Why did God create evil?

One thing that come in often in my thoughts (mostly when i am disturbed or feeling somber) is that ‘why did God create evil?’….

Just imagine a world with no evil (i know thats a tough job,but still..)..how nice it would have been-no fights,no crime,no bullying…the list goes on (i think there are more evil things than good-ah!what a pessimist i am).This particular question always made me feel uneasy,as if it was the most important thing on my list;but i couldn’t find a satisfying answer until last night when i read Paulo Coelho’s ‘The alchemist’.

I got the book from Kaka & its been with me for more than a month now.I read it half way through on the first day itself,but after that i kept it aside for reasons unknown.But something prompted me to have another look at it last night.I was finding it hard to sleep & reading a novel appeared to be a fairly good idea at that time.

Santiago,the protagonist,reached the oasis in search of his destiny.He looked around the caravan & then back to the scenic peace of the oasis and a series of thoughts crossed through his mind.Maybe God created the desert so that man could appreciate the date trees,he thought.

“Maybe God created the desert so that man could appreciate the date trees.”

This gave me the answer to my ever pertaining dilemma.The answer was simpler than I thought (as in most cases).Yes,God created evil so that we could appreciate the finer things in life.How could you appreciate beauty if u haven’t witnessed the ugly.How could you appreciate the sweetness in ripe mango if you haven’t tasted it when it was sour.You can always observe nature’s sense of balancing in every aspect of life.If there’s bad,then there is good too.Both complement each other.There’s no significance of good without bad,’cause in that case-how would you differentiate what’s good & what’s bad.

Please share your views and suggestions :)