10 Mar '15 16:36>4 edits
When asked questions like "Why doesn't God stop small children from getting raped?", the response is always "Why God is too good stop a person's free will". This is dumb for many reasons. One reason why is because God is always manipulating a person's free will. He did it to Pharaoh more than once:
Five separate instances on just one person. But God has also manipulated the free will of entire cities:
In the above, God manipulated the free will of an entire city of people, just to have an excuse to "destroy them totally, exterminating them without mercy". This is evil, because God could've made those entire cities love the Jews. God had already done this in Egypt....more than once:
So while God is manipulating the free will of Pharaoh, he's also manipulating the free will of the Egyptians...meaning that God could've manipulated Pharaoh's heart so that he let them go, thereby avoiding an excuse for the mass suffering and killings that happened.
Christians need to stop using the "free will" argument, because it's all bull. The reason why God didn't intervene to stop millions from dying horrific deaths during the Holocaust or at the hands of Vlad the Impaler isn't because of caring about "free will", but because:
a) God didn't care enough about suffering people to stop it, or
b) The Christian God doesn't exist.
Exodus 9:12
12 And the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had spoken to Moses.
Exodus 10:1
10 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these signs of mine among them
Exodus 10:27
27 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was not willing to let them go.
Exodus 11:10
10 Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh, but the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go out of his country.
Exodus 14:8
8 The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out boldly.
Five separate instances on just one person. But God has also manipulated the free will of entire cities:
Joshua 11:19-20
19 Except for the Hivites living in Gibeon, not one city made a treaty of peace with the Israelites, who took them all in battle. 20 For it was the Lord himself who hardened their hearts to wage war against Israel, so that he might destroy them totally, exterminating them without mercy, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
In the above, God manipulated the free will of an entire city of people, just to have an excuse to "destroy them totally, exterminating them without mercy". This is evil, because God could've made those entire cities love the Jews. God had already done this in Egypt....more than once:
Exodus 11:3
3 (The Lord made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and Moses himself was highly regarded in Egypt by Pharaoh’s officials and by the people.)
Exodus 12:36
36 The Lord had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians.
So while God is manipulating the free will of Pharaoh, he's also manipulating the free will of the Egyptians...meaning that God could've manipulated Pharaoh's heart so that he let them go, thereby avoiding an excuse for the mass suffering and killings that happened.
Christians need to stop using the "free will" argument, because it's all bull. The reason why God didn't intervene to stop millions from dying horrific deaths during the Holocaust or at the hands of Vlad the Impaler isn't because of caring about "free will", but because:
a) God didn't care enough about suffering people to stop it, or
b) The Christian God doesn't exist.