I have a hard time understanding how a God that is all-powerful and loving can allow evil things to happen in the world. If I saw a man drowning I would be morally remiss if I didn't jump in and try to help him. If I was a small child being beaten I would be morally remiss if I didn't step in and try to protect the child. Does a different standard apply to God? It would presumably be trivially easy for an all-powerful God prevent bad things from happening.

Occasionally people try to justify suffering in the world by claiming it to be somehow 'part of God's plan.' This also does not make sense to me. Surely an all-powerful being could enact a plan to accomplish whatever it wanted without having to involve massive suffering.

Why do you blame god for man's suffering. Go and blame the humans. God gave humans everything they need to survive and gave them free will and choice. If we become evil, it's our doing not god doing.

You seem to be missing my point. I am not saying that God intentionally creates suffering; I am saying that God is remiss for not acting to alleviate suffering. Like I said, I would be remiss if I didn't step in to help a child that I saw being beaten. Isn't God just as remiss for not stepping in?

And how would he alleviate the suffering. For example. Saddam and his thugs are opressing the Iraqi people, so should god take it on himself to kill saddam and his people? Better, then why didn't god just create perfect creatures that act like robots just like god tell it in a perfect manner and perfect harmony.

Am I getting your drift now?

Originally posted by heflores
And how would he alleviate the suffering. For example. Saddam and his thugs are opressing the Iraqi people, so should god take it on himself to kill saddam and his people?Surely an all-knowing, all-powerful being could come up with something; an omnipotent being is capable of doing anything, by definition.Better, then why didn't god just create perfect creatures that act like robots just like god tell it in a perfect manner and perfect harmony.

Am I getting your drift now? Apparently not. You might be able to come up with some sort of complex theological argument for why God has to allow people to be cruel to each other (although I doubt it), but I'm not just talking about suffering that is caused by humans.

There are all sorts of causes of suffering that don't have anything to do with human will or sin. Why would God chose not to correct degenerative genetic disorders? A doctor would be morally remiss if it was in his power to cure a patient and he refused; isn't God just as remiss for not helping someone with a terrible medical problem? What about famines, car accidents, and all the other random things that cause suffering in the world?

I dunno, but I heard this one phrase from a movie that I (was forced) to watch.
"Without suffering there cannot be compassion"
"Tell that to those who suffer"