What have these innocents done to warrant punishment?
Please don't give me that past life crap!
2007-02-28 15:15:05 · 14 answers · asked by Mak 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
Athiests of course answer. There is no God. And the question is proof! Not true. Evil is punished by some force in the Universe. Goodness is rewarded. I have seen that. My question is why, given these facts, does the universe also let non-evil beings suffer?
2007-02-28 15:24:54 · update #1
Because life is random, there is no such thing as fate or pre-ordained plan, bad things happen to ALL people because of coincidence, Murphy's Law, and random acts of nature and people. When the tectonic plates crash into each other and cause human calamities, are they worried about who's good and bad? Don't make me laugh.
To think that good people are protected or somehow immune to the laws of nature is not logical or rational. If you start believing in fate and pre-ordained plans, then you're reverted to superstitious CAVE MAN logic....
In reality, there is no sentient, omnipresent, omnipotent supernatural being, supernatural entity or force....therefore all the inequities and misery of the world will always persist, some will have good things happen to them and some not, some will blame the invisible entity but objective reality wins all the time....no matter how hard some try to get that limbic brain of theirs to work...sorry
And why does bad things happen to good people all the time? When the tectonic plates crash into each other causing human calamity, they don't worry about Karma, good and bad, evil and riteousness. Life's paths are made up of randon circumstances, some predictable and some not. Most religious people will state that god has a 'bigger' plan for them and humans in general, that we can't know the 'big picture.' Most say there can't be good unless we know or experience the depths of evil.
Is it fair to have predation, disease, deformities, child rape, parasites and evil in the world? If the answer is yes, then with god(s) like that, who need them?
2007-03-01 17:02:00 · answer #1 · answered by Its not me Its u 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Because you have assigned human qualities to God. God does not make arbitrary decisions, like assigning punishment or giving out rewards. We live in a universe of law and order. Call them God's laws if you want. If a man steps off a cliff or an innocent three year old does the same they both experience the same result. One is not favored because he is innocent.
If being innocent was a reason to avoid suffering we would be making a big mistake educating our children. Life is about progressing from a state of "not knowing" to a state of "knowing, in short about progressing to greater awareness.
To answer your question directly, what we experience in life is nothing more or less than the consequence of our choices, not the dispensation of punishment or reward by an arbitrary God. It may take a bit more observation to see that than what you have put in.
2007-02-28 23:43:39 · answer #2 · answered by stedyedy 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The key point here is that God allows or permits innocents to suffer. I am a theist, but I often struggle with this question myself. However, it seems that God had a choice. He could either make us wholly determined and ensure that we never acted evily or he could give us free will along with the potential for good or evil. One cannot have it both ways. Maybe it is better to be free and endure evil, rather than be wholly determined but not suffer evil. Welcome to what Gabriel Marcel calls "the mystery of being."
2007-02-28 23:23:05 · answer #3 · answered by sokrates 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think that we are all here for a life "lesson" and that we choose our pain and suffering in order to learn. It is not a punishment but an understanding of something that we cannot fathom on this plane. When you add up all of your life times together then you more of an entire picture. People should really stop thinking that they did something to make them suffer.
2007-02-28 23:28:48 · answer #4 · answered by Kimberlee Ann 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
God, by His own laws will not interfere with our free will. Children and other innocents suffer because of what man does with his individual free will. This is how we evolve, by our right choices. God will not interfere without being asked or called upon.
"And as to the works of My hands, command thee me".
2007-03-01 10:24:08 · answer #5 · answered by Ragweed 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
God is the overriding force of life, not the cause of every problem that we as humans face. There is suffering because that is life. It is unfortunate that we learn our best lessons the hard way.
2007-02-28 23:22:39 · answer #6 · answered by Isabel 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
1. We were born with original sin (the concept that the sin of Adam and Eve has passed down through all generations).
2. We have "free will." We all have choices to make, and many times, those choices bring about dire consequences.
3. Suffering brings us closer to Him. What's the first thing you say when you reach your breaking point? "Oh my GOD!"
2007-02-28 23:24:18 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
if i make the claim that i have on a blue shirt... I have to prove it...
you would not feel or would be obligated to prove that i am not wearing a blue shirt...
thats the way things work... if your friend says she has a drumstick of fried chicken in her pocket.. you are not required to prove she doesnt.. SHE is required to prove she does.
and so you think there is an invisible man in the sky... prove it.
i dont think you have fried chicken in your pocket do you.
all organisms.. including homo sapiens, have to fight to try and survive... and thats because all organisms EAT each other.. and there is never a perfect balance because new life is always evolving... aids eats us for food... its just trying to live.. to fill up its lil tummy... and we cut up cows and swollow chunks...
live feeds on life... its an ever evolving circle and bad for us is good for who eats us..
just like its good for us for whoever we kill...
everything you have ever ate was killed for you to eat it.
good and bad only have meaning within a context.. in reality they are completely meaningless...
is it bad that the flu virus is trying to eat us for food?
according to you it is... but is it really bad?
and is it really good when you kill another lifeform just to try and live?
its neither.. its life, its beautiful, its a big circle of consumption and competition.
im not saying we should live differently or anything... this is just thought... we have to live as though we are humans.. but its ok to know the truth while doing so.
2007-03-01 00:23:35 · answer #8 · answered by causalitist 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
This is something only God Himself knows. It is not for us to know and understand. All we can hope to understand is that without suffering, there would be no compassion.
2007-02-28 23:23:05 · answer #9 · answered by First Lady 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Becuase God is more of a Darwinist than we like to give him credit for.
2007-03-01 03:11:34 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