Humanity, Humanism, and the Pandemic

The initial response from our government to Covid-19 seems to have been uncaring. Whether due to incompetence or deliberate policy should be uncovered by a public inquiry. Early talk of developing ‘herd immunity’ really amounted to letting vulnerable groups die. Decanting elderly patients from hospitals, into care homes, appears to have spread the disease. And failure to stock enough Personal Protective Equipment, despite a previous government report, was inexcusable. All these instances betray shocking disregard for human lives. 

Covid and the Problem of Evil

Covid-19 presents us again with the ‘problem of evil’: why does God permit evil? For some this question leads away from faith, into atheism. It’s a quandary which John Lennox, our best British apologist attempts to answer in his book, Where is God in a Coronoavirus world?

My own feeling is that there is no need for the existence of evil, or suffering, to undermine faith. It’s been said that hanging onto belief, faced with indescribable evil, is an emotional response, holding onto a crutch because one cannot face the meaninglessness of the universe. But the rejection of faith is also an emotional response, not a logically necessary one.