If illness is a punishment from God as some (not all) Christians apparently believe?

Question

Then what in hades have babies and very young children done to deserve this punishment?? Failed to eat their vegetables? Cried too long, perhaps?
Children with cancer, brain tumors, fatal genetic disorders, ect. Babies and children die from these illnesses every day. If you're going to tell me that it's punishment for what their parents have done, that's just sick that any supposedly 'loving God' would do that.

*And yes, I know not all Christians believe this. But it upsets me that anyone would.*

Wiser: Here's what someone named JO on R&S said about illness.


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JO
1



God loves sinners and sent his Son to die for them so they could live.
Every sickness and disease is a form of God's disapproval.
They are not blessings.

Inherited or generational curses-how backwards and superstitious is that??

mckenzie-awesome answer, truly. We don't believe all the same things but I commend you. Very well said.

Answer 1

Good post, not bigoted. It's always a kind and just idea to make clear for those who don't understand generalizations (or don't care and just want fuel for their bigotry) that you don't mean the whole group.

If it is, it probably fits with the sins of the father idea. Many Christians today simply believe bad things do happen and that God does not baby-sit or micromanage the things man or nature does to each other.

But from the scriptural literalists, it is probably a case of three things:

1) the young and innocent being called to heaven early due to their innocence, out of what would have been a very bad situation in time.
2) Sins of the father visited upon their heirs, which is unfair, but not unjust according to even our own system of justice. The young aren't saved the consequences of felonious parents, and often suffer the consequences of their parent's actions. The state doesn't owe them to save them from it, nor does God.
3) The idea that there are lines that are marked, are meant for greatness or villainy. From a greater perspective, such illnesses are a kindness to the rest of us.

I'm not religious, but like our government, I tend to not jump on the "God must be bad because I don't understand everything he does" bandwagon.

Questions are good. At least give God (if he exists) the benefit of "innocent until proved guilty" until we understand the nature of reality better.

Keep speaking up, regardless.

Answer 2

That depends on how you live your life.Or if there is a curse on the family because of someone else stupidity.In Other words.........if someone did something stupid and no one stood up and said enough!Some where down the line a child May be born with something wrong.Not fair I agree.But neither is a rape,molestation,or ill fated murder.When someone says 'stop!' the curse will be broken.
I don't know about other illnesses.I guess some are inherited.
It is sad.God does not like illness but he doesn't like stupidity either.Not everyone 'listens' to "inherited" curses.I learned it in church long ago.

Answer 3

There is no love in christianity, except for their imaginary god. No one is free from their judgement. It's the most hateful, and unforgiving religion I know. Yet, they talk about forgiveness...it's so hypocritical and backwards. It's all just a bunch of sh*t.

Answer 4

Babies and children don't have the decency to use a knife and fork properly. If that's not a reason for god to strike them down with the plague, then I don't know what is!

Answer 5

It bothers me, as well. How could anyone think this?
Makes no sense at all....They are deluded, in my opinion.
God is love. Jesus is love. He said that we should all have the same attitudes and love as little children do.
Children are often cooler than adults.

Answer 6


What does all this have to do with me?
If it was Adam’s decision to disobey God that brought sin into the world, why do we ALL have to suffer punishment?
If we are honest with ourselves, we will realize that Adam is a fair representative for all of us. If a perfect person in a perfect place decided to disobey God’s rules, none of us would have done better. Romans 5:12 says, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” We all inherit Adam’s sin nature. We all sin, so we all deserve to die and suffer eternal punishment in hell. We must understand that not one of us is innocent before God. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Not one of us is worthy to stand before the Creator of the universe because we would each bring a sinful, rebellious nature into His presence.
In the beginning God completely sustained His creation without blemish. That’s why it was perfect. He held every atom together in a perfect state. He kept the planets in their orbits. He kept animals from tripping and breaking their necks. He did not allow people to suffer and die.
Deuteronomy 8:4 gives us a little glimpse of how things might have been in the original creation. “Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years.” God is omnipotent and perfectly capable of sustaining and protecting his creation.
When Adam sinned, however, the Lord cursed the universe. In essence there was a change and along with that change God seemingly took away a little bit of his sustaining power and allowed things like suffering and death into His creation. Now He permits bad things to happen—and this is a reminder that sin has consequences and that the world needs a Savior. Romans 8:22 says, “For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.”

God took pleasure in all of His creation ("http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?passage=revelation+4:11&version=NKJV"), but He loved people most of all. He allowed the created universe to deteriorate so we would see the consequences of our sin. If we did not see the consequences of our sin, we would never see that we need salvation from our sin, and we would never accept His offer of mercy for our sin. Most people easily recognize that there is a problem in the world. This can be used to show them that there is one who has overcome this problem of death and suffering—Jesus Christ.

Answer 7

There is such a thing as a generational curse, in which not only the parents are cursed, but their children are as well, to cut off their 'seed' from continuing.
God creates both the evil and the good.
Yes, God loves you, but if He keeps smacking your hand to stop you from touching the hot stove, and you insist on reaching for it anyway, He'll cut off the hand, if you know what I mean.

Answer 8

Consider the universal law of karma and reincarnation. It's the only thing that adequately explains why we are all born into such vast sets of circumstances and why "bad things happen to good people" (or babies).

Answer 9

I don't believe that. I'm Catholic.
And you should learn to not become upset over things you can't change. People will think and feel what they think and feel, no matter how many arguments against their beliefs you make.

Answer 10

That, obviously, is not true. It just makes them feel justified that tragedies that befall non-believers is the result of disobedience to their man-made religious rules.