Why would any atheist ask such a question? It’s not atheists who need to ask these questions it’s believers. I don’t waste any time at all on such nonsensical conjecture as I don’t believe there is a god, I thought that was what being an atheist meant.

most atheists who actually ARE atheists don't ask either question. we're not atheists because we believe there is no good god. we are atheists because we believe there are no gods, of any sort. people thinking they might be atheists ask the good god question.

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Atheists ask no such questions, because they know there is no such thing as a "gawd"!!!!!! WTH are you babbling ling about...??!!?

Yes, but keep God out of it.

This atheist would not ask such a question, since, to me, there are no gods of which to ask.

Epicurus dealt with that question 2000 yrs ago better than anyone since.

I don't.
Why would I debate the acts of this fictional character?

The rich get away with breaking the law, the poor who break the law get punished.

Disregarding the theological context in which your point is framed; corruption, avarice, deceit and the like are lauded so long as they result in financial gain. The slavish pursuit of success by any means is what's behind it. The result; we get people like Trump, McConnell, the Kochs, etx... akways on top because they're not hampered by issues of morality, empathy, right or wrong.

The ranks of the rich and powerful are swollen with scumbags because they're the ones whose greed and immorality benefit from this toxic notion of success at any cost and by any means. Basically, under this system, being a decent human being puts you at a severe disadvantage.

They have turned it on us for a reason. We are now the product. Everyone wants a cell phone that kisses your ass and then makes you breakfast. The American Dream is still alive if you give up that silly idea of companies paying good wages, having healthcare, and stock options. If you want to work 2 or more jobs and have a partner doing the same, it is all still there. Along the way everyone is free to keep up with the Joneses.

I add all this silliness as just one more reason to not believe in gods. The "gods" are the ones doing this to you and they are flesh and blood just as you are.

No atheist will pose such a question- that's like asking why is Santa Clause being nasty to me by giving me horrible presents? Theists do struggle with the question, which is a subset of the problem of evil.

Good and bad are such difficult concepts. Not all rich people get rich through "theft, exploitation and lies" as you claim, and not all poor people are virtuous.

As the Roman playwright Plautus mentioned more than 2000 years ago, Man is a wolf to man.
[Wikipedia: Homō hominī lupus est, is a Latin proverb meaning "A man is a wolf to another man," or more tersely "Man is wolf to man." It has meaning in reference to situations where people are known to have behaved in a way comparably in nature to a wolf. The wolf as a creature is thought, in this example, to have qualities of being predatory, cruel, inhuman i.e. more like an animal than civilized.]

I agree that a portion of humanity seems to snigger behind the backs of the "honest, compassionate, empathetic" people. In my experience it is incredibly difficult to go through this life as an "honest, compassionate, empathetic" person without having your feelings trampled. I think George Bernard Shaw said "It is dangerous to be sincere, unless you are also stupid".

We're living beings driven by evolution to survive and thrive. You live because somewhere one of your great, great grandparents killed somebody, or exploited somebody, or simply took an opportunity that robbed some other person of a livelihood.

Luckily we also figured out such concepts as human rights and moral codes.

There is so much more than "good and bad" to the actions of humans...

There is no god. Trully good people are good without the prospect of eternal reward. We would like to believe that goodness is rewarded, but it isn't. ..certainly not by material wealth, notority and adulation. However goodness is recognised by personal sense of having contributed to the betterment of the world. It is a little thing but if we all chose this path, life for everyone would be better....

Maybe a agnostic question.

It has always been that way. Today is likely better than it has ever been, but "today" always feels like it is the worst it has ever been...no matter at what point in history one lives.

This is an excellent point. I'd ask both questions because they're both valid. But the fact that Christians think that their God is just is ridiculous. They see past the conniving sons of bitches that get what they want by stepping on others.

I would disagree with the argument that atheists ask how can a God do anything. In the scheme of things where god(s) are imaginary, they do nothing good or bad.

I 100% agree that rewarding good and removing bad from society should be the goal. Now, how does that happen? Good luck with that. Even atheists will resist being told what is right (or even good for society and individuals) but that is what is needed.

