What is the reason for suffering in a Goddless existance?

Question

How do people who do not believe in a creator God perceive suffering? Why do horrible things happen? Is there a purpose, a meaning, final justice against those who hurt others? If so, where does it come from? The best they can say is everything is a crap shoot. Bob, duck and weave and try to stay alive and avoid pain because it is vainity and meaningless...

Answer 1

"Bob, duck and weave and try to stay alive and avoid pain...."

This sounds like the same strategy that believers use for dealing with pain, with one exception: Non-believers don't waste any time or energy on prayer or unanswerable questions. They use all their time and resources to cope with the problem at hand.

Bad things happen. I don't like it any better than the next person, and I'm sure I don't cope with it as well as some. But it's useless to beg for relief from something that doesn't exist.

Answer 2

Personally. i think it has much to do with human nature. And not understanding Nature. Is there a purpose to a flash flood that drowns a town. Yep... Water had to go somewhere,.... just happned to be over a town that changed the heat index compared to the surrounding area.... PLOP goes the rain. Suffering is caused by lack of something or something being taken from you. Anything you lack you can strive to gain, and anything taken from you you have the right to take back. Finaly justice only if you reach out and take it for yourself.

Answer 3

pain and suffering are a part of life. i've accepted that. there doesn't need to be a reason for it.
if a person does something wrong, i want to punish them in THIS life and not just sit on my thumbs and say "oh well, at least he'll get justice after he dies".
also, can a person perceive joy without pain? is pain not necessary so that we can savor joy? if you live a good life you're not too happy when mommy and daddy buy you a bmw for your birthday cause you wanted a bently. i'd be freaking ecstatic if my parents bought me a bmw. but then i was raised on a normal budget where i only got what i wanted 1 out of 80 times.

Answer 4

Suffering = Pain, a very bad and unpleasant sensation to be avoided whenever possible.

Most 'horrible things' are either directly or indirectly caused by humans. The few which aren't (storms, earthquakes, asteroid impacts) don't kill or destroy as much as we do to each other.

No, there will be no 'final justice' to make bad people 'pay' for what they did to 'good' people. We have to try to work out our problems right now, in this life.

Life is NOT a crap shoot, I don't believe in gambling at all. Is it gambling for a farmer to plant a crop hoping the weather will be good and he will make a profit for the year? No. Please don't characterize those who are free from religious mythology as being people who take no care about the future.

Life is as meaningful as you make it out to be.

Peace, my friend.

Answer 5

We suffer, because we exist.

We exist because life evolved on this planet, and I'd like to say I'm happy to be a human. Life is only as meaningless as you make it. We are the smartest, most capable animal on the planet, so I'd just start trying to enjoy it, if I were you.
Wouldn't it be terrible to be a flea, or an earthworm?

Answer 6

are you answering your own question? Buddhist philosophy says that everyone gets what they deserve in the next life. they don't need God to mete out justice, the universe and karma take care of it. They also say there is no permanence. The tragedies that happen in this world are merely transitive states. God not included.

Answer 7

For those that don't believe, it has to be a miserable existence indeed. God allows troubles (doesn't cause them, allows them) to make us stronger. Many times it's to strengthen ourselves, many times it's to aid others going through the same thing that aren't as strong. Everything that happens has a purpose.

Answer 8

Just because life has no externally defined meaning doesn't imply it is meaningless from the perspective of the living.

Why must some god define purpose in order for your life to have purpose to you?

Answer 9

Karma my friend, Karma....

Karma (Sanskrit: कर्म from the root kṛ, "to do", [meaning deed] meaning action, effect, destiny) is a term that comprises the entire cycle of cause and effect. Karma is a sum of all that an individual has done, is currently doing and will do. The effects of all deeds actively create past, present and future experiences, thus making one responsible for one's own life, and the pain in others. In religions that incorporate reincarnation, karma extends through one's present life and all past and future lives as well.


The Theory of Karma
Karma literally means action. We first take an intent and follow it up with action in the form of thought, speaking to others, planning and execution. According to the Theory of Karma - every action taken to achieve a result or profit (fruit of action) leaves a trace or a karmic residue behind it. It is this residue that keeps accumulating and takes away one's well-being and freedom. Only a person who acts to produce results without worrying about profit (Nishkama Karma or Niskarma) does not accumulate such a Karmic residue. Such action normally comes from love or pure passion.

Quoting from the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna says: "I shall now describe nishkama karma yoga, the path of selfless action. You have a right to perform your natural prescribed duties, but you are not entitled to any fruits of that action. You should neither act with desire to enjoy the fruits of your work, nor, as a result, should you be attached to neglecting your duties."

So how does Karmic residue work? Well, according to the theory any action whose motive is other than love or passion begins a process of psychological compensation which is difficult to complete. For example, if we helped somebody when we did not want to, then no amount of compensation helps later as we always feel incomplete. Any incomplete action somehow begins to consume a part of our free attention on how to get rewarded. During our journey of life we accumulate considerable Karmic residue and this depletes our free attention significantly. Lack of free attention means lack of intelligence. Many of the bad situations we get into in life are as a result of a lack of intelligence and attention..


Karma literally means "deed" or "act" and more broadly names the universal principle of cause and effect, action and reaction which governs all life. Karma is not fate, for man acts with free will creating his own destiny. According to the Vedas, if we sow goodness, we will reap goodness; if we sow evil, we will reap evil. Karma refers to the totality of our actions and their concomitant reactions in this and previous lives, all of which determines our future. The conquest of karma lies in intelligent action and dispassionate reaction. Not all karma rebounds immediately. Some accumulate and return unexpectedly in this or other births.

Answer 10

Suffering exists so that happiness may exist. It's common sense that you can't be happy unless you have been unhappy.