of a war that they weren’t fighting? In war, there’s no right or wrong. There’s no winner or loser. There’s only one side that loses less and then writes the history in their favor.
So, in this supposed war between good and evil, who is fighting it? Who is right and wrong? Who are the innocent causalities? How much is each side losing? And most importantly, is that really God’s way? He commands us to love our enemies; not fight them. When I take enough steps back there’s no right or wrong. There’s only pain and suffering. The need for peace and God’s love. Why should it be any different in this supposed war of God? The age of fight between good and evil isn’t going to be won when good defeats evil; it will be dissolved when we finally understand that God wants us to act out of His love and to have His peace in our hearts when we experience good in this world and especially when we experience the challenge of evil in this world.
My faith saved me. May God’s peace reside in all of our hearts.
