One of the oldest arguments for atheism is that if there were a god, he would not allow so many terrible things to happen. Like the atheists, the people of Ammonihah expect that if there is a God, he will save his people from destruction by fire. The very presence of tragedy and suffering, in their view, argue against the existence of God. But their argument does not comprehend the importance and meaning of the agency of man (Moses 4:3).
The death of the righteous in Ammonihah is a great example of why God does not often use his almighty power to change the natural course of events. It is not, as some suppose, that God does not care enough about his children to save them from disaster but that he has placed us in a state to act according to [our] wills and pleasures, whether to do evil or to do good (Alma 12:31). Therefore, the consequences of the unrighteous use of agency must be unaltered by his mighty hand. He does this that the judgments which he shall exercise upon them in his wrath may be just.
Hugh Nibley
“I went on a mission quite shortly after World War I, of all times, in German towns, and everybody had the same story. Nobody would believe anything. They wouldn’t accept religion because God would not allow that [the atrocities of war] to happen. Their sons were in the war. Where I stayed first, Mrs. Bauer had a seventeen-year-old boy who was killed in the war. She said, ’Why? What was he guilty of? Why should God [punish him]?’ They said, ’There is no God; he would never allow that sort of thing.’ Would he allow the holocaust? Would he allow the fire raids and things like that of World War II? Well, it is not God who is being tested here. It is men who are being tested here. We say he has failed to pass our test. We are not giving tests to him. That’s after we have refused again and again all his pleas. He has pleaded with us to do this, but we wouldn’t have anything to do with it…He [Alma] should not save them, but he is certainly wrestling here. ” (Teachings of the Book of Mormon, 2:345)
Spencer W. Kimball
"Now, we find many people critical when a righteous person is killed, a young father or mother is taken from a family, or when violent deaths occur. Some become bitter when oft-repeated prayers seem unanswered. Some lose faith and turn sour when solemn administrations by holy men seem to be ignored and no restoration seems to come from repeated prayer circles. But if all the sick were healed, if all the righteous were protected and the wicked destroyed, the whole program of the Father would be annulled and the basic principle of the Gospel, free agency, would be ended.
"If pain and sorrow and total punishment immediately followed the doing of evil, no soul would repeat a misdeed. If joy and peace and rewards were instantaneously given the doer of good, there could be no evil -- all would do good and not because of the rightness of doing good. There would be no test of strength, no development of character, no growth of powers, no free agency, no Satanic controls.
“Should all prayers be immediately answered according to our selfish desires and our limited understanding, then there would be little or no suffering, sorrow, disappointment, or even death; and if these were not, there would also be an absence of joy, success, resurrection, eternal life, and godhood. (”Tragedy or Destiny," Improvement Era, March 1966, pp. 180, 210 as taken from Daniel Ludlow, A Companion to Your Study of the Book of Mormon, p. 206)
M. Russell Ballard
“I can understand why someone who lacks an eternal perspective might see the horrifying news footage of starving children and man’s inhumanity to man and shake a fist at the heavens and cry, ’If there is a God, how could he allow such things to happen’…God has put his plan in motion. It proceeds through natural laws that are, in fact, God’s laws. Since they are his, he is bound by them, as are we….The Lord can control the elements. For the most part, however, he does not cause but he allows nature to run its course. In this imperfect world, bad things sometimes happen…[However], much adversity is manmade….Much adversity has its origin in the principle of agency….Often overlooked is the fact that choices have consequences….At times we will be affected adversely by the way other people choose to exercise their agency. Our Heavenly Father feels so strongly about protecting our agency that he allows his children to exercise it, either for good or for evil….But if we know and understand Heavenly Father’s plan, we realize that dealing with adversity is one of the chief ways we are tested.” (Ensign, May 1995, p. 23 as taken from Latter-day Commentary on the Book of Mormon compiled by K. Douglas Bassett, p. 271)
Marion D. Hanks
“The right question to ask is not why good people have trials, but how shall good people respond when they are tried?…God does not deny us the experience we came here to have. He does not insulate us from tribulation or guarantee immunity from trouble. Much of the pain we suffer and inevitably impose upon others is self-induced through our own bad judgment, through poor choices… But much that happens to us in this life we cannot control; we only respond.” (Ensign, Nov. 1992, p. 64 as taken from Latter-day Commentary on the Book of Mormon compiled by K. Douglas Bassett, p. 269)