Fallout and the Problem of Evil

 If you're a Fallout player, chances are you're also a fan of the Amazon T.V. series. They've done an amazing job of it. In the most recent episode there's a scene where the main villain has taken people from the wasteland and plugged a mind control device into the back of their heads in order to reprogram them into happy, harmless, productive members of his ideal of society. In this episode, one of the main characters, Lucy, who also happens to be his daughter, is abhorred that he's done this. She's abhorred that he's taken away their free wills, their personalities, and everything which made them who they were and turned them into whom he thinks they should be. Are they happier? They certainly think so, but they're no longer the people they were. To underscore his justification for it, he brings in two members of rival gangs already implanted with the devices. These devices haven't been activated yet. The two begin to try and kill each other. Lucy tries to get them to see reason, to talk them down, but they're not even listening. Her father then tells her, all you have to do to make them stop is "push the button."

     One of the arguments against both the goodness of God and His omnipotence is the question, "Why does God allow evil and suffering?" Honestly, this episode of Fallout illustrates the answer perfectly. Yes, He could "push the button," but it would be just as much an abomination to Him as it was to Lucy if not more so. In order to totally eliminate "evil" in the world, He'd have to wipe our personalities and take away our free wills. He'd have to do to us what her father was doing to the Wastelanders without their consent, violating them, and in the process destroy each and every individual. Honestly, only human beings would think that was an appropriate solution to the problem of evil and suffering.

     Lucy couldn't handle it. She pushed the button to get them to stop. But that's a button that God will never push. He wants our voluntary cooperation and will not violate or destroy our free will to get it. So yes, He will let us hurt ourselves and each other, because the consequences of the alternative are unthinkable to Love Himself.