Just Go Ahead And Do Whatever You Wish!

There are some religious crusaders that actually believe the deaths of U.S. soldiers are punishment for “our” tolerance of homosexuality. If this is the case, God's judgment appears very arbitrary.

This suggests to me that we should just go ahead and commit whatever misdeed we wish, because it is likely someone else will be left to deal with its consequences! Conversely, we will likely be left “holding the bag” for somebody else's misdeed just the same.

So if I were so inclined to murder somebody in cold blood purely for enjoyment's sake, perhaps a poor, amiable widow will be left to deal with the consequences of my egregious misdeed? This seems particularly absurd to me as it will hopefully be to others.

Most believe, generally speaking, that a man should reap what he sows. But in this case, God is just a “vending machine” judging favorably the good and unfavorably the bad. As it should be in my opinion.

Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People?

It is commonly claimed by the faithful that when things go horribly awry, God is not punishing us necessarily. But using this type of reasoning in a consistent manner, we are then forced to conclude that neither is God necessarily blessing us when things go well!

In the same way, if it is true that bad outcomes do not necessarily discount the existence of a good God then neither must good outcomes necessarily suggest the existence of a good God!

Furthermore, viewing God as blessing good behavior and punishing bad behavior is viewing God as nothing more than a "vending machine"!

One can avoid this “vending machine” dilemma if he does not believe God blesses good behavior and/or punishes bad behavior. But at this point, what would be the use of worshiping God if not for the assurance that we will ultimately reap what we sow?

Is Man But Machine?

In many ways, it seems that as we progress technologically, our machines become more like us and we become more like our machines. Our purpose in life seems relegated to being nothing but vehicles to produce and consume “stuff”.

As confirmation of this, one might pay careful attention to the implicit or explicit indicator of a society's success which is almost always based on whether its economy grows from year to year. At some point in the future will we and our machines be one and the same? Or are we already?

Blasphemy Of The Masses

Many believe it is blasphemous to equate God to a de facto vending machine. As in, “God, I'm going to be really good and in return I want, nay I expect a red Ferrari and a hot girl! On second thought, make that a super hot girl!”

But those critical of this type of thinking go on to do just the same, however subtly. How so? Well, by what protocol do the most fervent believers, or anybody for that matter, wish God would use to “regulate” the outcomes of tragedies? If one is faithful/good, God should spare him. On the other hand, the less faithful/bad should slip from God's saving grace.

To digress slightly, if the faithful are spared and the unfaithful are not, where is the grace? In any case, it is wished that God would “look over” the faithful/good like a devoted shepherd. This wish implies that God is or at least should be a vending machine. One should be spared because he is good. On the other hand, it is easy to wish for an evil wretch not to be spared because he is bad. Put in the proper amount and you will receive your just reward. Put in too little and you will receive your comeuppance.

This is of course not how things work in reality, at least not always. In instances where God seems to apportion fate by this wished for protocol, many are happy the faithful/good are spared but not the unfaithful/bad. But what about the many instances where, sadly, this wished for protocol fails miserably?

For instance, many wonderful people fail in spite of their efforts and many terrible people succeed in spite of their wretchedness. Why doesn't God always honor the wishes of wonderful people who expend tremendous effort in their endeavors? Conversely, why doesn't God always sabotage the wishes of the most determined wretches?

In instances such as these, it appears God is not a vending machine but it causes a dilemma nonetheless. If God is in the business of sabotaging the wishes of the good and endorsing the wishes of the bad, how does this make Him good? Of course many will resolutely claim God only allows these unfortunate outcomes, He does not instigate them!

Quibbling over this detail, however, does not mitigate the dilemma at hand. He still appears to be one “o” short of good. Of course it could easily be claimed that neither wretched people succeeding nor wonderful people failing has anything to do with God. But then why should it be any more assumed that God's hand is involved in wonderful people succeeding or wretched people failing?

Whatever the case, this assumption essentially implies God is or at least should be a vending machine. And why should He not? What is the point of “worshiping” said God if He is not a vending machine?