Is there a reason why bad things happen to good people?

Question

Is there a reason why bad things happen to good people? Is there even a reason why life is the way it is? I'm kind of looking maybe for some different opinions besides the Christian god answer. If you are going to give the god answer then avoid answers like because god gave us free will, because we learn lessons from bad things(We can't learn lessons from Cancer, and some things are so bad that the only lesson we learn is not to trust people) If god never promised fairness on earth then does he really deserve the credit? Should someone be praised that allows such injustice? Why is life not fair? Is there a such thing as Karma. cuz it seems like the creepy people are pretty happy. Didn't mean for this to sound like a downer conversation but isn't this one of the top 10 questions of the century? Maybe some nontraditional answers? Maybe some books or websites involving theories about this stuff?

Answer 1

The reason is the same for everyone, things happen due to random chance, Murphy's Law, natural laws, 2nd law of thermodynamics, entropy, and other explanable causes. When the tectonic plates crash into each other, they don't think who is bad and who is good when they cause calamity and death.... sorry to burst your bubble....

Answer 2

Say there is a God. This world can't survive on just yin or yang. There needs to be both. Without white there is no black. When Adam and Eve hate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, that destroyed all hopes a perfect world. It was an indirect rejection of God. Though God would never leave humanity, the rejection turned the world into a double-sided place. Some say it is a great world. Others say it's horrid. Either way, since in this world there can be nothing good without something bad, there needs to be a deeper cause (though indirect) for all the crap happening. That being the case, the world has God. There needs to be an exact opposite of God, and that of course would be Satan.
He's not directly to blame though he does have the power of tempation.

Answer 3

Here is my answer. I hope you do not consider it a God answer as I am sparing you my traditional God answer. Actually I don't have an answer for you but I will share with you my life experience. I have experienced in my life some horrendously tragic events that no person should ever have to experience. So many times I have asked myself why, why me. I have examined my life and don't think anything I have done deserves the awful things done to me. I consider myself a good person. What I have learned over time is that my life is balancing out. For the extreme bad things that have happened, I have had extreme good things happen. In fact the good that has happened has far exceeded anything I could have imagined. That's not to say the good excuses the bad but it helps me put the bad in perspective. So I'll leave you with this Indian saying, it's better to suffer when you are young then when you are old.

Answer 4

Life is largely a haphazard. That's what makes it an adventure. Adventures aren't comfortable. You might be grateful life isn't fair - otherwise you'd only get your "just deserts", which almost certainly would be less than you have, considering global poverty, the ecological destruction that supports consumer economics, and climate change. So there's no script at work with a happy ending all round. Bad things often happen to good people through "collateral damage" as USA would say - or through "friendly fire". And often because good people get in the way of bad people. And often because "good" people (in their own view) also get in the way of really good people. I have no faith in Karma. I believe we create the meaning and purpose we choose for our own lives - and reap the crop for "good" or "ill", pain or satisfaction. I believe everything and every living thing is interconnected and interdependent, and try to live my life within the constraints of my own time and place, with that understanding. That sense of connection is all the "spiritual" sense I need, and wonderful enough. And, right or wrong, I believe those "creepy people" who seem happy but don't live their lives with that awareness, are losing more than they understand. A dominant bullying father may get his way at home, but will never receive the love from his children that a wiser parent will receive. You can trace that principle in all directions - and see the connections as we all suffer from the stupidity of the relatively few. You could study Buddhism - and "Deep Ecology" (Arne Nass) - and read to find companionship amongst the wise of all ages. I hope that helps?

Answer 5

This is one of the top 10 questions of the century! I know you don't want the typical answer to this but forgive my sharing a KJ bible verse or two: Psalm 73:3, I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. Verse 12, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches. - Life is so short and it is so difficult for us humans not to desire worldly riches. We ALL lose that battle most of the time! Satan has access to us here in this world to torment us. Blame all the bad on satan not on God. Like in the book of Job, a parable 27:1 & 29:1, God has taken his protective hedge from around us & has allowed satan access for our lifetime. I think God tricked satan into a deal. Satan was eternal but God agreed to take down his hedge so satan could try to make all mankind fall. Satan knew he could cause us to fall. What satan didn't realize is that God would become flesh and suffer the same but without a single sin. Once Jesus LIVED perfectly, died for our sin & rose victorious over satans sin & death, satan's days were numbered. His time is short & he is out to destroy & torment as much as he can ,while he can , because he lost the deal he made with God and now, he will have an end. Most people think I'm nuts in my thinking but I sincerely believe the spirit has taught me this. Jesus won the battle with satan and saved us and satan is on his way OUT!

Answer 6

Bad things happen to good people just as much as they happen to bad people. It is just that we bad things happen to bad people, no one notices or cares. But when bad things happen to good people, people tend to think it's not fair since the person have not done anything to attract the bad thing.

The truth is, no one deserves a bad thing, good or bad. No one attracts bad things and therefore when bad things happen to you, don't ask why but how it happened. Then learn from them and move on.

Answer 7

I have always been honest and trustworthy, you know, hard worker, good single mom, etc. And I have Jack s**t to show for it. I have met some a lot of mean and cold people in my life and they all have everything they ever wanted out of life. Nice home, car, material things, etc. I still at my age don't get it. How can one be so mean and get it all when an honest person gets zilch.

Answer 8

Nope. Things just happen theres no rhyme or reason to it.
People only feel like karma happens because something bad will happen to someone who did something bad, but the truth is bad things happen to good and bad people, just as good things happen to good and bad people.

Answer 9

I believe in Karma, but I am Wiccan so I believe in the three-point law. Thats when people do something good, it comes back three times as good. They do something bad, it comes back as something pretty crappy, three times as bad.
Also consider Murpheys law, and subconsious mind if it is something that you could have possibly, in the smallest way, created to happen.
Sometimes, things just happen. Flukes happen to everyone.


I'd go for the subconsious mind part, or that 'sh*t happens'

Answer 10

It all depends upon your destiny. If you have done 1 bad thing and then do 10 good things, the bad thing dosent get cancelled. You have to pay the price for it and the one above decides when.