James Randi on The problem of evil
Randi cited real-world suffering, particularly the harm done by faith healers to vulnerable people, as powerful evidence against a loving God.
James Randi's engagement with the problem of evil was characteristically concrete. While philosophers debate the logical compatibility of God and evil in abstract terms, Randi witnessed evil up close: faith healers who convinced sick people to abandon medical treatment, psychics who exploited grieving families, and religious leaders who used divine authority to abuse the vulnerable. These were not hypothetical evils but observed ones, documented on camera and exposed before audiences of millions.
Randi's most devastating work in this area was his exposure of Peter Popoff, a faith healer who claimed God was revealing the medical conditions of audience members to him in real time. Randi demonstrated that Popoff was receiving the information through a hidden radio earpiece from his wife, who had collected prayer cards before the service. People were being told God had healed them when nothing of the sort had occurred — and some died as a result of abandoning medical treatment.
For Randi, cases like Popoff's were the problem of evil made visceral and immediate. A God who allows charlatans to exploit the sick and dying in his name — and does nothing to expose the fraud or protect the victims — is either powerless, indifferent, or nonexistent. Randi preferred the simplest explanation.
“I've seen people die because they believed God would heal them. If God exists, he watched that happen and did nothing. That tells you everything you need to know.”