As I think about events in the world, events in my
personal life and watching friends and relatives experience personal traumas it
begs the question about G-d. If He existed why is this all happening? I know
that many scholars have written on the subject i.e. “Why Bad Things Happen to
Good People.” These are more intense thinkers than me and they have spent their
lives asking these type of questions. My questioning is a little more recent –
basically the past 20 years or so.
Religion creates culture and a set of rules that we
should live by. There are 613 commandments in the Bible including the ten we
are all familiar with. If these are deigned by G-d why are they not inherent in
our psyches. He made us, He gave us life, He gave us brains, He gave us DNA so
why not instill a set of rules that will dictate that we will all do G-d’s
work?
A few years back I took a class at the local Kabbalah
Center. They posed the question if there is a
G-
d why did the Holocaust happen? Many people struggled with the answer and but
no one came up with the any appropriate or satisfying answer. There is good and bad in all of
us and circumstances can bring out either the good or the bad or even the evil in us all.
I didn’t buy that at all. I have heard about mothers who
weigh 100 pounds lift a car off of their child – circumstance generated
adrenaline, but only for the moment. It wasn’t sustainable. Very plain men and
women in uniform do heroic acts to save their commrades. They will tell you
that they did what they had to do at the moment. They are heroes but for the
moment – and that was enough. The good in them was inherent. It surfaced with ferocity
when it had to. They didn’t think about what they are about to do, they just
did it.
Rawanda, South Africa and the Holocaust were well thought
out by people who can justify their evil. The evil was inherent in their psyche.
Opportunity brought it out. Opportunity gave them all they needed to reek havoc
on innocent people. If there is a G-d why did He allow it to happen? Why are
some religious zealots using the name of G-d to create tortuous laws and
penalties, kill innocent people, destroy societies – why?
Writer’s note: I am
capitalizing the names of G-d because if there is such a being then I am not
going to offend Him. I will continue to respect His name. Now I am confident
that you have some viable questions of me. Hopefully, I will answer them! Maybe
not!
I will get to the Kabbalah’s answer to Why Bad Things
Happen to Good People. But first, why I believe in religion – my religion! You
may have similar reasons of your own or different reasons for your religion,
they are personal and they are all valid.

That is my question. It is a fairly simple idea, you
build something to the best of your ability and if you are G-d the ability is
endless. GM won’t build a car without a steering wheel, but appears that G-d
left that part out of our being. We have no G-d given steering wheel. Why is
that? G-d gave us FREE WILL! G-d gave us the
ability to be G-d. We create our own steering wheel for navigating through
life.
I love the beauty of religion. The time to pray as a
community, observe beautiful and meaningful rituals, come together in similar beliefs,
to do good things for the community and even parts of the world that need help,
all benefit from religion. Big generalization here, I know you are
thinking of some things that are just the opposite as people are being killed or
maimed in the name of some religions. If G-d gave them free will, too, then
they are doing their G-d like work as they see it. So, with that in mind, is
there a true G-d? When we go to a movie and see the actors play out their parts
do we pray to the producer? The producer creating opportunity to present the
story, the characters, the scenes in which they act and the message that they
are trying convey. One could argue the producer, the writer or the director is
the G-d of that situation, so who do you pray to? Do you worship them? (There is a potential for some interesting
answers her.)
My point is if we are all G-d like why is there a G-d? If
we are all G-d like why are some of us good and some of us evil. Remember, it is
said that G-d gave us free will. That would even allow for us not to believe in
a G-d! That ability is G-d given.
That is my take, you decide.