Author: WhyIChoseIslam

Reason #21: Evil in the world

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The million dollar question – if there’s a God, why is there evil? As soon as we hear that question, each of us has some kind of answer. Now whether you are an atheist or a theist, there are several key points you need to be aware of. First – every single person in the world has probably asked him or herself that question. So frankly, if you think you’re the only one who truly, truly has contemplated over it in every single angle, sorry, but you aren’t. Since the beginning of human creation, that question has been asked. As mentioned in the Qur’an:

“And [mention, O Muḥammad], when your Lord said to the angels, “Indeed, I will make upon the earth a successor.” They said, “Will You place upon it one who causes corruption therein and sheds blood, while we exalt You with praise and declare Your perfection?” He [Allah] said, “Indeed, I know that which you do not know.”

[Qur’an 2:30]

And since then, human beings have asked that question. Great philosophers have spoken about it and countless books have been written about it. If you think that a certain aspect of the question has not been addressed and that theists are just clueless to your high level of thinking, think again.

Two – a painful fact one has to accept is that the presence of evil does not disprove God. There’s no correlation. You can say what you want about the nature of God. You can ask, “God is supposed to be all merciful and all powerful, so why is there evil?” You can try to disprove a quality of God, but it does not disprove His existence.

Related article: Reason #45: Explanations for Evil in the World

Related article: Reason #22: Not understanding everything

Reason #20: Saying “mother nature” proves theism?

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We have all heard of the phrase “mother nature.” “Mother nature just has a way of doing things.” “That’s mother nature causing the hurricane and getting back at us for treating the world poorly.” In these phrases, you know what we did? We give mother nature a human quality. A mother, as if it is alive and has consciousness. And often, but not always, it implies care.

We also hear it when we talk about the history of life on this Earth:

  • Q: “Why do these bears have thick fur and these don’t?”
  • A: “Because nature, over thousands and thousands of years of evolution, guided those in cold weather to have thick fur.”
  • Q: “Why do these birds have exceptionally advanced eyes while others don’t?”
  • A: “Because otherwise they would be extinct. Their harsh environments, with all its predators, needed them to have such eyes.”

You see a big issue with all these answers? How did mother nature get consciousness? And how is it making decisions? And if it’s not mother nature, surely it’s not the animals or plants making decisions, right? Did they get to decide in the belly of their mothers what new traits to have? Or that in 10,000 years, one of their descendants will get special furs or eyes to increase their chances of survival?

Or was it just by chance that certain species got lucky with the right mutations? Did one or two animals from each species just get lucky and survive? But more questions! Let’s say it’s not just about survival. We’re going to say some animals just got longer necks because it made it easier for them to reach the trees for food? And then who decided that trait would carry on?

We may be able to give some responses to each of these questions, but at the end of the day, don’t all these theories sound like fairy tales? Why work so hard to make these convoluted stories full of logical flaws, rather than consider the simple possibility that a Higher Being is behind it all? Instead of mother nature, maybe, just maybe, it’s God?