ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that what sets the atrocity paradigm up uniquely among atheist perspectives is its focus on the systematicity of evil and harm. It explores traditional theodicy like Leibnizs is grounded on an abstract conception of evil in which the possibility of evil must be necessary for God to instantiate a best of all possible worlds. This notion satisfies at once the wisdom, the power and the goodness of God, and yet leaves a way open for the entrance of evil. Any theory of evil that is divorced from human agency is too abstract, and so is distanced from the experiences of the exploited. Suffering comes from evil, evil comes from base intentions to enslave others, which most perniciously evidences itself in political power. If the atrocity paradigm calls out systems of evil as those that violate the great good of ones life, it could include systems that would not ordinarily be thought of as creating atrocious harm.
