Why do people blame God for the pain and suffering present in the world?

Question

I've been skimming through quite a few Q&A's and this appears to be a pretty common theme.

There are two Laws that govern Existence. Balance and Order. The simplest example I can think of is the eco-system, minus human intervention.

Humans are given something that nothing else in Creation has, Free Will. We are free to live within the Laws of Existence or we can ignore them and suffer the consequences.

So...when we willfully ignore these Laws, and get bitten on the butt for it, why is it God's fault?

Answer 1

People are just ignorant. We can't blame him for the choices that we make. We are given the choice and free will to make decisions that will affect our daily lives. Ofcourse for everything that you do it either be good outcomes or not. But that is on the person. The things you do determine the consequences that will follow. I mean life itself.... for example, You steal from other people and you blame God for you being in prison.. was that his fault? no! you took it upon yourself to n choose to do what you did.. I think people need to look into it... we are here to be tested and challenge the things of life... c'mon people when have you ever got anything in this for free? you gotto sweat your butt to put food on the table.. I mean God is a loving Father and we not forsake you if you only ask... stop being so ignorant

Answer 2

Most people do not understand why God permits wickedness and so blame him for all the bad things that take place. They do not realize that man’s inclination toward badness is not because of God’s will but because of the sin of Adam. (Rom. 5:12) They may be unaware of the existence of Satan the Devil and of his influence on world affairs, so they ascribe to God the vile things perpetrated by Satan. (1 John 5:19; Rev. 12:12) If they are to some extent aware of these things, they may feel that God is slow about taking action, because they do not see clearly the issue of universal sovereignty and do not grasp the fact that God’s patience down till this time affords them an undeserved opportunity for salvation. (Rom. 2:4; 2 Pet. 3:9) Also, they do not fully realize that God has a set time when he will destroy forever all who practice wickedness.—Rev. 22:10-12; 11:18; Hab. 2:3.
When things go wrong due to a person’s own lack of wisdom, or because of someone else’s mistake, he may tend to blame God.
It is a human tendency, when things do not go just right, to blame someone or something for it. And often, the trouble is charged to God. If there is a food shortage in a certain area, people may make the accusation that God is letting them go hungry. Or, when unemployment causes hardships, some ask, ‘Why does God bring suffering on us?’ But God does not bring such hardships on people and he is not partial, “since he makes his sun rise upon wicked people and good.” (Matt. 5:45) The adversities people suffer today come because we are all imperfect people, living in an imperfect, man-made setup, which is operated, for the most part, on selfish principles. Moreover, a person may encounter difficulty merely because of unwise action on his own part.

Answer 3

I think because it's easier to point the finger at God. I mean He created everything, so He must be responsible for all the evil and malicious stuff that happens. People want a scapegoat, mankind plays the victim, and God ends up looking like a bully. Humanity can't ever take a look at itself and say, "Man, we've screwed things up royally." We're not victims, we're instigators. Yes, we do have free will and as such humans misuse it. Why doesn't God intervene every time someone is going to misuse his freedom and hurt another person? The answer is found in the nature of freedom itself. A freedom which was prevented from being exercised whenever it was going to be misused simply wouldn't be freedom. If God gives us freedom, it must be, at least to a large extent, irrevocable. God creates free people who can do as they please, not determined instruments who always end up doing what He pleases. So, Mankind, the ball's pretty much in your court.

Answer 4

The only reason that pain and suffering is a logical problem for Christians is that they also believe that after they die they will go to a place where is no more pain and suffering. If humans can exist in a place like that, this world is clearly inferior and a truly loving God would never have created earth.

So you must either believe that it is impossible for a human soul to enter paradise, or you must believe that God is allowing you to suffer unnecessary pain and suffering.

Answer 5

I believe that people blame God for those bad things because they have lost their faith, or they have never established any faith.

The following is some profound ideas you might enjoy reading about:

"When Bad Things Happen to Good People

By Harold S. Kushner (1981)--notes by Doug Muder (1997)

Introduction, Why I wrote this book. Kushner wrote this book as a reaction to personal tragedy--his son Aaron had premature aging, which he died from. This provoked a crisis of faith for Kushner, who is a rabbi. He wrote this book for people "who have been hurt by life", to help them find a faith that can aid in getting through their troubles, rather than making things worse.
1. Why do the righteous suffer? A summary of all the too-easy answers to the question of human suffering, and why they are inadequate.

2. The story of a man named Job. Kushner presents his theological framework in the form of a re-interpretation of the story of Job. He lets go of the notion that God is all-powerful in favor of the notion that God is good.

The next four chapters flesh out Kushner's basic ideas by looking at three different causes of human suffering. In each case he takes the position that God does not cause the suffering and could not prevent it.

3. Sometimes there is no reason. This chapter covers random, circumstantial suffering, being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Kushner attributes the orderliness of the universe to God, but holds that the ordering of the universe is not complete: Some things are just circumstantial, and there is no point in looking for a reason for them.

4. No exceptions for nice people. Some suffering is caused by the workings of natural law. There is no moral judgment involved--natural law is blind, and God does not interfere with it. God does not intervene to save good people from earthquake or disease, and does not send these misfortunes to punish the wicked. Kushner puts great value on the orderliness of the universe's natural law, and would not want God to routinely intervene for moral reasons.

5. God leaves us room to be human. Some suffering is caused by the actions of evil people. Kushner re-interprets the story of Adam and Eve to make the point that the ability to choose between good and evil is what makes us human. For God to interfere with our ability to do evil would make all of us less human.

6. God helps those who stop hurting themselves. Some suffering we cause ourselves by the way we handle our initial suffering. We blame ourselves, or we take out our anger on the people who are trying to help us, or on God.

The second to last chapter answers the question: Given that God isn't all-powerful, what good is He?

7. God can't do everything, but he can do some important things. If God didn't cause our problems and can't fix them, why pray? Two reasons: The prayers of others can make us aware that we are not facing our problems alone. And God can give us the strength of character that we need to handle our misfortunes, if we are willing to accept it.

The last chapter is a summary of what has gone before. It adds flourish rather than content.

8. What good, then, is religion? Chapter 7 already answered this question. What this chapter really does is wrap up: "Is there an answer to the question of why bad things happen to good people? That depends on what we mean by 'answer'. If we mean 'Is there an explanation which will make sense of it all?'… then there probably is no satisfying answer. We can offer learned explanations, but in the end, when we have covered all the squares on the game board and are feeling very proud of our cleverness, the pain and the anguish and the sense of unfairness will still be there. But the word 'answer' can also mean 'response' as well as 'explanation,' and in that sense, there may well be a satisfying answer to the tragedies in our lives. The response would be Job's response in MacLeish's version of the biblical story—to forgive the world for not being perfect, to forgive God for not making a better world, to reach out to the people around us, and to go on living despite it all." [page 147]"

Answer 6

Ignorance!

Answer 7

Why do people praise God for everything that is going well in their lives but can't blame him for what goes wrong? If you're going to give God credit for planning your life for you then he's going to have to take the blame for what goes wrong. Does he not control everything and know everything? You can't have it one way and not accept the other.

Answer 8

its a human nature to put their blames on others for their weknesses & faults....but if you blame somebody that person retaliates back...wheras god never does....we have made god our companion , our saviour, our destiny maker, our protector...so in times of need we seek him , blame him, cry in front of him.......

Answer 9

wishful thinking . . . if we can blame God, then we don't have to take responsibility

Answer 10

because they do not appreciate and cherish what God has given to them....