If God doesn't exist, why do we care about death and suffering?

Question

After all, death and suffering are all part and parcel of evolution so its all progress...

good point jsetc., but where did our humanity come from? Is it because we're more highly evolved that we don't like the necessary ingredients for evolution (if it were true): death and suffering?

My opinion is that God made us in his image- so we do care about death and suffering, which are God's judgement on a sinful world that has rejected him. Thankfully he sent his Son to die so that if we believe in him we won't be punished as we deserve but will have eternal life.

I do believe, mstovall!

yes, I admit to those of you who've pointed it out, the question and my thinking around it is pretty muddled and unclear, but I'm impressed with the general quality of answers (compared to some of the stuff you get on this site!)- whether I agree with you or not (or just aren't sure!).

Answer 1

because death or bein dead is part of the unknown. people generally dislike unfamiliar circumstances i.e death. im scared of death, partially becuase im scared of how it will happen, but also becuase we dont 'really' know what happens after death till it happens. im not religious.. but who knows? no1.

Answer 2

Because even without the presence of God in your life there are basic fundamentals we're (usually) exposed to, and taught as we grow up. The difference between right and wrong, the value of life, compassion, empathy and the relationships we form with the people around us.

Death is apart of life and progress and evolution, but suffering doesn't have to be, not to the degree it is today anyway. Poverty, starvation, crime, war and decease are all areas the afflict the world (much of which mankind is responsible for) that could be vastly improved upon and it's that notion that drives people that were brought up on those fundamentals to do something about and care about it, to better the world and the environment we live in.

That is in a way evolution, as a race we can move forward and improve our conditions because we care about the death and sufferin in the world - it doesn't have to be directly related to, or come from, God or a religious stance.

Whether God exists or not is irrelavant because a great deal of suffering comes from within our own society and not from a benevolant (sp?) diety. It's from our own ignorance and lack of understanding of the world that is to blamed for a lot of suffering and I wish we'd spend more time addressing the issues than standing around arguing whether or not "God did this" when we can change things ourselves.

Answer 3

Death is the only thing that we can't experience and learn something from it. We also can't hear from other people how does it feel to be dead. I think that's why it's so hard for most people. On the other hand, it's just natural that we are scared of suffering, it's much better to live nice and happy life. That's how things are if God doesn't exist, but if He does, than we don't really care about death, because it's just next step in in our existence and suffering is something that has a meaning and purpose, so we are not troubled by that. God gives us wider perspective on it.

Answer 4

Suffering is unpleasant, whether there is a god or not, so of course humans are going to care about it. Death is a natural part of life, but again, unpleasant for the survivors. Living things have a natural aversion to things that cause pain and grief. It has nothing to do with god, and nothing to do with evolution either. I don't even know where that came from.

Answer 5

I had started writing an answer to this, all about how it's either due to evolution positively selecting altruistic behaviour, or societal norms conditioning us to be concerned about such things (which I would, in turn, have argued was due to social groups forming the basis of our evolved survival strategy, meaning that even the "nurture" reason boiled down to "nature" at the end of the day).

However, having re-read the details of your question halfway through composing the answer, I realise that the question is a lot more subtle than I initially gave credit for. Answering does, however, require me to make the assumption that you're talking about the death and suffering of people we don't know, or even have anything in common with. An example would be the victims of the Darfur masscres or the Asian Tsunami. Although I live in Scotland and have never been to Sudan or Thailand, I care about the suffering of these people, as do the thousands of others in my priviledged situation who donated money to aid charities.

The group selection theory suggests that people care for people close to them because their own survival depends on the survival of their group (tribe is probably a good way of thinking of such a group). It's pretty common-sense stuff, but it doesn't explain why I would care about someone half way round the world.

At this point, I would introduce Maslow's heirarchy (or pyramid) of needs (see the link below). This puts forward the idea that human needs can be put into an order of importance. At the lowest level are things like food and water. Once these are fulfilled, the individual will seek things like friendship, and the means to reproduce. Once all of these needs have been fulfilled, a person tries to fulfill the very highest levels of needs. These are things like intellectual stimulation (like wasting time answering questions on Yahoo!), and having morals. The point is, if I were struggling to find food and water, I wouldn't be interested in seeking intellectual stimulation here - I wouldn't have the time! - and I certainly wouldn't be wasting my money by donating to Darfur victims.

In our cushy western civilisation, the demands of evolution become less important, because it is relatively easy for us to get food, water, shelter, warmth, and even the opportunity to reproduce. Because these needs are already fulfilled, we start thinking about higher things, like debating religion or having moral feelings for people we don't know. By contrast, when we were living in caves, the immediate problems of survival were much more prescient, so we wouldn't have worried about people outwith our "tribe", because they wouldn't have increased our chances of survival. In fact, in times of drought, it may have been in our interests for other groups not to have been around, because it would have relieved the pressure on a limited food supply.

I think that explanation shows why caring about the death and suffering of others is not at odds with our evolutionary past. I would not begin to claim that it is any kind of proof of the non-existence of God, but I will leave attempts at discussing that to other posts.

Answer 6

If you didn't care about death and suffering, regardless of your religion or belief, then you wouldn't be human.

Human nature is protecting your young, your sick, etc. Not to mention, everyone knows somebody that has either died unnaturally (accident, murder, etc.) or through a horrible disease.

Yes, while this does have some tone of evolution, it doesn't mean that we have to be heartless, hateful people. We have evolved into humans with emotions. If it weren't for evolution, we would still lack that basic human instinct.

Answer 7

Death is just another level we achieve and suffering sometimes is the process we go thru. Just as you say it is just part and parcel to evolution, progress,right? God exists to ease our suffering, Jesus has already died on the cross so death should not be feared. Why do you care since obviously you don't believe????

Answer 8

the only theory i have is that its our more intelligent mind that lets us feel sympathy for people who experience death and suffering. We imagine if we are in their shoes, something (i dont believe) any animal can do to the extent that we can.
The truth is that we are just animals too (and not some superhuman, superior beings as we would like to believe) and we have no more right to be here than ants so we shouldnt care about other peoples suffering really as long as we are OK.

Answer 9

Sympathy and empathy are fundamental emotional components that drive us to band together for mutual survival advantage. We feel the pain of others. We have advanced prefrontal areas that allow us forethought and remorse. This enables us to recognize that if we ease someone's suffering, someone may do the same for us.

Death is not part of evolution, save its avoidance. It is a consequence of life. Once you're dead, your genes will not propagate. Suffering does not impact survival, save the will to struggle on and live. Evolution is not a blueprint, it's a process. Life evolves. Life is not evolution.

Answer 10

Avondrow is correct. By being a human being we don't want to see our family, friends, or anybody suffer and die. Well most of us don't, there are some people who are psycopathic. Is your belief in god the only thing that makes you care about others? If your fear of god is the only reason you care about others there is something wrong.

Answer 11

Where does evolution come into this?

Seriously muddy thinking here...


I don't understand your question. Why would the existance of God have anything to do with my reaction to death and suffering?