Why does God allow suffering?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only persuasive answer I have heard (from my DH who grew up Catholic and also studied Buddhism) is that God allows suffering to teach us compassion and empathy. Only if you have experienced suffering can you relate to those who are presently suffering and do "good" things to help them.

There is also the free will explanation (i.e., people choose to inflect suffering on others) but, to me, that is not fully persuasive. Free will does not account for things that are outside human control, like children dying of cancer or natural disasters.

This question is THE major impediment to my faith. Either God is all powerful and somewhat apathetic or sadistic to allow profound suffering, or God is not all powerful. Both things cannot be true. So I really, really struggle with this and don't have a good answer.

I’ve struggled horribly with my faith since my husband died suddenly of a rare cancer. He spent his adult life practicing medicine and helping others....but alas there was no help for him. He was such a wonderful person. I cannot understand why....why?

I'm so sorry that you lost your husband this way. I can't think of a religion that promises only good things to good people.

Unfortunately, many good and/or innocent people die regularly of diseases and accidents (think of all the people in the Beirut explosion).

Religion can bring comfort but it can't promise a life of good things to the deserving.

How can it bring comfort if awful people have power, health, longevity and other kinder people suffer awfully? Children, the elderly, etc? Seems to me if God wanted comfort to be something he/she gives, those things would be remedied more than they are. God brings me almost no comfort and didn't when I was molested as a child, for example.

God brings comfort partly because He is a perfect parent.
If you have a good parent or someone who fills the role of a good parent, they do bring comfort, even if they don’t remedy the situation. They absolve you of any unfounded guilt or shame, take on some of your pain and sadness themselves, and give you advice on how to move forward.

I genuinely don't mean any offense, but to anyone with minimal critical thinking skills, this sounds like a metric ton of bullshit.

Lol...is that what you tell your kids when they are crying?
Or do your kids never cry because you never let them fall and clear the way of every obstacle?
I

I don't tell them the invisible sky wizard will fix everything after they die, that's for sure.

Ok. But we were talking about how you could still find comfort in a close relationship with someone who was NOT going to fix everything for you.
Look. Your parents are terrible. They should have protected you, and they should have created an environment where you felt loved and trusted enough to go to them when you were hurt. The way that your parents behaved...that’s not how parents are supposed to be. Children, even adult children, are supposed to be able to go to their parents for love, support, and comfort.
I hope you find someone in your life who can give you this. And I hope you can find a way to be there for your own children.

Well, if you are trying to insult both my parents and my parenting skills, please proceed directly to GFY. All are awesome and you know nothing about it. It’s your sky father that is causing all the chaos. He’s the one who is a rat.

Other than that, your post is insane word salad.

Ok.
I’m sorry for what happened to you. I hope you are able to find comfort somewhere in your life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only persuasive answer I have heard (from my DH who grew up Catholic and also studied Buddhism) is that God allows suffering to teach us compassion and empathy. Only if you have experienced suffering can you relate to those who are presently suffering and do "good" things to help them.

There is also the free will explanation (i.e., people choose to inflect suffering on others) but, to me, that is not fully persuasive. Free will does not account for things that are outside human control, like children dying of cancer or natural disasters.

This question is THE major impediment to my faith. Either God is all powerful and somewhat apathetic or sadistic to allow profound suffering, or God is not all powerful. Both things cannot be true. So I really, really struggle with this and don't have a good answer.

I’ve struggled horribly with my faith since my husband died suddenly of a rare cancer. He spent his adult life practicing medicine and helping others....but alas there was no help for him. He was such a wonderful person. I cannot understand why....why?

I'm so sorry that you lost your husband this way. I can't think of a religion that promises only good things to good people.

Unfortunately, many good and/or innocent people die regularly of diseases and accidents (think of all the people in the Beirut explosion).

Religion can bring comfort but it can't promise a life of good things to the deserving.

How can it bring comfort if awful people have power, health, longevity and other kinder people suffer awfully? Children, the elderly, etc? Seems to me if God wanted comfort to be something he/she gives, those things would be remedied more than they are. God brings me almost no comfort and didn't when I was molested as a child, for example.

God brings comfort partly because He is a perfect parent.
If you have a good parent or someone who fills the role of a good parent, they do bring comfort, even if they don’t remedy the situation. They absolve you of any unfounded guilt or shame, take on some of your pain and sadness themselves, and give you advice on how to move forward.

I genuinely don't mean any offense, but to anyone with minimal critical thinking skills, this sounds like a metric ton of bullshit.

Lol...is that what you tell your kids when they are crying?
Or do your kids never cry because you never let them fall and clear the way of every obstacle?
I

I don't tell them the invisible sky wizard will fix everything after they die, that's for sure.

