Where Was God When James Holmes Walked Into That Crowded Theatre?

Almost everything we know about God can be seen in what he did not do to avert this mass killing. God's inaction here is indistinguishable from him not caring at all, or not being powerful at all, or not being present at all, or not knowing anything at all. In fact, his inaction leads us to think he doesn't exist at all. David Hume suggested a line of argument that works very well here. If an Omni-God exists then he could have caused James Holmes to have a heart attack before leaving his apartment that day. He could have caused all of his guns to jam. He could have caused Holmes to suffer severe nausea at the very thought of doing this terrible deed, every time he thought of it. He could have had an accident on the way caused by a brake line leak. For believers to argue God remains hidden so as not to force obedience upon us, there is nothing about any of these suggested actions that would alert us to his presence. For believers to rhetorically ask how we know God doesn't intervene in other cases, the fact that he didn't intervene here, there, and so many many times elsewhere is strong evidence he doesn't act at all.

Innumerable things could have been done by this God to stop Holmes. But God was silent just exactly as if he doesn't exist at all. There is no noticeable difference in this present world where God is believed to exist from one where he doesn't exist at all. The notion of free will does not get believers off the hook either, unless they want to admit that this same God does not answer prayers. For surely there are believers across America and in every city and family praying every day for the safe protection of their loved ones and for people in general. So I put it to you. Either God's activity in our world is indistinguishable from his non-existence or he does not answer prayers. That's merely one of the many problems of belief in the light of this human tragedy.

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