Sorry, but it appears to me as if you struggle to create a distinction without a difference.
The killing of innocents is evil. If God was standing next to the World Trade Center, with a gigantic cosmic catcher's mitt, and yet did not lift an indifferent finger to spare the victims.... Or worse yet, he actually WANTED it to happen in order to "Teach America a Lesson", then he would be one evil creature indeed.
For the life of me, I cannot understand the tendency among those of faith, to attribute the evil acts of men, to their God.
If God was standing next to the World Trade Center, with a gigantic cosmic catcher's mitt, and yet did not lift an indifferent finger to spare the victims
Maybe he pulled a Buckner.
God is not a "creature," "evil" or otherwise.
And he doesn't owe you, or me, or anyone else a miracle.
Calling God "evil" because he didn't perform a miracle to prevent loss of life on 9/11 is insanity. If you were a believer, you would understand that. As it is, trying to reason with you on a thread like this is like trying to explain what flowers look like to someone who was born blind. I really don't understand why you bother posting, since those of us who are believers aren't going to be swayed by your obvious lack of understanding.
And, BTW, nobody except extreme Calvinists contend that God desired or caused what happened on 9/11. But he permitted it it as a call to repentance, which is a mercy. You don't understand that. You see no need to repent. You see nothing from which we, as a nation, need to repent.
You're wrong.
Geez...you just HAD to bring that up...I was doing the 24 hour vigil at my father's bedside as he lay dying in August and they moved someone into the other bed, a minister. He hung a picture on the wall of a very tall office building in a New York type setting and there was Jesus, who was as tall as the building, peering into the windows. That picture still haunts me...I have been trying to locate a copy of it on the www, but have had no luck yet.
God knows the outcome. God knows where those souls are now. God can bring good from evil. When I punish my child for stealing, I am not being evil, I am loving that child. God doesn't want evil to happen, but he knows that it will because many HUMANS are evil.
It's a question without an answer, except to say "God knows all, is all, and is responsible for all." Some see this as fanciful. Others view it as frightening autocracy. And still others believe it's the only answer which enables us to sleep at night and send our children out the door.
Whether we agree on things or not, God is in control, now and forever.
You really do have a problem with words, don't you? Words have meaning and ideas have consequences.
Now, yes, the killing of innocents is evil. But the rest of your drivel is typical "I deserve ... I deserve ..." liberalism. Who gave you the right to God's protection against the evil of men -- particularly when you disown Him and blaspheme Him.
So, you deserve to be protected from the manmade, Mohammedan evil do you? Well, all right, you are now standing before God. Why not tell Him just what it is you deserve and He is 'evil' for not giving you what you think you deserve?
No, pup, the porblem is precisely that we are getting -- and absent a relationship with the Saviour -- will get for (in deference to your liberal sensibilities) a 'very long time' precisely what we 'deserve.'
Don't ask for 'justice' you might get it.