Ok. But we were talking about how you could still find comfort in a close relationship with someone who was NOT going to fix everything for you.
Look. Your parents are terrible. They should have protected you, and they should have created an environment where you felt loved and trusted enough to go to them when you were hurt. The way that your parents behaved...that’s not how parents are supposed to be. Children, even adult children, are supposed to be able to go to their parents for love, support, and comfort.
I hope you find someone in your life who can give you this. And I hope you can find a way to be there for your own children.

Well, if you are trying to insult both my parents and my parenting skills, please proceed directly to GFY. All are awesome and you know nothing about it. It’s your sky father that is causing all the chaos. He’s the one who is a rat.

Other than that, your post is insane word salad.

Ok.
I’m sorry for what happened to you. I hope you are able to find comfort somewhere in your life.

This thing you are trying - it’s not working. It’s sad and pathetic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only persuasive answer I have heard (from my DH who grew up Catholic and also studied Buddhism) is that God allows suffering to teach us compassion and empathy. Only if you have experienced suffering can you relate to those who are presently suffering and do "good" things to help them.

There is also the free will explanation (i.e., people choose to inflect suffering on others) but, to me, that is not fully persuasive. Free will does not account for things that are outside human control, like children dying of cancer or natural disasters.

This question is THE major impediment to my faith. Either God is all powerful and somewhat apathetic or sadistic to allow profound suffering, or God is not all powerful. Both things cannot be true. So I really, really struggle with this and don't have a good answer.

I’ve struggled horribly with my faith since my husband died suddenly of a rare cancer. He spent his adult life practicing medicine and helping others....but alas there was no help for him. He was such a wonderful person. I cannot understand why....why?

I'm so sorry that you lost your husband this way. I can't think of a religion that promises only good things to good people.

Unfortunately, many good and/or innocent people die regularly of diseases and accidents (think of all the people in the Beirut explosion).

Religion can bring comfort but it can't promise a life of good things to the deserving.

How can it bring comfort if awful people have power, health, longevity and other kinder people suffer awfully? Children, the elderly, etc? Seems to me if God wanted comfort to be something he/she gives, those things would be remedied more than they are. God brings me almost no comfort and didn't when I was molested as a child, for example.

God brings comfort partly because He is a perfect parent.
If you have a good parent or someone who fills the role of a good parent, they do bring comfort, even if they don’t remedy the situation. They absolve you of any unfounded guilt or shame, take on some of your pain and sadness themselves, and give you advice on how to move forward.

I genuinely don't mean any offense, but to anyone with minimal critical thinking skills, this sounds like a metric ton of bullshit.

Lol...is that what you tell your kids when they are crying?
Or do your kids never cry because you never let them fall and clear the way of every obstacle?
I

I don't tell them the invisible sky wizard will fix everything after they die, that's for sure.

Ok. But we were talking about how you could still find comfort in a close relationship with someone who was NOT going to fix everything for you.
Look. Your parents are terrible. They should have protected you, and they should have created an environment where you felt loved and trusted enough to go to them when you were hurt. The way that your parents behaved...that’s not how parents are supposed to be. Children, even adult children, are supposed to be able to go to their parents for love, support, and comfort.
I hope you find someone in your life who can give you this. And I hope you can find a way to be there for your own children.

Well, if you are trying to insult both my parents and my parenting skills, please proceed directly to GFY. All are awesome and you know nothing about it. It’s your sky father that is causing all the chaos. He’s the one who is a rat.

Other than that, your post is insane word salad.

Ok.
I’m sorry for what happened to you. I hope you are able to find comfort somewhere in your life.

This thing you are trying - it’s not working. It’s sad and pathetic.

I get it.

I’m not your therapist, but I am a therapist. Here is what I am hearing:
You were abused as a child.
Your own parents are great and near faultless.
The parent you blame for the abuse you suffered is the sky father. Even though you believe this “parent” doesn’t exist.
The concept of a parent comforting a child, while familiar to most people, strikes you as foreign and a metric ton of shit.
You are not angry. (Even though you told me to go f*ck myself).

I think you are angry, and it’s totally justified. People are both good and bad. Your parents can be good parents and have really let you down in this one circumstance. And you can be angry about it. That doesn’t mean you have to confront them, but you can acknowledge it to yourself. In the same vein, you can be a good mother and still have times you feel like you failed. All mothers feel that way sometimes. As one of my supervisors used to say, “no matter how good of a parent you are, your children are going to have something to say about you. Everyone has something to say when it’s their turn on the couch.”
I am so sorry for what happened to you. I hope you find peace.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The only persuasive answer I have heard (from my DH who grew up Catholic and also studied Buddhism) is that God allows suffering to teach us compassion and empathy. Only if you have experienced suffering can you relate to those who are presently suffering and do "good" things to help them.

