Annoying Solutions: The Problem of Evil

Of the many proposed solutions for the problem of evil, perhaps the most annoying is the argument that God, as an omnipotent, omniscient entity, has plans that we, as mere humans, cannot comprehend.  Despite the irritatingly excuse-like nature of this argument, it is the only one which I have heard of or thought of which is not disprovable.  It is true that things exist which are currently impossible for the human mind to comprehend - for example, the concept of infinity as exemplified by an endless number, or dimensions more than the three (or, possibly, four) in which we dwell.  It seems erroneous to imagine that ethics are somehow exempt from this type of fallibility; there may be ethical issues of which we cannot conceive either, and the problem of evil's solution (if indeed there is a solution) may make use of some of these.

Other proposed solutions, while perhaps less annoying and initially more valid-seeming, all fall short.  The argument that evil is necessary in order to give humans free will in invalid because, while logically speaking one may say that evil (or at the least, lesser good) is necessary for free will, God (being, again, omnipotent) ought to be able to create free will WITHOUT necessitating choice.  Yes, this is a paradox, but paradoxes should pose no problem for an omnipotent being.  Another popular argument is that evil is not really evil, and that our perceptions of it are simply flawed.  Again, this argument does not hold up, because could God not have created beings with more accurate perceptions?

There are other arguments as well which I will not go into here, due to space limitations, but all of them fall similarly short of the mark as far as dispelling the problem of evil is concerned.  The first argument, then, is the solution; and we must either accept it, or discount the existence of God entirely.  This latter may not be a bad thing, and atheism is certainly a valid and sensible religious (or rather, irreligious) choice, but then so are many (moderate) religious viewpoints, as is agnosticism.  In the end, it is up to the individual person to decide what to believe.