when people suffer they are being punished..do you agree??

Question

its for a homework essay!!

Answer 1

I disagree...but I think you should do your own homework.

Answer 2

On the face of it, yes, I agree.
Now, I suppose you'll want some kind of pseudo-plausible explanation...
Okay.
1. There is no God. Mankind suffers because the Universe is a cruel and arbitrary place. It's the law of the jungle.
2. There is a God, but God doesn't care, so mankind suffers, see above for further details...
3. There is a God, and that God is a cruel, sadistic and unjust God. Draw your own conclusions.
4. There is a God, and God allows us to suffer no more than we need, we may not always understand why we are suffering, but, like little children, we don't always see the bigger picture.
5. It's all an illusion, and suffering is a creation of the self. Let go of the Self, and suffering disappears.

Okay. Answers. Have fun with your essay.
Oh, and sorry if I seem to be a bit harsh on God, it's just he is a hot topic here in R&S.
If He's going to figure in 'conversation' so much, He's bound to be dragged into examples/answers.
Believe me, I've nothing personal against Him.

Answer 3

No...Children are born innocent and many children suffer at no fault of their own. Suffering is not punishment. Suffering is the way to learn compassion. When someone suffers, they become more appreciative of what they lack and are less likely to abuse it if they get it back. Think of simple things like food...if you have it, you don't think about how much of a luxury it is...Then if you go through an entire day without having access to food, when you do get food, even if it is something horrible, you eat it and it's the best meal you have ever eaten, because you were trully hungry. Even innocents suffer...do they deserve punishment? No...suffering is not punishment.

Answer 4

Dear anon,

i disagree with that. First of all when you say punished- are you talking about being punished by God?

People suffer for many reasons. Sometimes people suffer because of the cruelty of others. People suffer because of their own sinfulness.

If God gets credit for all the bad, then he ought to get credit for all the good as well. A truth of life is that everybody suffers (good people and bad people). Suffering is a part of life and it can sometimes be negative but can also be opportunities to grow and mature. It also gives us opportunity to comfort and help people.

Suffering is a result of sin. And if we blame God for suffering- then we have to look at what God says. And God says that he created us "good" and "perfect" but when sin entered the world- suffering began for mankind and so it's really man who causes his own suffering. And God in fact sent his Son Jesus Christ to redeem people from having purposeless suffering. Christians do suffer (like anybody else) because there is sin in the world (so it's not saying that if someone knows Christ that suffering automatically ends- but they know that there is an end to it and God will use that to grow and mature people). Anyhow hope that helps- good luck on your homework.

Kindly,

Nickster

Answer 5

Not at all. The rain falls on the just and the unjust.

My pastor gave a wonderful sermon about this following the mass shooting in Virginia. He explained the four things that influence events.

1 Natural law - Think about gravity. If you step off the roof of your home, you are going to fall to the ground, unless something is there to break your fall. If you pull a trigger on a gun, a bullet will be fired.

2. Free will - Not only do we make choices that affect our own life, but as a society we make collective choices that affect lives. For example, whethet as a society we choose to pay for medical treatment for those who can’t afford it, may make the difference in life and death.

3 Sin - The outcome can depend on the presence of sin in your life or in the life of somebody else. For example, if an impaired driver who has chosen a life of drugs or alcohol gets behind the wheel of a car, his sinful lifestyle could very well endanger a perfectly innocent child.

4 God’s Holy Spirit. The outcome of an event can very well depend on whether there are people around who truly know God’s will and are willing to reach out in love and compassion.

So, it is incorrect to say that a thing is God’s will. God tries to instruct us but we don’t always listen. He is not going to force us to listen.

Answer 6

No!! The best people anyone know suffer. Mentally,Physically
Emotionally. Are abused children being punished? Some
people need punishment but most people suffer through no
fault of thier own.

Answer 7

No, Job suffered, but had done no wrong - Satan just had it in for him. Also, there are things that have been discovered by modern day medicine (like bacteria and viruses) and science to be disease causing agents that have little or no relation to our actions (other than being in the proximity of someone else with the disease who sneezes or something). Fortunately, for most bacteria there are antibiotics, vaccines, or both. Now, if they would just invent a vaccine that worked against all varieties of the common cold(dreaming).

Answer 8

Mental and other illness: no; first it could be just because we live in a sinful world and the mother did awful things when she was pregnant like drugs or alcohol. Also it could be God is using this disability to be a witness for him. Those who trust in him with it, use it for His advantage and some even start evangelical missions because they have seen the Lord work in their disability.
Hurricanes, other disasters: That's only because we live in a very sinful world and as soon as Adam and Eve ate from the tree, they had to live outside the prefect world and live in the world of weeds and storms and not the way God intended it to be. But just as God sent a "storm" of fire and stuff to destroy Sodom and Gammorah, he only did that because they were so sicked and evil and his judgment came upon them. But we see no reason why God would do something like that ever again. That city was overly wicked unlike we've ever seen.
So to answer your overall question, no

Answer 9

No, Paul suffered and he was not being punished for disobedience or anything of that nature. There are many reasons for suffering.

Some of Paul's suffering was to keep him from becoming proud because he was chosen to see such amazing things.

Answer 10

NO!
If u were to subscribe to this line of reasoning....
then whom is doing the punishing?
Who decides what punishment is meted out?
And, for how long?
And, for whatever ur error/crime is/ was?
Shouldn't the punishment fit the crime/error?
If u suffer because of your actions/ decisions;
then it is of your own doing-Willful sin.
If its something fully, not; in ur control
then Definately NOT, that would/could be inherited sin.
Its an inane arguement.
Jehovah God punishing u cuz of inherited sin--NO!
Satan punishing u for inherited sin--uuhhh? No!
On this 1; Satan punishing us...really no!
he doesn't have the right, nor the authority.
He wouldn't be correcting us so that we learn to do / be "better."
He walks the earth seeking to devour YOU.
Do you See?
Grasp the full meaning?
If a parent suffers because his only son bought a crotch-rocket then got killed on it. What would b the crime of the parent? See?
Yes, we all sin.
Yes, we all suffer.
No, it is not punishment.
Our punishment for sin, is death.
Romans 5:12

When I was born, I was sick.
No1, caught it/ discovered/ noticed.
'Til almost died. I was born in sin, but,
it was no willful act from myself, or my mom.
Meaning she didn't use drugs/ alcohol etc..
during her pregnancy w/ me. Took her vitamins etc...

Answer 11

No, not always. Alot of suffering is brought on by our own poor choices, yes. Consequences of sinful behavior. But if someone else does something that is wicked, and you suffer from it, that is not what I call a "punishment". I prefer to use the term consequences anyway, and it only happens when we choose wrong things and suffer from the result of them.

Suffering from something that happens not of our own volition, I would not consider punishment.