How would you respond to someone who says “I have difficulty believing in a loving God when
I see so much needless suffering in the world!”
In addressing one of the points Karen made concerning WWII and to an extent St. Maximillian Kolbe, a couple thoughts come to mind. The first thought that comes to mind is the message that our Blessed Mother gave to Sr. Lucia at Fatima: "When you see a night illuminated by an unknown light, know that God has determined to punish the world through war" (not sure if "determined" is the right word). "So the Lord said, 'I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the ground... for I am sorry that I have made them'" (Genesis 6:7). In the discussions I have had with the co-worker I mentioned earlier he questioned me about such things as God's tolerance. We talked about many of the troubles the world faces and, himself growing up Catholic, but falling away due mostly, he claims, from lack of catechesis, both in quantity and quality, suggested that perhaps we are at a point where God could institute the "Noah policy" again. It was part of a discussion about the Commandment, "Thou shall not kill" and whether there was any justification for things like war and the death penalty. I told him that God certainly has that prerogative, but that if God chose to institute a policy like what he did in the time of Noah, that it would absolutely fit within the measure of perfect justice. It seems though that since the Abrahamic covenant times he has chosen to allow us to do the nasty work through war. This is not to say that God desires we destroy ourselves in this manner. The context of the verse in Genesis when God says he is sorry he made them doesn't mean that he believes he made a mistake, but that he is filled with sorrow at what we have chosen. I'm CERTAIN God is deeply saddened at any death resulting from war - and any other injustice, but if God were only to wipe out those who stand in opposition to him what sort of sense of free will would there be; what potential would there be to CHOOSE to love God and our neighbor? In that respect I keep that particular Fatima message of pending war in mind because in the message it is said that the coming war (WWII) was a result of man's rejection of God (in thinking of the term "rejection of God" I constantly think of Speaker Pelosi, the pro-abortion, pro-contraception "Catholic", saying "We have rejected Humanae Vitae" to the tune of over 60 million abortions and countless destroyed families). It is not a pleasant thing to say God might allow another war, but he allows us to choose our own destiny: "See, I have set before you this day life and good, death and evil" (Deut. 30:15) which precedes the more popular, "I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life" (Deut. 30:19). I suggest reading what is written between those verses.
A news anchor in MSNBC (Scarboro...I think I am spelling his name wrong) said that Christianity has been "reduced to one issue" (abortion). He spoke like a devout faithful person. A wolf inside sheep's clothing. God will respect our free will. This has been said already by Karen and Steve.
Joe Scarborough is an interesting character who has had a similar course as more recently Joe Walsh from our area. Scarborough was a congressman from Florida who served as a Republican. Though he was a Republican he considered himself to be in actuality a Libertarian. Over time, as can often happen with those whose aim is the elimination of all governmental intrusion, he began to see an "impurity" in his fellow party members and found them "imposing too much" government and so he began to distance himself in order to not be corrupted by that, leading to a soft embrace of those who opposed who he opposed, pulling him further and further to the left. He has unfortunately become, in large part, blinded by the groupthink of his employer and current colleagues, parroting things such as the comment you cited.
A second point I would like to make that circles around the WWII point Karen raised has to do with St. Edith Stein (Sr. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross). She met with the same fate as St. Maximilian Kolbe, executed in a concentration camp in Nazi Germany. She was born a Jew to a mother who felt so blessed that God would give her a child born on Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar. She grew up and left her faith as many adolescents do. She had a longing for truth and began to study philosophy, which she later received her doctorate in. Around the time of her studies in philosophy - through which study she sought the truth that would lead her to Christ, the Germans began to adopt heavily the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche, famous for his declaration "God is dead" which would ultimately lead to the heinous policies implemented by Hitler's regime. Somewhere along the way she thought, in her search for truth, she should reconcile with her faith. During this process she ran into a woman who had just lost her husband. Edith expected her to be devastated, upset and perhaps angry, but instead she saw a woman who, though grieved, still had hope and joy. The woman was a Christian and explained to Edith the Christian understanding of death and the promise of eternal life. The woman's faith and trust in God's promise in the midst of her suffering caused Edith to seek to convert to Christianity. Later she converted to Catholicism and gave her life to Christ as a Carmelite nun, ultimately to give her life in service to Christ in Auschwitz. It was suffering that drew Edith into the Church and caused her to embrace the suffering she would endure with joy and hope, giving us an example to live by. it is in and through suffering where we can learn to be closer to God if we choose to see.
