The idea that God might actually want people to choose evil, the way theistic religions teach that God wants us to choose good, is a separate question from the usual problem of why a good God might allow bad things to happen.dastardly stem wrote: ↑Wed Feb 17, 2021 3:29 pmIf God is evil, then (1) He has to allow good, in order for people to choose the evil.
Good and evil only seem like symmetrical alternatives if you're thinking of "choosing good" as obeying an arbitrary taboo like not drinking coffee. Heck, if that's your notion of evil then I could totally buy evil God. God may well want everyone to drink coffee.
Good and evil as moral principles aren't really that dumb, and they are not symmetrical. Good is not selfish, evil is not altruistic. Selfish acts benefit one person, altruistic ones benefit many. So there is a built-in strong tendency for good choices to produce more interesting total outcomes for everything, and for evil choices to produce uglier outcomes on the large scale.
I find it hard to take seriously the notion that a being who by definition sees the whole picture could actually want people to behave selfishly.