Most people, I suspect, don’t think about diseases until someone they know is afflicted.It’s natural enough to try to avoid thinking of the negative, and I know that I’ve always felt overwhelmed when it came to worthy causes seeking donations.I surprised myself, therefore, but putting up a Facebook fundraiser for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation.Someone close to me was diagnosed with the disease, and seeing suffering first-hand has a way of changing your perspective.You want to do whatever you can to help.Instead of feeling completely at the mercy of chance, I put my fundraiser online and I’m hoping for the best.A doctor I know informed me that foundations for diseases are among the most helpful websites for those with the condition.
In my mind, as in that of many others, disease is intricately tied in with theodicy—the problem of innocent suffering in the presence of a God supposed to be good.Theodicy is frequently the first stop on the road to non-belief, as a careful reading of many of the “new atheists” reveals.No theologian has devised a satisfying theodicy.The question always comes down to the fact that a universe without debilitating diseases can be imagined by those of us with feeble human abilities, so why not by an almighty being with no limitations?Human evil can be attributed to free will.Natural evil, such as diseases not keyed to behaviors that lead to them, is a different matter.Often we’re left to our own human devices against conditions we don’t fully understand.
Facebook may not be the best place to post a fundraiser, however, it has a reach far greater than this simple blog, and the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation page helps to get such fundraisers set up.For all of its problems, Facebook does provide a way to bring people together for common causes.Seeing someone we know suffering is never easy.And there are so many worthy causes out there.The situation naturally reminds me of the book of Job.People who turn to it looking for an answer to why innocent people suffer (Job is presented as perfect in the prologue to the story) come away disappointed.No reason is given and the question of theodicy is left unanswered beyond the claim that human understanding is limited.God may ask how Job has the boldness to question divine action, but there’s no suggestion that he shouldn’t try to find relief with his broken potshard.My Facebook fundraiser is my potshard, I guess, although the larger questions still remain.
