<p>The problem of evil—that great suffering is permitted by God in this world—haunts many people. It seems that if God really loved us, then he would do something to assist us. So, if he does nothing, it appears that he doesn’t really love us, in which case he isn’t all that good. But if he isn’t good, then he isn’t God. As such, it seems that God cannot exist, because great suffering does occur in the world.</p>

How can I Think of God as Father When He Fails to Treat Me Like a Father Should?

If you’ve grown up with religion like I did, you’ve probably also felt from time to time that it just doesn’t add up.  Certain questions haunt you at two o’clock in the morning, questions that whatever group you practice your faith with tends to frown upon.  You don’t find the provincially acceptable answers at all acceptable.  But however much these questions prove to be forbidden, your mind remains unsettled.  You keep coming back to them—hesitant, worried, and sometimes even angry.  I’ve spent my life tossing away the shackles of fear and facing these forbidden questions directly.  I cannot understand why religious people should fear the truth, if the truth is supposed to set us free!  So, let it out, I say.  And I offer you here the fruits of my lifetime of labors, both in the hopes that you can profit from my struggles but also in the expectation that you might add something to inspire our other travelers still facing those anxious nights.