No, God is not good despite whatever happens

God’s word, modernized

It’s a cliché as old as religion itself: Good thing happens? God did it (because he’s good). Bad thing happens? God works in mysterious ways (and he’s still good). No matter befalls whom, it always ends up laid at Yahweh’s feet as a sign that he has some mysterious and supposedly benign plan for the entire universe, no matter how bizarre or convoluted the so-called reasoning behind it is. Not only is this annoying and delusional thinking, it’s also exasperating in how quickly it is applied to absolutely any given event by God-botters, regardless of outcome.

Here’s a video by atheistic YouTuber DarkMatter2525 perfectly illustrating the point:

My transcript: (click the [+/-] to expand/collapse →)

[−]

This is Steven. He’s from a rough part of the city, but he manages to stay out of trouble. He’s a good kid, a Christian from a Christian family. But one day, unfortunately, he accidentally wore the wrong color in the wrong neighborhood.

[Scenario #1: Gang drives by and fires at Steven, but he is unharmed. Steven goes home to his family.]

Every single bullet missed Steven. Obviously, God saved his life. It’s a miracle! God is good.

[Scenario #2: Gang drives by and fires at Steven, injuring him. He goes home to his family on crutches.]

Steven was struck in several places, but the bullets missed all his major organs! It’s a miracle! He’s gonna make a full recovery. God saved him. God is good.

[Scenario #3: Gang drives by and fires at Steven, critically injuring him. He goes home in a wheelchair.]

Steven has some lasting damage; his spinal cord was struck and he suffered some brain damage, but those wounds should have killed him! God saved his life, ’cause God has more plans for Steven. It’s a miracle he’s still alive. God is good.

[Scenario #4: Gang drives by and fires at Steven, killing him. His family mourns him at his funeral.]

Steven is in a better place now, a place where there’s no violence and no pain. He’s with God and he’ll be waiting for us up in Heaven. He has been called home. God is good.

The simple truth is that nothing happens for any reason or divinely inspired purpose. Things happen because other things happened previously and cause them. A leads to B, which leads to C, and onwards. There’s no reason or rhyme, and nor can there be. Trying to attribute some sort of intelligent plan to entirely random natural processes is wishful thinking at best, and downright foolish at worst.

But most of all, everything that happens cannot simply be rationalized away as being some sort of indication of the endless benevolence of an intangible supernatural entity, especially not one with a supposed track record of committing and inspiring some of the most violent and inhumane acts in history.

(Sidenote: Am I the only one who thinks the voice-over kinda sounds like Christopher Walken at times …?)

(via Friendly Atheist)

Tags: God's plan • God • DarkMatter2525