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From: pez@pyuxn.UUCP (Paul Zimmerman)
Newsgroups: net.religion,net.religion.christian
Subject: Re: God and suffering
Message-ID: <364@pyuxn.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 30-Sep-85 20:16:12 EDT
Article-I.D.: pyuxn.364
Posted: Mon Sep 30 20:16:12 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 2-Oct-85 01:26:07 EDT
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Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Piscataway, N.J.
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Harry,

	You work from certain assumptions about God's nature and the nature
of the universe. You say it is only possible to eliminate evil if free will
is also eliminated, and that God has deemed it ``better'' to keep free will.
First of all, free will is far from a proven fact. (Take a look at the
dogfight between Ellis and Rosen!)  It seems to me that God gives us the
illusion of having free will in order to foist responsibility on us for
things we do not control and then make us experience guilt about those things.
So this illusion of free will is an example of God's evil, not an argument
against believing in it. I am inclined to agree with Hunter Scales, that
a world without evil is not only possible but feasible. But only if we rid
ourselves of the influence of the evil Damager-God.

Be well,
-- 
Paul Zimmerman - AT&T Bell Laboratories
pyuxn!pez