Sumptuous Planet (A Secular Mass): XIII. Suffering

“The total amount of suffering per year in the natural world

is beyond all decent contemplation. ... thousands of all kinds are dying of starvation, thirst and disease. [...] In a universe of blind physical forces and genetic replication, some people are going to get hurt, others will get lucky, and you won’t find any rhyme or reason in it, nor any justice. The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference.”