Why does God allow little babies to be handicapped or seriously ill?

Question

Why should littlle innocents suffer...what have they done to be sentenced to a dfficult life?

Answer 1

I have had real difficulty even reading some of these answers...that there really are people who believe that these babies who suffer real pain and difficulty are part of "god's plan." It's sickening to think that they really believe these babies are born that way so that christians can BENEFIT in some stupid, religious way. How cruel and unthinking.

e.g. "They exist as reminders to us that there are people who aren't us in worse situations than we are. They will put you into perspective. All you need to do is visit them, or at least see for yourself what they must go through each day in their "normal life."

Answer 2

Well, I am LDS. My religion has a bit of a different take on this than the norm.

We believe that all people come 1- to earth to receive bodies and 2- to be tested to see if they will live a life worthy of heaven. Handicapped or ill children have already proven in the pre-existence (the stage when we were in heaven before we came to earth) that they are VERY righteous spirits who do not need to be tested because of how pure and good they are. However, they still need bodies, so God sends them to earth as a handicapped or ill child so that they can do so. He also does this to protect the sweet spirits of handicapped children from the ugliness in the world. He also sends handicapped children to families if he feels that they would benefit from having that kind of child (and, in my experience, most families seem to benefit in some way... my cousin is a downs-syndrome 27 year old and his brothers and sister, my cousins, tell me they learn more from him than anyone else). If a child dies before the age 8, they immediately go to heaven. So basically in my religion, the handicapped children are some of the best souls and spirits out there.

Answer 3

Because if babies weren't born with those problems, there'd obviously be some kind of divine intervention at hand which would prove his existence and then people would KNOW he exists instead of BELIEVE and that defeats the point of faith.

However, I have a sneaking suspicion that's not a good enough answer for you, so here's another way to look at it:

The Bible says we're all faced with our own problems in life, and they're different. Some people are more inclined to be mean because of a rough homelife maybe, or someone may be more likely to want to do drugs because of a depression caused by chemical imbalances. Sometimes these obstacles come in the form of mental issues, some are issues that we aren't born into but forced into, some are physical handicaps we're born with. It's awful, very much so, nothing is sadder than to see a poor baby with some terrible problem, and cruel though it may seem, these things happen. God doesn't necessarily make it happen, I believe things happen as nature dictates, and God helps when called upon, know what I mean?

Answer 4

When talking about Religion, everything said has to be referenced by faith and belief. You have to believe that there is a reason for everything, even though it's not apparent to you right now. It's just that since we generally live just for "today", it's almost impossible to see the suttle changes that happen to us over time due to a SLCE (Significant Life Changing Event) such as a baby's handicap and how it affects everyone who comes into contact with the baby. SLCEs happen all the time and you have to believe that no matter the outcome, there's something good to come from it. You have to believe. That's religion.

Answer 5

These are the questions that I contemplate whether there really is a god. Why would god allow this to happen to an innocent child? I just don't understand. Maybe he has something in store for them in the future. I hope he does, but life goes on and the beauty in struggling through life is surviving it.

:)


Alex

Answer 6

If you can accept this answer. There are reasons only God knows for sure. People want to blame God for everything when it is mostly us who create our own reality. In order to understand a possible reason to your question, I have found answers by the study of reincarnation as I have learn that even Jesus taught about it.
Jesus said " As you sew, so shall you reap" This means that if you sew Love, Love will come back to you. If you sew hatred, so it will come back and maybe much more so. One of my favorite Authors on Past life regression is Delores Cannon. There are reasons and she gives many in her book Convoluted Universe, especially in Volume 2. One possibility for the reason someone can be handicapped is because they may have made another person that way or made fun of a handicapped person in another life time. So now that person has to endure the same thing to see what it is like being that way. Be careful what you think say and do. It is called self mastery and the The Universal Law of Karma or Cause and Effect can bring a world of hurt on you if you bring it on someone else.
Rev. TomCat

Answer 7

I believe it is a possibility that these handicapped or ill babies and children are a result of corrupted human genetics and DNA. Another possibility is that it is a punishment from God that was set on us from the beginning of the Bible--in Genesis, as it says all the children of Adam and Eve were to be cursed by God himself.

The prospects that are the most plausible and meaningful to me are that these ill-fated children have more love and inspiration to offer to the world than most other people. They exist as reminders to us that there are people who aren't us in worse situations than we are in. They will put you into perspective. All you need to do is visit them, or at least see for yourself what they must go through each day in their "normal life."

Anyhow, they are still as unique as any of us, regardless of their disabilities. In fact, you might just be able to see their disabilities on the outside, but I think some of them know that we have equal or worse disabilities on the inside.

Just my two cents,
Ka'eo

Answer 8

1. How we will know the good from bad , the health from the sickness if sickness was not there
2. Handicapped is like any disease we should ask why do we have to get sick
3. Ordeals and sickness as a general is a test from God to us and is a way to go back to Him and ask for His help

Answer 9

He allows this --& so much more-- in order to be able to put a TOTAL END to ALL of such things in the future... There is an issue that has been raised, which is universal, & once things are settled this way, they will be settled FOREVER!

NEVER again will there be anything like the situations we see today, happening!

This issue is explained Scripturally, in much more detail, in:

"The Problem of Human Suffering
---Why Does God Permit It?"
http://watchtower.org/e/20010515/article_01.htm

"The Problems of Children..." http://watchtower.org/e/20001208/article_01.htm

"When All Disabilities Will Disappear" http://watchtower.org/e/19990608/article_04.htm

"The Marvelous New World of God's Making!" http://watchtower.org/e/dg/index.htm?article=article_10.htm

Answer 10

First of all, it was Adam and Eve who ruined it for the rest of us, and now we have to deal with the effects, which are evils of nature (hurricanes, and sickness, etc.) and our personal evils, ie, sin. So we can't blame it on God. He just allows nature to take it's course, and we messed up nature, so it's on a crooked course. After that, God loves our variety, and when we have the opportunity to love these little ones, don't we become better people for it? Look at mother theresa! You can't recognize light if there is no darkness, no chance for any of us to grow in virtue if there are no challenges. What would we be if we didn't have innocent sufferers to care for and love? They are so loveable! we would be a thousand times more self absorbed and selfish. God sends us blessings with each new person to love, no matter how difficult the situation might be