There is also the free will explanation (i.e., people choose to inflect suffering on others) but, to me, that is not fully persuasive. Free will does not account for things that are outside human control, like children dying of cancer or natural disasters.

This question is THE major impediment to my faith. Either God is all powerful and somewhat apathetic or sadistic to allow profound suffering, or God is not all powerful. Both things cannot be true. So I really, really struggle with this and don't have a good answer.

I’ve struggled horribly with my faith since my husband died suddenly of a rare cancer. He spent his adult life practicing medicine and helping others....but alas there was no help for him. He was such a wonderful person. I cannot understand why....why?

I'm so sorry that you lost your husband this way. I can't think of a religion that promises only good things to good people.

Unfortunately, many good and/or innocent people die regularly of diseases and accidents (think of all the people in the Beirut explosion).

Religion can bring comfort but it can't promise a life of good things to the deserving.

How can it bring comfort if awful people have power, health, longevity and other kinder people suffer awfully? Children, the elderly, etc? Seems to me if God wanted comfort to be something he/she gives, those things would be remedied more than they are. God brings me almost no comfort and didn't when I was molested as a child, for example.

God brings comfort partly because He is a perfect parent.
If you have a good parent or someone who fills the role of a good parent, they do bring comfort, even if they don’t remedy the situation. They absolve you of any unfounded guilt or shame, take on some of your pain and sadness themselves, and give you advice on how to move forward.

I genuinely don't mean any offense, but to anyone with minimal critical thinking skills, this sounds like a metric ton of bullshit.

Lol...is that what you tell your kids when they are crying?
Or do your kids never cry because you never let them fall and clear the way of every obstacle?
I

I don't tell them the invisible sky wizard will fix everything after they die, that's for sure.

Ok. But we were talking about how you could still find comfort in a close relationship with someone who was NOT going to fix everything for you.
Look. Your parents are terrible. They should have protected you, and they should have created an environment where you felt loved and trusted enough to go to them when you were hurt. The way that your parents behaved...that’s not how parents are supposed to be. Children, even adult children, are supposed to be able to go to their parents for love, support, and comfort.
I hope you find someone in your life who can give you this. And I hope you can find a way to be there for your own children.

Well, if you are trying to insult both my parents and my parenting skills, please proceed directly to GFY. All are awesome and you know nothing about it. It’s your sky father that is causing all the chaos. He’s the one who is a rat.

Other than that, your post is insane word salad.

Ok.
I’m sorry for what happened to you. I hope you are able to find comfort somewhere in your life.

This thing you are trying - it’s not working. It’s sad and pathetic.

I get it.

I’m not your therapist, but I am a therapist. Here is what I am hearing:
You were abused as a child.
Your own parents are great and near faultless.
The parent you blame for the abuse you suffered is the sky father. Even though you believe this “parent” doesn’t exist.
The concept of a parent comforting a child, while familiar to most people, strikes you as foreign and a metric ton of shit.
You are not angry. (Even though you told me to go f*ck myself).

I think you are angry, and it’s totally justified. People are both good and bad. Your parents can be good parents and have really let you down in this one circumstance. And you can be angry about it. That doesn’t mean you have to confront them, but you can acknowledge it to yourself. In the same vein, you can be a good mother and still have times you feel like you failed. All mothers feel that way sometimes. As one of my supervisors used to say, “no matter how good of a parent you are, your children are going to have something to say about you. Everyone has something to say when it’s their turn on the couch.”
I am so sorry for what happened to you. I hope you find peace.

Still not working.

And I said GFY because you insulted my parents and parenting without knowledge of either. I will repeat that now because you did it again.

I am not angry, I am a crazy happy lucky person. I have everything a person could want.

You, however, can't defend your beliefs even a tiny bit, nor can you handle any criticism of them, so you resort to personal insults.

I think who is angry and who has baggage is pretty clear!

[Anonymous]

There is no God. There is only the 😈.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because Karma. Humans have destroyed the Earth and now they can only have suffering.

But... but.. but... what about befoooore..?

Basically all the humanity since the stone age up until the point of the said destruction of the Earth suffered for nothing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:God allows free will.

Is there free will in heaven?

You'll never get anyone to answer this gotcha. Nice try tho.

I'll try..

Yes, there is a free will in heave, as long as you obey God.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is no God. There is only the 😈.

If there is no God then there is no 😈. Just think about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:God allows free will.

Is there free will in heaven?

You'll never get anyone to answer this gotcha. Nice try tho.

I'll try..

Yes, there is a free will in heave, as long as you obey God.

So if god can create a place with no suffering but people have free will, why did he not do so on earth?