The greater of two evils

 It seems to me that the problem of evil is not even the biggest problem faith has. The problem is not "how could God allow the Holocaust?" or the more vexing "why is lead sweet?" but the still more vexing, "Why did God make people who are inclined to vengeance and scapegoatism? Free will is the standard method for letting God off the hook for the Holocaust: God is not going to interfere with our freedom. The only way to become "like God" is to be free to become. And that means we can freely choose to damn ourselves and kill each other. Okay. But, really? Why give human beings such an instinct to violence? "The Fall," literal or figurative, doesn't cover it. The fall says 1) there is a gulf between ourselves and God, 2) we are responsible for it. But where does the corollary "I blame you for my troubles and will kill you" come from? An instinct for violence and misprision? It can be addressed. Girard opens a door to address this problem. But it remains a puzzlement for anyone who retains faith in a good God.