Didn't God Create Evil, Too?

[GUNWOUNDS]

"God made Adam perfect in a perfect place where sin had never occured."

God gave him and us the power to sin, knowing we as we were would use it. As an omnipotent being, he could have made us differently: such that we did not sin.

"To put the blame on a Deity is almost as pathetic as people blaming their parents for when they do crimes"

Except that the deity is omnipotent and can easily make its subjects good people - parents can't choose to have nice children - they can try to discipline them, but it doesn't always work. When parents couldn't have helped their child turning out bad, we don't blame them - but a deity can choose that its subjects not be evil, so their evil actions are by defintion due to its own negligence.

As for the age-old question

[nemafakei]

And I say that firstly there is no free will anyway, but that's been debated elsewhere.

More importantly, why is free will better than preventing evil?

We're free, yes, and for some of us, that's free to speak and do as we like. But we're free to subject others to pain and to deprive them of their freedoms... and the recipients thereof are not free.

[GUNWOUNDS]

And I say that firstly there is no free will anyway, but that's been debated elsewhere.

More importantly, why is free will better than preventing evil?

We're free, yes, and for some of us, that's free to speak and do as we like. But we're free to subject others to pain and to deprive them of their freedoms... and the recipients thereof are not free.

Yes free will exercised in an absence of obedience can bring evil

[SurlyPIG]

the problem is that you are arguing from the wrong attribute.  Omnipotence is what you should be arguing about... NOT Omniscience.

why?  because omniscience is knowledge of events and does NOT equate to influence.

It does if the one with the total knowledge of said events was the same being that started and is therefore responsible for the linear, causal course of events.

[GUNWOUNDS]

in my reply to anathema above i made a TYPO that could be misleading ... i edited it ... please re-read to make sure you get the right idea.

[Acriku]

not if the person was told to stay on land and went into the water thru disobedience and then once they went into the drowning depths of disbedience they willfully sank to the bottom not grasping at any of the lifesavers. Especially the one blinking with shiny reds lights and a siren shouting "i am the truth the way and the light, none come to the father except through me"

That would be ruled a suicide.

But then again just about 30,000 of those liferafts are blinking saying they are the true ones, and God knew that would happen, and he also chose to sit back and watch the person thrash about looking for the right liferaft, if at all. And no, the person does not willfully sink to the bottom, in fact the person very well does thrash about looking for the truth. In my eyes, anyway.

[nemafakei]

"Yes free will exercised in an absence of obedience can bring evil  but does this mean that free will should never have come into existence?

but in the absence of Love there is Hate so is Love something that should never have come into existance.

in the absence of Bravery there is cowardice.... but does this mean that Bravery should never have come into existance?

in the abscence of Justice there is injustice .... but does this mean that Justice should never have come into existence?"

Read it again - in the analogical translation, the concepts are swapped over after the first line.

[GUNWOUNDS]

Yes i should have simply said in the absence of Free Will there is slavery ... does that mean Free Will should never have come into existence?? ..

that should have been my first line ...  thanks for pointing that out.