Now we're done, you have your closure, and everything is clear.
Yes, things are clear, as to your current position. However, now, due to your answers provided, I'm now curious to know....
My morality involves being accountable to something outside myself. That deciding agent outside myself is not me, and so doesn't always make the decisions I would make. From dictionary.com - moral: founded on the fundamental principles of right conduct rather than on legalities, enactment, or custom. (I would add, not founded on things I like.)
I already [know] you don't like rape and/or murder. You claim your believed upon agent also does not like rape and/or murder. And yet, it seems your believed upon agent sometimes allows the rape and/or murder of
children, prior to
theodicy.
One could argue, without ever
understanding God's will, that God might allow the
death of young children, as mercy, to gain direct access to God's heaven (i.e.) death at birth, a car wreck and death as young child, etc... . It might raise other questions, but at least one could make an argument that God allows some humans to pass/go, without the arguable necessity of theodicy.
However, regardless of what humans think or know of God's nature, we seem lacking to even surmise of (any) plausible or speculative reason for the allowance of the torture of small children, followed by their deaths, prior to theodicy? If a child endures such torture, and lives into adulthood, then one can argue for a 'purpose.' But what be the purpose for the torture and death of the small child?
Believers seem to grapple with the following...
"
I don't know why God allows for the torture/murder of children, but there MUST be one."
And begs a question....
In this case, does 'faith' mean 'wishful thinking' alone?
God has declared sexual assault (Deuteronomy 22:25)
Is it really this simple? Did God truly declare that sexual assault IS bad? Or is it 'circumstantial' at best, in God's eye's? In the the same "Book", we also have:
Deuteronomy 20:14
I don't like questions that ask me to speculate on aspects of God's nature that I don't know. That you don't understand that yet speaks volumes. I would tend to think there is never a case where God is not acting - acting in keeping with his nature - that nature being opposed to sexual assault. It's just that we don't like the outcome and don't understand the complexities involved.
If God were to explain such things to me (and the Bible has explicitly stated he won't; Job 38), I expect I would conclude everything he has done is good.
I'm not asking you to speculate per se...
In this case, God watches, as many children get raped and murdered. And somehow, God allowing as such, is for 'good' reason...
Is it that humans are just too limited in our knowledge to deduce a logical reason/conclusion? Or, does the Christian instead issue themselves a 'pass', and state, "
there is just some events that humans don't understand.' ?.?
As a bonus, I'll answer one more question. Why do things we consider bad happen? For the same reason I sometimes have to wait in the emergency room and endure the pain of my injury rather than expecting immediate care the moment I walk in. I've been on the other side. I've been the patient that needed immediate emergency treatment to save my life, and watched all those other people sitting there enduring pain so I could be treated, and I will forever appreciate them for it, and I will forever be willing to do the same because now I understand.
Would I say that to a victim of sexual assault? Absolutely not! God didn't put me in their life to lecture them in the midst of their pain. He put me in their life to comfort them, to help them heal in any way I can.
As I stated above, it may be easy to surmise 'reasons' why many 'bad' things happen. In the case above, maybe infants die, and go straight to heaven without judgement?
However, the concept of the allowed rape, prior to a child's murder leaves a question, which looks
unanswerable...
Why the torture?