For God so loved the World that he gave his creations ALS, flesh eating bacteria, and Ebola. Thank ya Jesus!!!

Christians love to invoke "free will" for all kinds of things. They say homosexuality is a choice. That god gives free will, and gays chose to be gay just like the rest of us chose heterosexuality (you remember when you chose to be hetero, right?) They have to say that. If they accept a genetic predisposition toward homosexuality it would mean that their god wanted homosexuals, that homosexuality is just as natural as can be. There can be none of that. After all, the bible says homosexuality is an abomination and god doesn’t create abominations. Q.E.D. - homosexuality has to be man’s poor use of his god given free will. End of discussion.

But what happens when Christians come face to face with conditions where free will and man’s choice cannot be easily invoked to explain away “abominations?” Why do people come down with ALS aka Lou Gehrig’s disease -- arguably the most hideous fatal genetic disease one could possibly imagine? No one chooses ALS. Nothing one does from a behavioral, ethical, or moral perspective is known to cause ALS. So if god created man in his image, and god doesn’t screw things up what does this all mean -- that god has ALS and wanted us to have it too? Or that their god creates hideous diseases to torment and torture his creations, as he tortured himself/ his son? And why -- out of love? What sane being knowingly gives someone a torturous fatal disease out of love, or for any reason?

Why did their god, who created all life, create Necrotizing fasciitis, aka flesh eating bacteria (see picture above)? Why did their god create the virus that causes Ebola hemorrhagic fever aka Ebola? These life forms cause horrible suffering and death to thousands of people every year -- no free will choice there. Is it punishment for being a third world infant? Is it retribution for some African toddler’s childish insult to a prophet or to god itself? Does god punish children to death for the free will choices of his parents? What kind of sane being punishes the innocent child for the adult's trespasses?

This problem, which cannot be explained away by free will, provokes all kinds of mental gymnastics among the pious sheep. I once had one of them tell me that such god given diseases “build character.” I came very close to helping build that cretin’s character with a pipe wrench to his head.

“Suffering of the innocent is part of a bigger plan that we cannot understand” is among the most favored platitudes / non-explanations / pious copouts / denials of logic / irrational retorts. It requires of them no analysis of the issue. It does not make them face the challenge of the paradox head on. It is escape into mindless babble to avoid what common sense screams at them from just below the surface of their enslaved minds. It does exactly what it has to do when self imposed ignorance comes face to face with reason … end of discussion.