the passage of new anti-abortion laws in alabama and missouri caused me to think some more about the idea of a god whose nature would foreordain a child or woman to be raped in order for her to give birth to a baby for whom that god had some predetermined purpose. i've listened to some commentators who have defended such laws, one suggesting that it is necessary for victims of rape or incest to be prevented by law from having abortions so that the resulting child would provide evidence against the perpetrators, another saying that allowing abortion to be a medical rather than a legal question is imposing the jewish religion on our "christian" nation, while a third defended these newest laws on the basis of carrying out "god's will" since a child resulting from rape or incest would not be possible unless god wished the child to be born. all of these defenses are nonsense. what sort of god would be so cruel as to impose such a burden on a woman? is such a god worthy of worship?
if everything that happens is foreordained by god, a part of "god's plan," that would mean that this god wills that terrible diseases, birth defects, wars, natural disasters, hunger, poverty, and oppression of all sorts happen as necessary parts of that plan. we often hear christians make statements like "we can't understand why this tragedy happened, but we have to trust god since it's all part of god's plan," or "god needed this dear one who died more than we did and that's why this one has been taken from us." how can we believe in a loving god who would visit so many horrible things on those we say god loves and cares for? how can we claim that "a mighty fortress is our god, a bulwark never failing" if god is the cause of every bad thing that happens?
we are the cause of most of the evil in the world, not "god's plan." terrible events that are beyond our control are not caused by God but rather the result of the unfolding of life. suffering comes to us all, not because God wills it, but because suffering simply is. so where is God in the midst of this suffering? i believe that God is here suffering with us, that God suffers just as we do. God doesn't intervene to stop our suffering because it is our responsibility to figure out how to stop or prevent the suffering. we have the resources to end most of the human-created suffering and the intelligence to find solutions for the prevention or alleviation of suffering that results from natural causes.
may we reject the god of plans that include great pain for so many. may we let go of ideas that tell us we must worship such a god in order to avoid eternal damnation. may we search for the mystery that is the God of creation and the source of love. shalom.
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