The Case for a Cruel God

In contemporary times, the idea of God has emerged as a wholly positive and loving entity. Modern Christian slogans such as "God is Love" permeate and illustrate the nature of the omnipotent figure throughout world cultures. But the idea of our supreme spirit as wholly benevolent is not entirely logically waterproof, and has been arrived at by our peoples through a long and tumultuous battle.

There has always been a philosophical friction between the idea that God is all powerful and that he is all good. The obvious evidence against this is the fundamental nature of the universe in which we live. Nature, by design, is cruel and unfeeling. Pain and suffering are inflicted for benefit or for happenstance., and like Job, all humans have cried out to their Gods when left unprotected.

The most popular logical loophole is illustrated by the before mentioned story of Job. The idea that pain and suffering are tests by a supreme deity is slightly sadistic at worst and wholly manipulate at best. It is the logical solution for the believer to admit that their god knows better than they do. Many choose to believe that their God loves them still in spite of the torment that was allowed to be inflicted.

Many believers however, choose to acknowledge their God's, or the universe's actions as direct messages, and develop enormous guilt complexes, assuming that their misfortune is a direct result of their previous actions. This is known as religious guilt, and is suffered by all faiths, most famously Catholics, Jews, and Hindus. This form of belief is an acknowledgment of a punishing god, but not necessarily of a malicious one. This reasoning requires a God who is still wholly just and good, thus the implicit nature of the guilt.