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Replying to post 240 by dio9]
I don't think God is in any way responsible for the bad things humans do.
being RESPONSIBLE has been defined as: "2. being the primary
cause of something and so able to be blamed or credited for it."
# 1 OBJECTION: But God created humans, isn't he therefore the cause of their bad acts?
Being the life giver of a human doesn't render you eternally responsible for their acts. Even secular courts recognize this and do not hold parents responsible for the criminal acts of their adult children. Arguably in this, they are recongizing an individuals's "free will" ie their ability to decide (and be held responsible) for their actions.
# 2 OBJECTION: But isn't God responsible for the bad things since he knew humans would be capable of doing bad things?
Most parents know there is at least the possibility their children will grow up to be murders, rapists, thieves or child abusers. Still they share the gift of life and give their children the best possible education and assistance to ensure that this doesn't happen. If it does, despite the parents efforts then the child is responsible for the suffering it causes, not the parents.
# 3 OBJECTION But parents don't know for sure everything their children will do
This is true, God can know everything, but just because God has the power know everyting before it has happened, it doesn't mean God chose to exercise his powers all the time. Just as someone can read the last page of a novel first if he so chooses, God can use his powers of foreknoweldge selectively. In short, God doesn't seek to know every detail of everything that will happen in the future, on an individual level Jehovah learns about our decisions as we make them.
# 4 OBJECTION: But God even if God is selective about details, he must have known the sin of Adam and Eve would result in great human suffering.
This is true but knowing Something will happen still doesn't render you responsible for it happening. If you know someone is going to rob a bank, did you rob the bank? In if caught, will the authorities let the robber go free and put the person that knew it would happen in prison? Obviously, in this situation, the person that had foreknowledge would share some responsibility but that would not free the individual from his own responsibility for going through with his plan. In a similar vein, the excuse "God knew I suffering would happen so he is therefore responsible for it." is faulty reasoning as it implies humans are not responsible for the bad they do.
# 5 OBJECTION Even if humans share their responsibility isn't God partly responsible since he could have stopped it?
That would depend on if stopping it would have been the morally right thing to do or not. Stopping actions isn't always the right thing to do (for example stopping an ambulance from getting to the scene of an accident, would be morally wrong). So we have to ask, was there a
morally justifiable reason for God's decision to allow people to make their bad choices. Just as a parent will allow his child to suffer a painful operation for the long term benefits, so Jehovah is allowing suffering in the short term for humanities long term benefits.
# 6 OBJECTION: What benefits could possibly come from allow suffering?
Adam and Eve raised some issues that it would take time to settle. This included the issue of whether humans would be better off Under God's rule or as humans totally independent of Him. The above had to be demonstrated to be false but this would take time. So the permission of evil is a situation of God making a short term decision for the long term good.
CONCLUSION: God is not responsible for the bad humans do. He created them as free moral agents so each individual is ultimately responsible for any bad he does.
