We all want a perfect world. Or rather we all want to have a more perfect world, a more perfect life.
This need is so natural in us we don't even have to think about it, it just occurs. It's as if it was hidden in our subconscious mind.
But it all comes down to the reality that it's not a perfect world after all. Something we have to live with.
Remember that God is a perfect being. Since we were made in His likeness, it is innate in us to yearn or to aspire for a more perfect situation.
It's "natural law", a spiritual instinct in us that makes us feel what should be (perfection) and what should not be (imperfection).
Perfection is an ideal state which is really more of a freedom from evil, or sin (freedom from crimes included).
Imperfection is the opposite. It is what we instinctively feel should not happen or should not be. These would include events like the prevalence of sin, widespread evil, rampant crimes, unpunished crimes, etc.
Below are some case scenarios wherein we'll try to analyze possible causes or reasons on why God has allowed certain events to occur. Many of these are very hard to justfy or explain.
Remember that nothing happens without God's permission and He needs to sometimes allow evil to occur in this world for His own reasons (possibly as a form of punishment for many cases).
And God's wisdom and reasons cannot always be understood at all, beyond our human understanding (we'll try our best though):
Case 1) A very wealthy but also very corrupt politician seems to have it all - lots of money, properties here and there, family, wife and lots of kids, seems to get away with graft and corruption everytime, etc.
At first glance, one may wonder "Why all the injustice? This man cheats and steals from tapayers' money (your money!) yet here he is, all safe and free....and happy to boot.
Happy? Hmmm, I don't think so.
He doesn't sleep well at night, always worrying if he'll eventually get caught. He plans his next moves of escape and deceit, amidst sleepless nights. His conscience hounds him on the money that is not really his and on the people he had to step on to get to his current lofty position.
And miles away, a poor but humble and honest man sleeps peacefully......
The politician's family? They look so completely happy to other people. But do you really know what the truth is behind the public eye?
All for show when outside. The truth is, the parents are so busy they hardly have time for their children. One of the children has a drug addiction problem, one has problems with failing grades in school, the other is a juvenile delinquent involved in a gang, fights, etc.
Stereotype? No, hard to believe but this is as true as it can get. It is more common than you think.
In this world there is always a price to pay and the price for sin is always high indeed, always.
Case 2) A good man - honest, close to God, always helping others, always with something good to say to somebody, serves the Church well, etc.
Then he gets accused of a crime he didn't commit and goes to jail. His name and reputation is shattered, his family falls apart, people accuse him unjustly, etc.
So what happened? How can God let such a good, holy man go to this end? Why?
We can surmise that God allowed this to happen for His reasons, His higher reasons.
This man is being used by God as a model for others to follow. If he remains in God through all the hardships and trials, he would be accomplishing his God-given mission.
We all need somebody to look up to, a role model for us to learn from. Especially in times of trials, this becomes all the more important.
So when some crisis happens to you or our loved ones, this good man's example of faith, courage and eventual triumph over great odds shall see you through.
Remember the saying "After the storm....the calm sea."
Case 3) A mafia boss - he seems to live an ideal life (similar to the politician example above), has so much money, lots of properties, wife and kids, he's got the fame of a celebrity, lots of henchmen and bodyguards, various businesses (both legal and illegal!), etc. Name it, he's got it.
People may ask "Why the injustice? Why does God allow an evil man like this to prosper? There are so many other men, honest good men who deserve the good life more."
First off, a life of crime when chosen has only one road - the road to destruction. It is always a life of sadness, a life where there is no peace. Without peace of heart and mind, a person cannot find happiness.
This mafia boss lives that life. There is no peace for him. His smile is only for the camera.
Behind the limelights though, his dirty conscience eats him up alive. It is a wonder, no small miracle if he can sleep soundly at night at all. He most probably has to use sleeping pills or tranquilizers.
And that's only for starters. When he goes out of his house, he always has to fear for his life. He needs to surround himself with a lot of bodyguards just to assure his safety.
Rich or poor matters little to the bullet. Anybody is vulnerable. Even President Kennedy was not immune to it!
You see, a mafia boss will inevitably have enemies because of struggles for power and territorial disputes.
It's also observable that people like him and his group seem to attract trouble, violence, bloodshed, etc. or a mix of these like a magnet. There's like this aura of "negative energy", if you will, around them or when you're near them that you can actually feel. Strange indeed.....
After this revelation, I don't think anyone can still argue God's justice on this person. He definitely does not live "the good life!"
Case 4) World wars - Why do wars occur? World wars have been occurring since time immemorial. These have claimed countless lives, wrecked economies, harbored hatred and fear, etc. Why would a loving, all-merciful God allow war to happen?
