Is it because God is an anarchist that he doesn’t want to dominate?

Based on an exchange of ideas with two people who are in different ways comrades, I wanted to formulate a thought about miracles, why God allows suffering and why it affects us so differently. Perhaps it is supposed to think the way I do from the incredibly privileged position I have. And for God’s sake, if you think I am wrong, please tell me if so.

My image of God, and the reason why I believe that God does not want to dominate human existence so that we behave more kindly towards each other, is that God is also an anarchist God who does not (anymore) want to rule with lightning and thunder but who instead wants our voluntary help to overthrow the rulers from their thrones.

Some of the injustices that characterize life would not be so unfair if, instead of helping each other to make life more unfair, we helped each other to make life fairer for everyone with whom we share the earth. Regardless of whether it is for those who need wheels to move around, to be able to eat their fill or need to be released from a cage.

If we listened more to that god and the rest of nature, maybe natural disasters wouldn’t come as such a total surprise either.

My thought is that suffering may simply not be God’s fault and that God’s omnipotence may not be a good reason for God to dominate people who don’t want the same thing that God wants. Just because we can take power over others doesn’t mean it’s always a good idea. The fact that God is omnipotent doesn’t necessarily mean that God always wants to use his power, and if he doesn’t, I think he has good reasons for it. My belief is that God, just like some other anarchists, simply seeks voluntary cooperation with those who want the same thing as him.

But then I’m fully aware that I’m rationalizing.

I think that the injustice is not that we have different needs. We were created by a God who loves diversity. The injustice is that our needs are met in different ways and that society’s norms favor certain ways of being human, at the expense of other ways of being human being being disadvantaged. The injustice is that we are not helped to meet each other’s needs so that everyone can be as well off as possible, based on their different circumstances.

When it comes to miracles, I don’t think God is unfair when he answers some prayers but not others. I believe he has his reasons. At the same time, I think that our mutual needs for intercession are not being met today. Not because the church doesn’t offer intercession. The Church of Sweden prays that the world will become a nicer place to live in as soon as the chance is given and in as comprehensive, general terms as possible.

No, the injustice lies in the fact that some people are prevented from embracing intercession. A church that is happy to pray but doesn’t do much to meet our mutual material needs is inauthentic. The lack of authenticity thus becomes an obstacle to being able to receive the intercession a person may need.

A church that meets the mutual material needs of people and communities, a church that approaches nature and the conditions of ecology, that meets the needs of animals – such a church would be a miracle in itself. I believe that authenticity works both ways and that a church that is itself a miracle would also be able to see more miracles of other kinds. However, my conviction is that this is not the point but just one of the many ways in which God shows his love for us in the hope that we will show each other and God love in return.