Question 17 – Why does God allow famine?
The issue of world hunger is widely recognized. Jesus Himself predicted in the Bible that hunger would be a sign of His second coming on this Earth. According to widely known statistics, about 800 million people on our planet suffer from hunger [12], with an annual death rate of approximately 10 million [13]. This raises the question: "Where is God?" How can a loving God witness such suffering? If He exists, why doesn't He save them? Does He not care for them? It sounds logical, doesn't it? Perhaps that is only until we realize that the very existence of hunger is largely due to our rebellion against God and His order.
God and famine
Let me offer some points to ponder. While I will inevitably generalize and simplify, I trust that the core message will remain clear. I would like to begin with information from organizations like Feed the Hungry, which provide food for thousands of starving children through donations. How much do you think it costs per month to feed one starving child in Africa? It varies from place to place, but in some areas, it is a mere 5 USD! This translates to the unbelievably small and almost laughable sum of 0.2 USD per day to provide a child with their daily ration of basic food to survive. The UN confirms this, estimating the cost of a daily ration for one person at about 0.3 USD [14]!
The management and effective use of funds from charitable donations are complex, with many challenges. Merely pumping resources into poor countries doesn't help much. Until they are taught self-reliance or political conditions change, people will continue to starve (and misuse potential aid). The point is to highlight that even these (to us, almost laughably small) sums make a significant difference in many people's lives. Where does all this lead, and what does it have to do with God?
Below are merely a fraction of the sad realities:
1) Our Approach to Food
Globally, up to one-third of all produced food is wasted or spoiled (in Europe, about 100 kg of food per person is wasted annually) [15].
2) Is There Any Food for the Poor?
The food wasted annually in Europe and North America could feed all the world's hungry people nearly three times over! An interesting fact from the UN website states: "Just a week's worth of agricultural subsidies in developed countries would cover all the costs necessary for global food aid. " [14]
3) Intentional Destruction of Food, or Business is Business…
Millions of tons of food are deliberately destroyed worldwide, sometimes to prevent market prices from falling or because some items don't have the ideal shape.
4) Pointless Consumption, Gambling, and False Luxuries
How many people in the world purchase completely unnecessary and absurdly luxurious items? How many hundreds of billions of dollars are cycled through global casinos annually? How much is spent on expensive and unnecessary luxury handbags, watches, and fashion accessories? Remember the 0.2 USD cost for a hungry child. Do you realize how many children could be fed with the price of a single, forgive the term, ridiculous luxury handbag costing, say, 1,250 USD?
5) Art, Artificial, and Absurd Values
I mean no disrespect to artists, and I recognize the value of beautiful and culturally significant artworks. Yet, perhaps you'll forgive me for calling many so-called works of art nonsensical scribbles tantamount to a mockery of human reason. Not the paintings themselves, but the values attributed to them. These "paintings" and works of art often fetch astronomical sums amounting to millions, even billions. Just one of these could feed hundreds of thousands! And how many such works exist?
6) Idolatry of Beauty and the Body
Hundreds of millions are spent on the so-called "cult of the body," where people squander nearly their entire wealth to improve their appearance, which will inevitably fade! Consider the various plastic surgery people undergo, vitamin supplements, cosmetics, etc.
7) Do We Need Everything We Buy?
The extravagant lifestyle in much of the Western world, where we spend on unnecessary items, need hardly be mentioned. There are many culprits: from advertisements convincing us we need unnecessary things, to human corruption that is manifested in greed, jealousy, and the desire to have more than others. Each point I've mentioned here speaks to significant issues. They illustrate how developed consumer societies extravagantly waste essential resources while millions suffer from hunger. I want, however, to mention one more thing. In comparison to it, all the waste highlighted in the seven previous points seems a mere "triviality" and "hardly worth mentioning."
8) Wars, Armament, Armies
One of the largest, if not the largest, drains on global finance is armament. If we knew the total spent on this sector, many would likely feel extremely uncomfortable. I find this point so serious that I struggle to find words to emphasize its significance. If we say that waste from the EU and North America could feed the world's poor three times over, I believe the costs of a single modern war (e.g., Iraq) could support the world many times more! Do you have any idea how many hundreds of millions of dollars a single modern fighter jet costs? The money for just one of these jets could bountifully feed tens of millions of starving individuals! What about tanks, bombs, rockets, nuclear bombs, rifles, military vehicles? If we combined the costs of all the world's weapons, the result would be a number too vast to pronounce let alone to compare with something else.
Summary of the Above Examples:
Please don't misunderstand me. I am aware that many examples are simplified and that implementing effective food aid poses complexities and additional costs. Sadly, I acknowledge the need for armies to defend nations should they be attacked. I am not urging anyone to give all their money to the poor. There is no harm in occasionally going to the movies, the hairdresser, dining out, or buying something for pleasure. That is not the discussion here.
I present all of this to remind us of a crucial fact: Humanity (especially the developed portion) possesses an enormous amount of resources. If we all shared and respected God's established order and commands, hunger wouldn't exist. Indeed, everyone on this planet would have ample food, beautiful homes, and great wealth…
Yes, it is utopia—a dream and theory in today's world. For it to be reality, there would need to be no wars, lust for power, exploitation, pride, selfishness, indifference, anger, hatred, corruption... But that is precisely what this question is about. Everything obstructing this utopia results from ignoring God's commands, principles, and order! It is unfair to blame God for what we have brought on ourselves! It is God who urges us to remember the poor, love our neighbors, and be generous to those in need.
Culprit Found
Excluding natural disasters, diseases, and other external factors contributing to world poverty, the primary culprit is selfish, arrogant, self-centered, and irresponsible humanity, recklessly destroying not only its planet but each other. This entire scenario becomes almost ironic when we realize that despite all the excess and waste, the situation can significantly change! Even if waste persisted, if every average person in Western society donated just one percent of their monthly income to others, world hunger would drastically diminish or disappear!
With a touch of irony, consider how many might shudder at the realization that solving world hunger could lie in a few meaningless jets (of which thousands exist), a few nuclear bombs (of which thousands exist), some ludicrously overvalued paintings, thousands of extravagant fashion accessories, or countless other excesses.
Dear readers, instead of blaming God, perhaps we should feel ashamed! God takes no pleasure in this state. He allows it temporarily, refraining from infringing on our free will. But one day, each of us will answer for how we managed the resources entrusted to us.
Summation
Were we to fully comprehend the unimaginable extent of our squandering of world resources and funds, humanity would unfathomably feel shame. Many of God's adversaries might reconsider their criticism of God in this context quickly.