Does this seem cruel to you?

Question

How can anyone respond to the question "If god so loved to world why are people suffering?" with the answer "It's because sin is in the world and we bring suffering to ourselves if we don't seek god". Seriously, if Christians think those poor babies in africa are starving to death because of their own sin and our sin they ought to be horse-wipped. Who honestly thinks that innnocent kids deserve to suffer because their families don't have "god"? Furthermore, who would worship a sado-masechist god like that? If your own child was suffering, would there be any chance in hell that you would let it continue simply because the world is "full of sin"? NO - You wouldn't! You would do everything in your power to help them. Quit using sin as a scapegoat for all of your answers!

Yes, I know I misspelled "whipped"

God Burns Liberals in Hell - What are you talking about???? Did I say anything about celebrities? NO. Did I say that I'm a liberal? NO. I was using Africa as an example.

Haru M - Allowing it is just as bad as causing it....

Carol M - You have officially gone off the deep end.

Kjelstad, LMAO!!!

Answer 1

People of various religions have gone to their religious leaders and teachers to ask why there is so much suffering. Often, the response is that suffering is God’s will and that he long ago determined everything that would ever happen, including tragic events. Many are told that God’s ways are mysterious or that he brings death upon people—even children—so that he can have them in heaven with him. As you have learned, though, Jehovah God never causes what is bad. The Bible says: “Far be it from the true God to act wickedly, and the Almighty to act unjustly!”—Job 34:10.

Do you know why people make the mistake of blaming God for all the suffering in the world? In many cases, they blame Almighty God because they think that he is the real ruler of this world. They do not know a simple but important truth that the Bible teaches.The real ruler of this world is Satan the Devil.

The Bible clearly states: “The whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one.” (1 John 5:19) When you think about it, does that not make sense? This world reflects the personality of the invisible spirit creature who is “misleading the entire inhabited earth.” (Revelation 12:9) Satan is hateful, deceptive, and cruel. So the world, under his influence, is full of hatred, deceit, and cruelty. That is one reason why there is so much suffering.

A second reason why there is so much suffering is that, mankind has been imperfect and sinful ever since the rebellion in the garden of Eden. Sinful humans tend to struggle for dominance, and this results in wars, oppression, and suffering. (Ecclesiastes 4:1; 8:9) A third reason for suffering is “time and unforeseen occurrence.” (Ecclesiastes 9:11) In a world without Jehovah as a protective Ruler, people may suffer because they happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

It is comforting for us to know that God does not cause suffering. He is not responsible for the wars, the crimes, the oppression, or even the natural disasters that cause people to suffer.

Answer 2

No, a horswhip looks kind of weak. Santa's reindeer whip looks like it could take a good chunk of skin off though. It is silly. Many people suffer and I don't think you can blame humanity for it. Drought is absolutely not man's fault. If there is a god it would have to be the fault of the god, perhaps a flaw in the design or something. Droughts not only kill humans but also animals. Suffering has nothing to do with love or punishment. It is just part of life.

Answer 3

I see a lot of people answering this question by saying that "sin is at fault." Perhaps you can apply that to the example above, but can "human sin" be blamed for the hurricane that struck New Orleans? Cancer? Auto accidents? There is a lot of suffering that goes on that has no resonable connection to human sin. What is the explanation for these types of suffering?

Another thought: If god does not answer the prayers of those who are suffering, why should he answer when you ask for help winning your football game, easing your arthritis, etc? Are your prayers more significant than the prayers of those who are suffering greatly?

Answer 4

I think you have missed the point. All people suffer (everyone not just a select few in africa) because sin exists in the world. God is a Holy God. That is a nice term but it means that God is "completely other." He cannot abide sin. All mankind has the presence of sin. God knows this. He made provision for it with the death of His son. Suffering here on this planet is short. We only lilve about eighty years. God is far more concerned with what follows (eternity). He is saddened by suffering here, but suffering in eternity sounds far worse doesn't it?

