toldailytopic: Why do bad things happen to good people?

[Vaquero45]

Because "good" and "bad" are not relevant except to us. And we are not the reason the universe exists.

Why does God punish the "bad" then?

 

[Z Man]

Why do bad things happen to good people?

Erroneous! The question is flawed. First of all, name one "good" person? Secondly, what people consider "bad" events in their life may be God's blessing in disguise. Do you think Jonah wanted to be eaten by a fish? Do you think Lazarus' family wanted him to die? Do you think Jesus wanted to die? :think:

 

[Lithopaedion]

Because there is no God.

Nailed it. That is EXACTLY what I was going to write, but then I checked the thread first to see if it had already been said.

Of course there are already those calling us "fools." So be it. The Jesus quotes advocating verbal abuse or condemnation to hellfire seem to be consistently more popular than the parts about selling all your stuff.

 

[chair]

Erroneous! The question is flawed. First of all, name one "good" person?

There are plenty of good people. Some Christians, for theological reasons, pretend that if you aren't completely perfect than you aren't "good". i.e., if you stole a pencil when you were 10 years old, you are a sinner- and therefore can't complain if something bad happens to you.

 

[Yazichestvo]

Erroneous! The question is flawed. First of all, name one "good" person? Secondly, what people consider "bad" events in their life may be God's blessing in disguise. Do you think Jonah wanted to be eaten by a fish? Do you think Lazarus' family wanted him to die? Do you think Jesus wanted to die? :think:

In essence, you're claim that entire cities devastated by plague and tsunami's were just full of bad people. When the black death ravaged Europe, people thought that as well. They tried to be good, but being good is not ever going to cure you of a disease. They were as devoutly Christian as anyone, but still died in droves. The culture that emerged from that, emerged with the first signs of healthy skepticism that we somehow live in a perfect world.

A disappointing set of responses, in my opinion.

This question, and related examples, are a serious challenge to theodicy. Indeed, I have met numerous atheists who claim that this is the matter that has "converted" them.

Epicurus' trilemma (actually probably by Carneades) states the issue succinctly.

1. if God is unable to prevent evil, he is not omnipotent
2. if God is not willing to prevent evil, he is not good
3. if God is willing and able to prevent evil, then why is there evil?

There are a number of possible responses here:

a) A deistic perspective; that there is no interventionist god.
b) Or, a dystheistic perspective; that god is not actually benevolent.
c) Or, as the world is actually evil. As Schopenhauer wrote: "This world could not have been the work of an all-loving being, but that of a devil, who had brought creatures into existence in order to delight in the sight of their sufferings."
d) Or, a evolutionary panentheistic perspective, that *we* have not morally evolved sufficiently to prevent natural suffering.
e) Or, there is indeed no god.

Or polytheism. Some Gods may be more powerful than others, and some more moral than others, but none of them are either all powerful or necessary ethically perfect either.

 

[ramccluskey]

I have to admit that I have asked this question many times. As I grow older I think I have begun to see the answer clearly. I have mixed feelings about it, though.

Here are some things that I accept as true:

God loves people. Actually, the truth is stronger than that: God is love . His very nature is love. It isn’t just that love is in God, or that God is in love, or that God chooses to love; He is love. There is nothing in Him that is not love. As a result, He loves continuously and without exception.
God is omnisicent, omnipresent and omnipotent. Those are big Latin words that philosophers and theologians use to describe the nature of God. To explain briefly…

Omniscient. God knows everything. He knows about all events. He knows what causes everything.
Omnipresent. God is present everywhere at all times.
Omnipotent. God has unlimited power. He can do anything.

Now, here is the critical unescapable implication of these facts: God cannot fail to do what is in our best interests. I used to say that God will not do anything contrary to our best interests. However, that is not strong enough. He cannot do anything that is contrary to our best interests. Let me say it another way: God’s nature is love. That means that by nature He wants the best for us. He cannot want otherwise.

 

[pleasedtomeetme]

This. Yes.

Why do so many people insist on seeing God as just like us? Made in His image, yes - but not an exact duplicate. We cannot hold God to our puny human standards, nor can we even begin to understand Him or His reasons.

Why would you worship something/someone you can't begin to understand? On what do you base your belief, then?

 

[Nick M]

The devil.

He wasn't asking about you.

 

[Breathe]

Why would you worship something/someone you can't begin to understand? On what do you base your belief, then?

Better to ask why I would worship something/someone who cannot be proven to exist? I do not know. But inside of me there is a still, small space where belief dwells, no matter what logic says. I simply believe. I simply worship.

 

[Granite]

Is there an implicit expectation that only good things will visit good people? Conversely, why would we expect bad to only visit the bad?

 

[Silent Hunter]

. . . bad things happen to bad people proportionally to bad things happening to good people.

. . . it's called . . . chance.

. . . and it's random for everyone.

 

[alt_twentyone]

Because there are no good people. :O

Romans 3:23-24
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

Romans 2:11
11: For God does not show favoritism.

 

[Breathe]

Is there an implicit expectation that only good things will visit good people? Conversely, why would we expect bad to only visit the bad?

