Kristendomen är (enligt min mening) en intellektuellt ohållbar världsåskådning. Det finns flera sätt att slå fast detta, men ett av de mer slående är att lyfta fram (vilket jag då och då gjort här på bloggen) det så kallade teodicéproblemet: det här med att Gud är både god och allsmäktig, hur är det möjligt med alla de krig, all den svält, alla de naturkatastrofer och allt det mänskliga lidande vi ser omkring oss? Många försök till svar har givits från kristna apologeter, men de tenderar att framstå som konstlade och patetiska. Nyligen blev jag uppmärksammad på den allegoriska berättelsen The Tale of the Twelve Officers av Mark Vuletic, som sammanfattar de vanligaste av dessa försök i obamhärtigt klar belysning. Så här börjar den:
- It was, of course, sad to hear that Ms. K had been slowly raped and murdered by a common thug over the course of one hour and fifty-five minutes; but when I found out that the ordeal had taken place in plain sight of twelve fully-armed off-duty police officers, who ignored her terrified cries for help, and instead just watched until the act was carried to its gruesome end, I found myself facing a personal crisis. You see, the officers had all been very close friends of mine, but now I found my trust in them shaken to its core. Fortunately, I was able to talk with them afterwards, and ask them how they could have stood by and done nothing when they could so easily have saved Ms. K.
"I thought about intervening," said the first officer, "but it occurred to me that it was obviously better for the murderer to be able to exercise his free will than to have it restricted. I deeply regret the choices he made, but that's the price of having a world with free agents. Would you rather everyone in the world were a robot? The attacker's choices certainly weren't in my control, so I can't be held responsible for his actions."
"Well," said the second officer, "my motivation was a little bit different."