Now he could make us all perfect and FORCE our presence with Him. But that would violate our free will and eliminate love and substitute in its place compliance. The existence of suffering is necessary so that Love can be seen for what Love truly is. As for babies and little children and those who have never heard the gospel, the bible does make a provision for those and Jesus who is Just and Merciful as well as Holy will judge accordingly.

I find that far more non christians condemn people to the christian hell than do christians.

Hope you find this answer helpful.

EF

Answer 5

To Kris G: Tomoyo answered 3 things:

1) Satan as the ruler of this world.
2) Imperfection because if sin.
3) Unforeseen occurences, where the calamities category fall...

“Do not be anxious over anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication along with thanksgiving let your petitions be made known to God; and the peace of God that excels all thought will guard your hearts and your mental powers by means of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6, 7)

why would you pray for a baseball game? did you bet money on it? Gambling is not a favorable thing for God since it is motivated by greed. If you pray for things that are not in accordance with God's will then I dont think it will be given. (If you pray that certain person dies for example).

Those who pray to be relieved from great suffering are heard....they just need to wait for the time when the cruel system of Satan ends...I know it sounds impossible but I do believe in God's justice, should the victims of injustces and suffering not be able to find relief now, they will soon in God's Kingdom

Answer 6

God does not cause suffering, he just allows it.

To find out why God allows suffering, we need to think back to the time when suffering began. When Satan led Adam and Eve into disobeying Jehovah, an important question was raised. Satan did not call into question Jehovah’s power. Even Satan knows that there is no limit to Jehovah’s power. Rather, Satan questioned Jehovah’s right to rule. By calling God a liar who withholds good from his subjects, Satan charged that Jehovah is a bad ruler. (Genesis 3:2-5) Satan implied that mankind would be better off without God’s rulership. This was an attack on Jehovah’s sovereignty, his right to rule.

Adam and Eve rebelled against Jehovah. In effect, they said: “We do not need Jehovah as our Ruler. We can decide for ourselves what is right and what is wrong.” How could Jehovah settle that issue? How could he teach all intelligent creatures that the rebels were wrong and that his way truly is best? Someone might say that God should simply have destroyed the rebels and made a fresh start. But Jehovah had stated his purpose to fill the earth with the offspring of Adam and Eve, and he wanted them to live in an earthly paradise. (Genesis 1:28) Jehovah always fulfills his purposes. (Isaiah 55:10, 11) Besides that, getting rid of the rebels in Eden would not have answered the question that had been raised regarding Jehovah’s right to rule.

Let us consider an illustration. Imagine that a teacher is telling his students how to solve a difficult problem. A clever but rebellious student claims that the teacher’s way of solving the problem is wrong. Implying that the teacher is not capable, this rebel insists that he knows a much better way to solve the problem. Some students think that he is right, and they also become rebellious. What should the teacher do? If he throws the rebels out of the class, what will be the effect on the other students? Will they not believe that their fellow student and those who joined him are right? All the other students in the class might lose respect for the teacher, thinking that he is afraid of being proved wrong. But suppose that the teacher allows the rebel to show the class how he would solve the problem.

Jehovah has done something similar to what the teacher does. Remember that the rebels in Eden were not the only ones involved. Millions of angels were watching. (Job 38:7; Daniel 7:10) How Jehovah handled the rebellion would greatly affect all those angels and eventually all intelligent creation. So, what has Jehovah done? He has allowed Satan to show how he would rule mankind. God has also allowed humans to govern themselves under Satan’s guidance.

The teacher in our illustration knows that the rebel and the students on his side are wrong. But he also knows that allowing them the opportunity to try to prove their point will benefit the whole class. When the rebels fail, all honest students will see that the teacher is the only one qualified to lead the class. They will understand why the teacher thereafter removes any rebels from the class. Similarly, Jehovah knows that all honesthearted humans and angels will benefit from seeing that Satan and his fellow rebels have failed and that humans cannot govern themselves. Like Jeremiah of old, they will learn this vital truth: “I well know, O Jehovah, that to earthling man his way does not belong. It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step.”—Jeremiah 10:23.

