If there is a God, why does he allow innocent people to die?
No good asking me that one! All I can say is that the traditional answers given by religion are no good. Mind you, if people didn't die we'd be seriously overcrowded by now. I think what the question means is why do innocent people die horribly. And of course the opposite is also true, in that some thoroughly nasty people go through life more or less undisturbed and die quietly at home in their sleep. Well, I'll just listen to what religious people tell me, and look around at the world and say... "I don't believe it". A friend of mine, a superb woman of outstanding character and great gifts, (and, as it happens, a priest in the Church of England) with a fine family, much to do, much to live for, was in hospital with cancer. Her husband took early retirement so he could spend as much as possible of the rest of her life with her. She died on the day he retired. She was 52. I'm told this is a mystery, and someone, a priest, told me that God had a purpose which we cannot know, but it will be good for her family in the end. Can you imagine a loving parent putting their child through the pain that this woman and her family went through because it would be good for them in the end? If a human parent caused their child agony for "educational reasons" they'd be locked up, and rightly so. It's unbelievable, and if it were true it would be incredibly cruel.