This is more a question that people ask when they begin doubting their religion, most people who consider themselves atheist unapologetically don’t need to ask this. The answer someone raised in old time religion would give is that god allowed us free will; we appointed bad leaders and punish the good ourselves. This of course is an example of a broken clock being right twice a day, their faulty logic accidentally leads them to personal responsibility instead of the usual fare of scapegoats and excuses. They still can’t really satisfactorily explain why god chose to interfere and “rectify” things so often in the Old Testament, a little bit in the new and then it’s been crickets for a couple thousand years. They believe he has been intervening when he saw fit I guess and the interventions just coincidentally took subtler terms now that photography and documentable evidence exists.

Look up Theodicy even just in Wikipedia and take your studies from there. You’ll see where the debates have led over the millennia...

Besides I don’t think atheists ask that question!

The bad folks are and always will be rewarded. Better to accept this than fight nature.

We need a Star Trek -esque Prime Directive.

I think Terry Pratchett nailed this pretty much straight on:
“All right," said Susan. "I'm not stupid. You're saying humans need... fantasies to make life bearable."

[Death replied] REALLY? AS IF IT WAS SOME KIND OF PINK PILL? NO. HUMANS NEED FANTASY TO BE HUMAN. TO BE THE PLACE WHERE THE FALLING ANGEL MEETS THE RISING APE.

"Tooth fairies? Hogfathers? Little—"

YES. AS PRACTICE. YOU HAVE TO START OUT LEARNING TO BELIEVE THE LITTLE LIES.

"So we can believe the big ones?"

YES. JUSTICE. MERCY. DUTY. THAT SORT OF THING.

"They're not the same at all!"

YOU THINK SO? THEN TAKE THE UNIVERSE AND GRIND IT DOWN TO THE FINEST POWDER AND SIEVE IT THROUGH THE FINEST SIEVE AND THEN SHOW ME ONE ATOM OF JUSTICE, ONE MOLECULE OF MERCY. AND YET—Death waved a hand. AND YET YOU ACT AS IF THERE IS SOME IDEAL ORDER IN THE WORLD, AS IF THERE IS SOME...SOME RIGHTNESS IN THE UNIVERSE BY WHICH IT MAY BE JUDGED.

"Yes, but people have got to believe that, or what's the point—"

MY POINT EXACTLY.”
― Terry Pratchett, Hogfather

The question "how can a loving, just, all-powerful, all-benevolent God allow evil and suffering to exist" is a very RIGHT and pertinent question. This question absolutely (and obviously) needs to be dealt with. Of course, we're presuming a just and benevolent God to begin with, and the Christian God, as we see depicted so frequently, is in fact a very capricious, egotistical, rather tyrannical being.

By the way, if God is all-powerful, then He created the world -- EVERYTHING in this world, including every single one of the bad things -- himself. God is responsible for cancer, war, excxruciating pain and suffering, hunger, and all the bad things you mentioned in your post. You can only escape this conclusion by rationalization or flat denial in the face of simple common sense and very elementary logic.

When I was a christian I asked where the hell is god when I need help. And then I figured out there was no god and I'd have to do it on my own and have been moving in that direction ever since. God doesn't provide as there is no god and once you figure that out you'll be on the right path.

What some atheists do is argue that because bad things happen and because there is injustice, therefore there is no God. After all, God is supposed to be good and all-powerful. It is a valid argument with respect to the God of the Bible. Once a person sees that the Bible has it wrong it’s time to move on to a broader perspective of reality.

The concept of good and bad as opposites is a human mind thing. Nature is neither good nor bad, it just is. Things are as they have to be. Nature is not concerned with justice either. Where’s the justice when a fox eats a rabbit? It seems to me that our world views need to encompass nature the way it actually is, not the way we wish it to be.

Call it what you will, but there is something of major significance and infinite value happening all around us. Our perspectives are limited by the symbolic space/time/causation model of our senses, but beyond that lies ultimate reality. Reality is not the way it seems.

An atheist might well ask that question - but not seeking an answer about the motivation of god, but as an indication of the invalid nature of the concept of god.

It's 'How can a just god allow bad things to happen to good people? A just god COULD NOT - therefore either god is not the just god christians claim him to be, or he isn't there at all. Either way reality indicates that the christian 'god concept' is wrong.'