I know some very good and decent people who seem to live their lives with a dark cloud of misfortune always hanging over them, and some wicked people who appear to live charmed and happy lives, so I would say that we cannot expect, or predict, based upon the goodness or wickedness of people.

 

[Herod The Swiss]

Bad things happen to good people because bad things happen to all people. Good people are just a group within the larger body of humanity. All humanity suffers. Saying that, a lot of humanity has a whale of a time.

Suffering is part and parcel of being conscious. We have a nervous system and respond to stimuli. Some stimuli is nice, other stimuli less so. Or at least we perceive it as so.

We all have this same bodily functions, so to ask why good people suffer is only part of the question. Why does ANYONE suffer is the real question, and the answer to that is that we're developed to respond to stimuli (or lack thereof).

So that's that really.

 

[Z Man]

Because there is no God.

Nailed it. That is EXACTLY what I was going to write, but then I checked the thread first to see if it had already been said.

Of course there are already those calling us "fools."

Anyone who claims there is no God is absolutely a fool. To make such a ridiculous claim, a person has to know everything about everything - and I mean EVERYTHING. Do you know everything there is to know about this world? This galaxy? This universe? Do you know everything there is to know about time, space, dimensions, other worlds that could possibly exist elsewhere, and the truth about other beings that exist somewhere out in this vast universe? I didn't think so. Because if you did, and still found that there was indeed no being such as God that existed, only then could you proclaim that there is no God. To declare that there is no God, a person is basically proclaiming to the world that they know EVERYTHING, and that's why they are called fools. Albert Einstein himself once said,

"We know nothing about [God, the world] at all. All our knowledge is but the knowledge of schoolchildren. In the view of such harmony in the cosmos which I, with my limited human mind, am able to recognize, there are yet people who say there is no God. What separates me from most so-called atheists is a feeling of utter humility toward the unattainable secrets of the harmony of the cosmos."​

Continue to pretend that you know everything, and you'll continue to be called a fool.

 

[Z Man]

There are plenty of good people. Some Christians, for theological reasons, pretend that if you aren't completely perfect than you aren't "good". i.e., if you stole a pencil when you were 10 years old, you are a sinner- and therefore can't complain if something bad happens to you.

It's easy to think you are a "good" person when compared to other people, like Adolf Hitler or Ted Bundy. But when we compare ourselves to God, we are all utterly wicked.

The question "Why does bad things happen to good people" assumes that people who are not like Hitler or some serial killer deserve God's blessing in their life. It's a selfish question. Who is man to demand anything from God?

 

[Z Man]

Why would you worship something/someone you can't begin to understand? On what do you base your belief, then?

The one thing everyone in this world desires is love. The idea of a perfect being completely made of love is attractive to most.

 

[Silent Hunter]

Anyone who claims there is no God is absolutely a fool. To make such a ridiculous claim, a person has to know everything about everything - and I mean EVERYTHING. Do you know everything there is to know about this world? This galaxy? This universe? Do you know everything there is to know about time, space, dimensions, other worlds that could possibly exist elsewhere, and the truth about other beings that exist somewhere out in this vast universe? I didn't think so. Because if you did, and still found that there was indeed no being such as God that existed, only then could you proclaim that there is no God. To declare that there is no God, a person is basically proclaiming to the world that they know EVERYTHING, and that's why they are called fools. Albert Einstein himself once said,

"We know nothing about [God, the world] at all. All our knowledge is but the knowledge of schoolchildren. In the view of such harmony in the cosmos which I, with my limited human mind, am able to recognize, there are yet people who say there is no God. What separates me from most so-called atheists is a feeling of utter humility toward the unattainable secrets of the harmony of the cosmos."​

Continue to pretend that you know everything, and you'll continue to be called a fool.

. . . aaaaw . . . another theist with cognitive dissonance . . . how sweet.

Anyone who claims there IS a God is absolutely a fool. To make such a ridiculous claim, a person has to know everything about everything - and I mean EVERYTHING. Do you know everything there is to know about this world? This galaxy? This universe? Do you know everything there is to know about time, space, dimensions, other worlds that could possibly exist elsewhere, and the truth about other beings that exist somewhere out in this vast universe? I didn't think so . . . To declare that there IS a God, a person is basically proclaiming to the world that they know EVERYTHING, and that's why they are called fools.

Continue to pretend that you know everything, and you'll continue to be called a fool.

 

[Silent Hunter]

It's easy to think you are a "good" person when compared to other people, like Adolf Hitler or Ted Bundy. But when we compare ourselves to God, we are all utterly wicked.

. . . in my opinion . . . compared to the god of the OT . . . AH and TB are saints.

. . . bad things happen to "bad" people and bad things happen to "good" people in equal proportions . . .

. . . it's called . . . chance . . .

. . . and it's random for everyone.

 

[bybee]

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toldailytopic: Why do bad things happen to good people?

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I have thought that it is not so important what happens to a person as how a person responds to what happens.
Anything can happen anywhere at anytime to anyone.
I choose my response based on who I am at the moment. I learn from my responses.
My role models affect my responses. My moral bottom line affects my responses. Consequences affect my responses.