Why Did God Allow This to Happen?
By Jason Misleh (Oct. ’01)
On September 11, 2001, our country fell victim to one of the most tragic acts of violence ever. I do not think there is anyone who has not been affected by this. This is evident by the many prayer services offered by churches, the moment of silence that was offered around the world, and by the thousands of American flags displayed proudly in front of homes and businesses.
Wow. What a disaster! Death tolls are estimated to be over six thousand after these attacks. One must only wonder, and ask himself or herself, “Why? Why did this happen? Why didn’t security at the airport catch this? Why would someone want to do this? And, lastly, and most importantly, why would God Himself allow someone to do this? Is this part of God’s plan for us, and if it is, why?”
First off, lets take a look at death. Did you know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, then we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His (paraphrased from Romans 6: 3-5). The Church has a lot to say about death. We do know that Christ will be returning to judge the world. We are taught that through our free will, we should live our lives in a Christian way so that we are prepared to enter the Kingdom of Heaven when Christ returns.
Now let’s look at this question everyone is asking, “Why?” No matter what the reason for things happening, good or bad, the question we always ask ourselves is: “Why?” In this case, it’s why would God allow all those people to die in such a horrito ble event? And there are many answers that people will come up with. Answers like “God must’ve needed another angel,” “God needed them,” “God had a plan for him,” “God chose her,” or “God felt like it.” (Taken from Fr. Stavros Akrotirianakis’ article “Why Bad Things Happen, an Orthodox Prospective.”) Well, to tell you the truth, maybe God is not responsible. Every time something bad happens, society is the first to put the responsibility on God. These answers are incorrect. Why? (There’s that question again!) Because if these allegations against God are true, then God is a mass murderer, baby killer, rapist, traffic lawbreaker, terrorist, airplane hijacker, and everything else our imaginative minds can think of. Every time we have a problem in our lives, it is not God’s fault. God only provides good.
Bad things happen though. Why? People make foolish decisions every day of their lives, taking advantage of the free will given to us by God. I speak not of the mistakes people make; I speak of those decisions that people know are wrong and choose anyway. For example, if you are driving sixty miles per hour, in a forty mile per hour speed zone, and the traffic signal in front of you turns yellow, then red, and you fail to stop, causing a serious crash, you have made foolish decisions. Notice how “decisions” is plural. First off, you were going far too fast for the road. Secondly, when you saw the yellow light, you made the decision not to slow. Then when you saw red, you made another decision, not to brake as hard as humanly possible to avoid crossing that intersection. God created the world “and saw that it was good.” (Genesis 1:31) By making these decisions, you have created bad (or have distorted the good), not only for yourself, but for the other driver you endangered, the police officer who had horrito respond and see your head through the windshield, the paramedics who had to revive you, the fire technicians who had to cut your car apart to save you, the people who were held up in the traffic jam, and the people who physically saw the crash happen. Combine every bad decision made in a split second and concentrate them all in one place, and the effects would be devastating.
So, the decisions of these terrorists, who attacked the United States of America, have caused a massive chain reaction. First of all, thousands of people were killed in the Trade Centers and countless others will live with devastating injuries. Secondly, all the passengers on the planes were killed; their families torn apart. Thirdly, schools, businesses, and events were closed throughout the country, causing great inconvenience to everyone. And, if that didn’t impact you, just seeing people fall to their deaths from the 110th story of an office building should have made you quiver a little. And, if you are one of those people who just don’t care, you also were affected. Not only will it take you an hour to go through security at an airport, but also for the next week, while watching your precious MTV, you will be reminded of this horrible tragedy by the messages that scroll along the bottom of the screen.
So why did God let this happen? If he didn’t, the freedom he has passed to us as human beings would not exist. Before placing the blame of something evil and tragic on God, think about it. Why would a loving God ever want to harm anyone? And never forget, the most asked question in the universe is “Why?” The most unanswered question, unfortunately, is also “Why?” In this case, the answer may be our misuse of free will.