In America alone, there are almost 3,000 abortions every single day. The numbers are hard to comprehend. However, those numbers are dwarfed by the number of unborn babies that die through natural causes. Is God responsible for those deaths since he could have prevented them? If God is accountable for miscarriages like we might hold an abortion doctor accountable, can we really be upset about the relatively small number of abortions caused by humans? Is God the greatest abortionist of them all?
Difference Between Action and Inaction
We must understand the moral difference between causing something and letting something happen. Consider, if a person is murdered on the street, and someone sees it happen who could have possibly prevented it, there may be some responsibility on that observer. That observer, however, is still not the person who chose to commit murder. While the observer is less responsible, would we not still blame them for doing nothing? In God’s case, we know he has the power to stop these deaths from happening. The question is, just like the observer, why did he not take action to prevent the death?
Is God Justified in Letting Them Die?
The analogy can only carry us so far. We humans do not know the big picture of all time and space. How will our actions today change tomorrow? Our place is to do the right thing, knowing it may not end how we want, but trusting that God is in control. Thus, it would generally be wrong for us to let someone die through our inaction.
God does not have our limitations. He knows the exact outcome of every situation, good and bad. With that in mind, he knows when it is best to let evil exist. By allowing this evil now, will a greater good be allowed to happen? We can only speculate and possibly see it in hindsight. However, it is not our burden as Christians to show how God is justified in allowing evil. It is on the skeptic to show that God does not have sufficient reasons.
Is God to Blame for All Death?
This question can take us to some absurd conclusions. Is God the greatest abortionist? If he were, why stop at the unborn? God would be just as responsible for those deaths as he would for literally every single other death in history. God is no more the greatest abortionist than he would be the great exterminator of everyone. Are they willing to make that claim?
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