Comments on: President Bush on the problem of evil

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 14 Jan 2006 21:09:09 +0000

“….I can't help but be struck by the “If we don't fight them there, we'll have to fight them here” comment….since most Al Quada are not Iraqi, but coming into Iraq to do just that…I wonder how the average Iraqi citizen feels about being the “there” where this battle gets to take place…..”
Probably a matter of comparison. Life under Saddam, or life as it currently is. While there are undoubtedly some who preferred life before, I don't see a groundswell of support for re-instating Saddam.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 14 Jan 2006 20:25:50 +0000

I mean no disrespect to the President, but he seems to have difficulty with political/policy questions, which he should be on top of. To hear the President speak remotely meaningful in a public setting like that about the problem of evil would hardly be realistic. He's just not an effective speaker. Being a poor speaker doesn't mean he's a poor President, but… it's just not his strength.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 14 Jan 2006 06:51:23 +0000

The question the President was asked was “What do you tell a young soldier or his young wife about how a loving God could permit or cause some of the things you saw today?” Yes, the President was being asked to relate his answer to faith in God, or to his own faith in God, and as far as I can tell, he attempted to do so in his answer. Why does God permit evil things? The President didn't answer this question directly, and I suppose he could have given a more theologically-oriented answer, but as Commander-in-Chief, he was there to build morale. So his answer was basically that war, though a terrible thing, is a necessary evil, and that the men and women who are courageous enough to fight in this war, and those who support them as healers and in prayer, are all reflecting their faith in God and in the cause they fighting for (“we see God's work here every day”).
Really, not such a terrible answer, in my opinion.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 14 Jan 2006 06:15:24 +0000

….I can't help but be struck by the “If we don't fight them there, we'll have to fight them here” comment….since most Al Quada are not Iraqi, but coming into Iraq to do just that…I wonder how the average Iraqi citizen feels about being the “there” where this battle gets to take place…..

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 14 Jan 2006 01:29:26 +0000

Micah and Alex, I think you may be letting the president off the hook for a political answer to an apolitical question. The reporter asked a tough question, but the president spun it into a chance to reaffirm his resolve. His answer would have been appropriate had the reporter asked whether what he had seen had shaken his resolve to keep fighting. But when asked how he squares his previous statements on faith with something he just experienced he sidesteps the actual question.
And none of this addresses the fact that even the least reflective of believers typically come up with some sort of answer, even if it is a weak appeal to Romans 8:28.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 21:20:17 +0000

I think the commenter above has a good point, and I would add that as President Bush strikes me as more of a pragmatist than as deeply reflective, it's not surprising that this was the answer he gave.. The problem of evil is a challenging question that would require time and consideration for most people, and it would be a challenge to give a good off-the-cuff answer unless one had been already reflecting on the answer. I have written some about this topic-- looking at Katrina, for example, and asking whether it was a judgment of God, or more recently, a post regarding Pat Robertson's comments on Ariel Sharon, which seem to reveal a view of God as retributive. Blessings, Alex

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 18:01:15 +0000

I disagree. I'm pretty sure most folks would not have a very coherent answer to the problem of evil, particularly when asked on the spot unexpectedly in the presence of those who have actually suffered severely.
Many of the smartest folks I've read don't have a compelling answer to the problem of evil. And those include apologists and philosophers alike. I suspect this is because our reason is limited and we see through a glass darkly on these matters. If Jesus asked God why He was forsaken on the cross, I don't know why we think we'll do a whole lot better.
I'd be happier if President Bush were more articulate about political matters, and I bet he'd do pretty well in a casual conversation about how he feels and thinks about the problem of evil. But this criticism seems to be a sort of category mistake.