It's hard, but war is allowed by God to happen as a form of chastisement or punishment usually for "collective sin."
A single person's sin is an individual's sin. Collective sin is a combination of many people's sins.
Say, a whole nation's people approve of abortion. Or the majority of the nation's people support an unrighteous war. There are many examples from history.
In World War 2, a whole nation literally supported the invasion of other countries.
Yes, the people of Germany gave no opposition to Adolph Hitler's dreams of empire, of conquest. They were beguiled, charmed by the fiery speeches of a sweet-talking madman, Hitler.
They fell under his spell, mainly convincing them that Germans were the "master race" and that it was their inherent right to conquer. He also manipulated them into believing the lie that they had to attack other nations in order to protect themselves from being attacked first.
Sure, it was self-defense. Oh really now....
Let's take a more recent occurrence.
At this point in time (year 2008), the United States is besieged with so many problems. The housing bubble and credit crunch, among other factors, have hurt the economy in a way not seen since the Great Depression.
The US economy may be headed towards a recession (if not already in it!).
One can rightfully ask: "Why is this happening?"
Well, if in terms of "collectve sins", it doesn't take a genius to see the morality in the States going downward drastically through the years. Yup, time to be honest here.
I'll say the truth here though. Among all the countries in the world, the United States is the country that's capable and most worthy of being the world leader.
Let me explain.
Look, you really have to see the alternatives.
China? They're a world power now, sure, but are other nations willing to look up to communist Chinese for leadership?
The massacre at Tiananmen Square is enough reason. Also, their lack of good English-speaking skills makes it all the more unlikely. English, being the currently accepted universal language is key.
Japan? It's another world power. But the Japanese lack a sense of oneness, they seem to be "too distant" from other races.
They do not possess a clear role of leadership especially compared to Americans. Again, their lack of English-speaking skills is also a factor.
The Europeans? Germany, France or Russia maybe? However, again Europeans are not fluent with the English language compared to the Americans. But more importantly, (not to be offensive or racist here, ok?) Europeans seem to have this "distance".
Just a theory here, possibly the pride of being the original "Old World" powers make the Europeans seem a little too, well, unfriendly?
This leaves us with the Americans. One can say that compared to the Europeans, Japanese, or the Chinese, Americans are a friendlier race. They usually are compassionate people even to their enemies.
A good proof of this is the word "Joe". This word is widely recognized by different races of different people around the world as referring to an American person.
In the news, you see videos and pictures of Americans giving candy bars, chewing gum, etc. to the masses even in times of war.
It seems that Americans are informal by nature, in relative comparison to the Europeans, Chinese and Japanese (observably very formal people!). This informality and friendly, compassionate nature usually makes the American race in a lot more friendly terms with different races, people of many different culures.
Of course, it's not all roses. We're not saying the Americans are perfect, not by a long shot. Like all races they do have their weaknesses as we all do.
It could be the price of being the largest, richest economy in the world. There is so much materialism and consumerism in the US now, that morality has suffered a lot in return.
Take for example the now popular case "Roe vs. Wade", which led courts to ultimately legalize abortion. Now, over ten million babies a year are being aborted in the US alone, a staggering figure by any point of view!
San Francisco has become a haven for homosexuals. A new perversion has emerged, the legalization of so-called "same sex marriage".
The US has also seen a recent wave of mass killings, particularly schools and shopping malls. Hostage-taking usually takes place, the hostages are killed and the hostage-taker kills himself.
In a lot of incidents, there's just people being shot at random by the gunman or gunmen. The lenient laws on gun ownership is much to blame for these.
So are the numerous problems affecting the US now just a result of coincidence? Some accident perhaps?
Of course not. We can clearly observe the truth that the major social and economic problems happening in the US can be said to be directly related to the increasing moral degradation in the US.
This simply means the more morality goes down in the US, the more problems will occur. Yup, a clear case of cause and effect, this is truly universal law. These problems are the effect, and people's "collective sins" are the cause of this effect.
It's a "multiplier effect" of each individual person's sins, slowly but surely adding to each other and increasing the overall sins of all. Again, this overall sin is what is called "collective sin".
One could argue though "Why only the US? Other countries are a lot worse in terms of morality. Say, legalization of prostitution in Holland, honor killings in the Middle East, high suicide rate in Japan, forced abortion in China, etc."
Good point. However, we can also argue that the God is stricter with the US because the US plays a more special role as the leader of nations, something most nations are not capable of.
More power, more responsibility. This is a universal law. Assuming all things equal, the collective sins of people in the US will have more punishments than the collective sins of another country's people.
It cannot be the same because God needs to discipline the US more, so as to be a good example and model country to others.
