I have been watching the Jerry Sandusky trial with a lot of interest and a lot of questions.
I am angry at him for what he has allegedly done, but, as I have wondered before as I have listened to stories of men sexually molesting children, I have also been kind of confused about something.
Are people who sexually molest children sick, or are they evil? If they are evil, were they born that way? Or does that kind of evil come about as the result of some childhood trauma?
I can’t look at pictures of Sandusky without feeling ill, any more than I can stomach the thought of Roman Catholic priests molesting children and the Church keeping quiet about it. I was molested once when I was a child by a man, a delightful man, I thought, who lived down the street from us. The memory makes me ill…but the questions I have about why, how molestation is such a major problem make me even more ill.
If those who molest children are sick, is it a sickness that was present in them when they were born? Is there a gene or something that went haywire during the time the fetus was forming? On the other hand, if those who molest are evil, how did that, how does that evil make its way to individuals? And why is there so much of that kind of evil in the world?
It makes me want to ask, out loud, “O God, where art thou?”
I have often wondered about the creative process. There are so many children born sick – bad hearts, no hearts, cleft palates and lips, rare genetic diseases …It seems like if there was one place where one could expect perfection, it would be in the womb, during the formation of the fetus, where the hand of God seemingly would be most active.
And yet, so many sick children are born! I saw a program on CNN the other day where 10-year-old children were accused and convicted of killing other children. And I have wondered, “Did God miss a day in the creative process? What happened, that made such imperfection a reality of a process which on the surface would seem to be one streamlined for perfection?
I say that God doesn’t make mistakes, but when I think of the evil and sickness that is prevalent, I shudder. I know, I am disregarding the words of God in Genesis where God said that because of the sin of Adam and Eve, there would be misery in the world…but, still, I find myself struggling. Can God NOT stop the prevalence of sickness and evil in the world, or does God simply choose not to stop it?
I know…there are no answers…I am still angry, sickened, really, at the thought of what Jerry Sandusky may have done to those boys. I am saddened when I see a child born into the world gravely ill. And I have questions that I really wish God would answer.
From what I have heard and read, Sandusky is guilty…but I cannot help wishing God, with all of Her power, would do something to keep evil (or illness, if it’s that) like that out of the world. Too many children have suffered, and I guess I like the notion of a God that sees suffering …and stops it.
A candid observation …
Candid Observations 
I think that is a question that many Christians struggle with: why does God see struggling and do nothing about it? And the old adage, He won’t put more on you than you can bear, or It’s all a part of His plan, are “good and all”, but bring no comfort to me (any many other people) when I think about how much suffering is in this world. Many of us just want answers, but religion tells you, you aren’t supposed to understand His ways. So then, it just becomes a cycle, suffering happens (as it always will), bad things happen to good people and somehow that is a part of a bigger plan, of which that person may never get to see in this lifetime. While I would say that not all of those things mentioned (cleft palates, illness) are necessarily imperfections, I do agree that it is a struggle to understand why such a good God allows such hurt with His people.