{"id":3569,"date":"2025-08-21T18:05:28","date_gmt":"2025-08-21T18:05:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/risen.org.uk\/?p=3569"},"modified":"2025-08-21T18:05:28","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T18:05:28","slug":"blog-august-21st-kemi-badenoch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/risen.org.uk\/?p=3569","title":{"rendered":"Blog August 21st Kemi Badenoch"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Restore Us Lord God Almighty featuring Lucy Stimpson- Maynard from the album Where Would I Be Without You? recorded and produced by Ross Gill<\/p>\n

I recently read the article below written by Dr Andrew Ollerton for Premier Christian News. It reminded me of what the actor Steven Fry said about God Blog September 8th Stephen Fry rant | Risen<\/a>
\nIn a recent BBC interview, the leader of the Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, revealed that her belief in God was destroyed when she put her ear to the monstrous crimes of Josef Fritzl. In 2008, Austrian police discovered that Fritzl had imprisoned his daughter Elisabeth in a cellar and repeatedly raped her over a 24-year period. She gave birth to seven children while in captivity.
\nFor Kemi Badenoch, the idea of a God who ignores the cries of victims like Elisabeth, while answering other relatively trivial prayers, is completely untenable.
\nNo doubt we all share Kemi Badenoch\u2019s moral outrage at this horrific crime. But must we also share her atheist conclusions? In the dark of evil and suffering, is belief in God morally justifiable?
\nFirstly, some logic. If God does not exist then the universe consists of nothing but motion, matter and blind chance. Moreover, without God moral concepts such as \u2018right\u2019 and \u2018wrong\u2019 are arbitrary and carry little weight.
\nAs C.S. Lewis noted, the assumption that a line is crooked implies the existence of a straight line. To say that someone\u2019s actions are morally \u2018wrong\u2019 presupposes a \u2018right\u2019 way. Otherwise, all human behaviour is just \u2018natural\u2019.
\nIf Kemi Badenoch no longer believes in God, then what grounds her belief in morality and why is she so angered by evil and injustice? Atheism cannot explain our feelings of moral outrage. What Josef Fritzl did to his daughter was not \u2018Wrong\u2019 with a capital W unless we believe there is a \u2018Right\u2019 way for a father to treat his daughter.
\nEqually, Fritzl can only be brought to justice if he was responsible for his actions and not merely subject to genetics, brain chemistry, and primal urges. In short, the reason we have a problem with evil is because we believe in a good God. This still leaves us wrestling with many mysteries. But to reject God because of evil is to saw off the very branch we are sitting on.
\nSecondly, let\u2019s consider a biblical response. Taken as a whole, the Bible depicts God as the enemy of evil and never the cause of it. In Genesis, God created only what is good. At the end of Revelation, he promises to restore all things. Now, as we interpret God\u2019s ways between these bookends, we must avoid two dangers.
\nOne is to equate God\u2019s silence or hiddenness with indifference. Kemi Badenoch assumes that if God cared for Elisabeth Fritzl, he would prove it by stepping in. However, while God is active in the world, he has given humans free will. He is not a puppet-master continually tweaking reality.
\nAs the late Rabbi Jonathan Sacks noted: \u201cWe believe God gave us freedom. It is the most fateful decision he made in the entire universe.\u201d God teaches us what is good but does not forcibly prevent us from doing evil. Josef Fritzl is therefore responsible for his actions. To blame God for such malevolence overlooks the serious truth of free will.
\nTO REJECT GOD BECAUSE OF EVIL IS TO SAW OFF THE VERY BRANCH WE ARE SITTING ON.
\nThe opposite danger is to assume God\u2019s current tolerance of evil is permanent. It is not. God has set a day to end injustice and hold evildoers to account, including Fritzl. Moreover, those like Elisabeth who have suffered at the hands of earthly fathers will have their tears wiped away by their heavenly father.
\nThen and only then, from the vantage point of eternity, will pain and suffering be put into perspective. To feel deep anguish in the face of evil today is absolutely right. But to reject God for this reason is premature. Instead, we need to hold on in hope and echo the cry that concludes the Bible: \u201cMaranatha! Come Lord!\u201d
\nFinally, a pastoral response is found at the foot of the cross where God himself entered our world of pain. From the agony of the cross Jesus expressed feelings of abandonment that no doubt resonate with many victims: \u201cMy God, my God, why have you forsaken me?\u201d
\nChristianity doesn\u2019t sidestep suffering; it centres on it. God\u2019s plan may play out more slowly than we would like. But planted in the centre of it is the cross, where God himself bore the weight of our sin and made it his own.
\nThis doesn\u2019t resolve all the mysteries. We still don\u2019t know the answer to why God allows certain things to happen. But we know what it can\u2019t be. It can\u2019t be that God doesn\u2019t love us. It can\u2019t be that he doesn\u2019t care. What difference does this make to our experience of suffering? A friend recently posted on social media as she neared the end of her battle with cancer: \u201cAs we walk through this dark valley, Jesus knows what we\u2019re facing; he has the scars to prove it. And his presence gives us peace.\u201d
\nIn her interview, Kemi Badenoch said she rejected the idea of God but still believed in cultural Christianity. However, the Bible does not offer us a set of moral values or a logical argument for God. Neither will suffice when pain and suffering hit. Instead, the Bible invites us to personally trust in Jesus Christ, the sovereign and suffering God, who is with us in the darkness and promises hope beyond it.<\/p>\n

Quote of the Day<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Restore Us Lord God Almighty featuring Lucy Stimpson- Maynard from the album Where Would I Be Without You? recorded and produced by Ross Gill I recently read the article below written by Dr Andrew Ollerton for Premier Christian News. It reminded me of what the actor Steven Fry said about God Blog September 8th Stephen […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ken-shearsmiths-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/risen.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/risen.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/risen.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/risen.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/risen.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3569"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/risen.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3574,"href":"https:\/\/risen.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3569\/revisions\/3574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/risen.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/risen.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/risen.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}