I was going to say that the title of this node sucks cause just because
God is good doesn't mean he's doing anything but then I thought...
Brain to Placido: Come on you dick! Think! Letting
Evil happen is just as bad as doing the
Evil itself! Dick!
#
Placido to Brain: Sorry dude! Sheesh! You'd think I killed someone!
And then I got to thinking about what I would do if I were God and I momentarily thought of my little nephew Zach (cue audience: "Awwwww") and to him I am a powerful being with some good. When I'm with Zach I don't protect him from sufferring.
*Krusty imitation* "What time is it kids? Yep that's right it's 'example' time!"
So here's Zach climbing on a stool with three legs (the stool not Zach). I'm sitting nearby and I can see that the stool has three legs and it's very likely it's going to fall over. He's got his foot on the edge and I can feel my concentration focus on him; I know he's going to fall. So I tell him, "Careful Zach you're going to fall." and he ignores me as would any 2 year old. And, yep, that's right, he falls and hurts himself. Now admittedly the stool was small. Anything more dangerous and I would have been stopping him but the point is that without falling once, twice, three times he will never learn where to put his feet and where the center of gravity is for that stool. Stopping him only ensures he will not learn.
Of course there's unneccesary sufferring which is another matter. Maybe this should be retitled to "If God is good, why is there unneccesary sufferring in the world?". Perhaps life is to us what jumping off a stool is for Zach.