You see, God, I have a little problem with this whole holocaust thing. You know, the 12 million people who were killed and all. It just bothers me. Here's what I've been thinking:
- You can and do intervene in human affairs. The Bible records you doing so many times, and modern-day Christians pray to you, because they believe that you will help them, at least every once in a while.
- You are omnipotent. You are aware of everything that is currently occurring, and also aware of what will occur.
- Therefore, it would have been possible for you to stop the holocaust before it even began.
Now, let's imagine the year is 1939. Say I told someone in 1939 exactly what was going to happen in Nazi Germany. I then gave this person a button. I say: if you press this button, there will be no holocaust. If you don't press it, 12 million innocent people will be murdered. Is there anyone who would claim this person was acting morally if he didn't press the button? I doubt it.
So thanks, God, but no thanks. If I'm going to choose to believe in an omniscient being who is kind, merciful, and loving, I think I'd at least want to believe in one that would stop the brutal murder of 12 million of my fellow human beings.
"Never should I forget that nocturnal silence which deprived me, for all eternity, of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust."- Elie Wiesel
"In the concentration camp I had cried out in sorrow and anger against God and also against man, who seemed to have inherited only the cruelty of his creator."- Elie Wiesel
Not all Jewish people made it out with their faith intact.
Shanoyu: you seem to be mixing like two or three different religions there(or does the Bible discuss Karma?) But I just don't accept your defense. I *might* be able to accept it if God had a general policy of non-interference. Some sort of divine Prime Directive. But again, in the Old Testament, God was interfering like it was going out of style, and a main part of the Christian faith still seems to be the belief that God will intervene. What's the point of saying "Please God, save my sick child.", if not that you think God might come through for you. So how many people must have been praying in the concentration camps? God chose to ignore those prayers, and I while it was clearly humans who were doing the killing, God was guilty for letting it happen(if he exists, is obviously the assumption here).
I just simply don't think the Holocaust is compatible with the Christian concept of God. Other faiths might be OK, but not a faith with a God who supposedly cares about, and helps, humans.