I live in Indiana which is pretty much a red State.  Senator Lugar, who was our long-time representative in the U.S. Senate was defeated in the primary by Richard Mourdock who proudly announced that he is a loyal Tea Party candidate. His stated view on compromise is when the Democrats finally come to agree with everything Republicans want!  I really haven’t been paying much attention to his campaign but I imagine he is a Christian fundamentalist of one flavor or another.

Here is a quote I just came across :

Mourdock could see both fade after telling a live television audience that when a woman becomes pregnant during a rape, “that’s something God intended.”

Initially I, like probably many others, was shocked by his statement. God intended the rape and pregnancy to happen??? But then I remembered that there are Christians out there that believe that everything that happens in this world is God’s will. I imagine that Mr. Mourdock is one of those people as are many in his Tea Party group.

They say that everything that happens is God’s will as nothing can happen without God wanting it to happen.  Thankfully there are also many who take a different tack in this area.  They, and I am one of them, say that God gave man free-will and all of the pain and suffering in this world is a result of that action, it is not God’s plan but the consequences of man’s decisions.  To put all of the evil that happens in this world on God’s back is insane to me. I’m sure God mourns these actions more than any of us do. God is love and evil is simply no part of his being.

Although God’s will is betrayed as a somewhat dark character in some of the Old Testament stories/myths Jesus Christ gave us a clear personal definition of what God’s will is in the New Testament. He told us it is God’s will that we love God and love each other. That according to Jesus wraps up the total meaning of God’s will. He wants us to love him; he wants us to treat each others as we want to be treated.

Jesus also gave us clear examples of how to do God’s will. It is to be our brother’s keeper. It is to love God, not fear him. Jesus’s opening words to his ministry gave us exactly what God’s will is for the inhabitants of this world:

 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”  – Luke 4:18

God does not will evil to come to us and he certainly didn’t cause a person to rape another in order to create life. Yes, there is evil in this world in many different degrees and forms but it is not from God.