Why, though, has Jehovah allowed suffering to go on for so long? And why does he not prevent bad things from happening? Well, consider two things that the teacher in our illustration would not do. First, he would not stop the rebel student from presenting his case. Second, the teacher would not help the rebel to make his case. Similarly, consider two things that Jehovah has determined not to do. First, he has not stopped Satan and those who side with him from trying to prove that they are right. Allowing time to pass has thus been necessary. In the thousands of years of human history, mankind has been able to try every form of self-rule, or human government. Mankind has made some advances in science and other fields, but injustice, poverty, crime, and war have grown ever worse. Human rule has now been shown to be a failure.

Second, Jehovah has not helped Satan to rule this world. If God were to prevent horrible crimes, for instance, would he not, in effect, be supporting the case of the rebels? Would God not be making people think that perhaps humans can govern themselves without disastrous results? If Jehovah were to act in that way, he would become party to a lie. However, “it is impossible for God to lie.”—Hebrews 6:18.

What, though, about all the harm that has been done during the long rebellion against God? We do well to remember that Jehovah is almighty. Therefore, he can and will undo the effects of mankind’s suffering. The ruining of our planet will be undone by the turning of the earth into Paradise. The effects of sin will be removed through faith in Jesus’ ransom sacrifice, and the effects of death will be reversed by means of the resurrection. God will thus use Jesus “to break up the works of the Devil.” (1 John 3:8) Jehovah will bring all of this about at just the right time. We can be glad that he has not acted sooner, for his patience has given us the opportunity to learn the truth and to serve him. (2 Peter 3:9, 10) Meanwhile, God has been actively seeking sincere worshipers and helping them to endure any suffering that may come upon them in this troubled world.—John 4:23; 1 Corinthians 10:13.

Answer 7

I agree that it seems more like an outrage than a sin.

But it is the governments and the people of the world that allow this to happen. That's why someone like Bono gives so much of his time and energy to change this. Sure, he's a succssful musician, but there are far more idle rich than he (richer and ilder!) who contribute very little if nothing to anyone but their own selfish interests.

It seems worse than sin. But this is the definition of sin.

Answer 8

Sin is the reason for all problems and deaths,

Those babies are not suffering for their own personal sins, but that of the countries.

In other words, there are bad people who do bad things. God gave all humans (good and bad) free will to do what they want, and God will not intervene unless He is asked to intervene. Those babies are sufferring because everybody is blaming God instead of asking for Him to spare them.

By your last statement, you are trying to put humans on the same level as God. God isn't standing by and letting sin happen, He hasd already put a redemptive plan in place, you just don't want to go along with it. so you blame Him instead of believing that God can change you and all your problems.

Romans says all things work for good to the glory of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

You say sin is a scapegoat answer. Well God says it is the reason.

In Matthew chapter 4 satan tries to tempt Jesus into betraying God and one of the ways he does so, He says for Jesus to bow down to him and he will give Jesus all the cities of the world. Then satan says something interesting, he says "for they have been given to me to do with as I want." See when Adam sinned he gave authority of earth to satan.

That authority was originally for humans but we gave it to satan and now blame God. Why don't you look for the real culprit and look in a mirror.

Answer 9

Yes, it does seem cruel. But at the same time I believe that their suffering serves a higher purpose. That someone who has gone over to help them will be profoundly changed and will do something about it that might bring about better results. Everything works for a higher purpose.

Answer 10

Why do you ask a question and then tell us the answer that we are not allowed to give? Suffering exists, in part to demonstrate the utter futility of life in rebellion to God. By the way, the twentieth century was a time of wide spread atheism, and skeptical thought. It was also the bloodiest century by far, up until it's time. Now I'm not sayin'... I'm just sayin'...