A belief in a loving god and a belief in random cannot coexist
People sometimes overlook the existence of more than one notion about God and what is to be expected from Him/Her. For example, one can certainly refer to an Old Testament God – that accepted the “eye for an eye” standard – and a New Testament one – that raised the bar all the way to “love thy enemy”.
The God from the title of this essay is the New Testament God. From this point on I’ll simply refer to the New Testament God as God. It’s also usual to refer to God as a masculine figure, so I’ll use He/Him, and not She/Her when needed. As a lifelong feminist I believe I have earned the right to use this conventional assumption without feeling like I am part of an oppressing, chauvinistic, machismo mindset.
I hope I did not lose any of my potential readers up to this point.
So, we are told, God is capable of disliking the sin and not the sinner, and that nothing happens without God’s knowledge. God also expects us to forgive offenses 7 times seventy times (7 x 70 = 490). That is a clear reference to making compassion a habit, not actually waiting until we are offended for 491 times and at that point feel that it is right to not forgive anyone (or at least that person) anymore. Because God is, even more so, naturally expected to practice what He preaches, it is only logical to expect that He uses the same measure toward us creatures.
It is logical to assume that a God that is capable of infinite love would surely be as careful and watchful as any fitting parent on Earth should be. Therefore, random events randomly affecting the lives of random people would effectively contradict this whole story of a loving God. How would a loving entity allow people to suffer by chance, being born under dire circumstances by chance, and so forth? It would not.
But then again, if an indifferent God suits your idea of God better, it is not only possible that He is not paying attention: It should be expected. Also, an irascible God who is prone to vengeance – some could say, the Old Testament God – could conceivably be punishing you for something you did or did not do.
Consider that not all unfortunate events come from Him. We cause the vast majority of undesirable things to happen in our lives. Look for the causes of your misfortunes and more often than not you will discover that you created the circumstances and/or by action or inaction brought the whole thing upon yourself.
The other 10-15% of things that just seem to happen without your contribution, the ‘random’ stuff, for a believer in a loving God, were permitted by Him, and can be attributed to Him. Mind you I am not referring to the agent of the afflictions per se, but the afflictions themselves.
Undoubtedly, the exercise of attributing seemingly random afflictions to a loving God is made harder by a disbelief in reincarnation/past and future lives. The mystery of why good and bad things alike happen to undeserving people gets larger when all we have to work with is one life in the flesh followed by an eternity of the afterlife.
I personally enjoy the work of the late Dr Ian Stevenson and have convinced myself that the hundreds of cases he described in his books and textbooks are sufficient evidence of reincarnation. But no one can convince another person; this is a solitary and personal task. But as I pointed out, the exercise of conciliating ‘random’ events and the existence of a loving God is only made harder by a lack of belief (or awareness) on reincarnation – which is not to say that it is impossible.
P.S., The Spiritist Philosophy was designed to be a compatible combination of reason and faith. I know skeptics will say that it is impossible to do so, but they are coming from an old paradigm meant to control those who choose to have a “blind faith” in religion, spirituality or science, and pit these distinct groups against each other to distract and stunt personal growth. That being said, rationally speaking, one does not abandon an explanation for no explanation. I pose that Reincarnation can and does explain the reason for the seemingly random events in people’s lives. I recognize that not all will accept this concept. Challenge your awareness and belief: Are you taking a firm stand that discounts a rational/analytical mindset based only on “what sounds right” to you or preconceived notions of what is and isn’t possible? Do question everything, but from a place of intellectual honesty & bravery. Randomness is incompatible with a Loving God.
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