Why does God allow suffering?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I am indeed blaming the famine and death of children on the actions of the entire nation of Somalia which happens to include from the bottom rung of their society to the top levels of government pirates, slavers, murderers, thieves, pederasts and pedophiles, and all manner of wicked, sinful behavior for which God is justly judging them.

You still keep thinking Somalia is innocent because some babies died. These babies are the children of wicked, evil people, no different than if they were the children of Adolf Hitler whose seed would grow up to be murderous Nazis. No difference. Somalia has been judged and found wanting. No nation can defy the laws of God and go unpunished indefinitely. This includes the United States and its murder of millions of unborn children because of the sins of adultery and fornication, not to mention homosexuality which is an abomination in the eyes of God. Abominable.

You are a monster. Since here it is OK to believe things that are likely false, I will choose to believe that you are a troll trying to make religious people look horrible.

Not a troll. Being accused of one is what people do when they have no argument against the truth. I used the bible to show that God will cause a famine and destroy babies for the wickedness of the people. It is why God destroyed Sodom an Gomorrah. It is in the bible. The bible is true and I believe exactly what it says.

God punishes a nation for its abominations, such as homosexuality:

Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination...And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants --Leviticus 18:22

In California, the land is vomiting out by fire the inhabitants.

Sounds like a pretty horrible god. why do you believe in him?

God is just and righteous. You are here safe in America pretty much, don't have to live in fear of Al-Shabaab kicking down your door taking your daughters off into sexual slavery. You don't have such neighbors so all you see is "oh dear, babies have died" not realizing these babies are the children of murderers and rapists and people who are more like beasts than humans. Their evil deeds do not register in your mind.

I believe in God because he is. God exists. And God is just and true. God gives life and he takes it away because he sees the entire picture and all circumstances.

I'll give an analogy: You see a man slap a child and push him away from a long table. Your first thought is "child abuse! How dare he do that to a little innocent child? But you did not see what happened before, the sinister grin on the child's face as he opened a packet labeled arsenic and started to pour it into a punch bowl on the table which would have poisoned and killed people had they drunk the punch. No, you did not see that, you only saw the child's punishment.

Dare you judge God for justly punishing the wicked? You do not understand the justice of God because you do not see the whole picture the way God does. I tell you, what the Somalis have been doing is as bad as the Nazis if not worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Come on, the major symbol of Christianity was a common torture device in its day. Yes. Suffering is addressed. Over and over again.

I think the question is, “why does suffering exist for good/innocent people or people who did not choose it?” right? Or are you asking why any unhappiness exists at all?

So you are assuming here that there are people who have never done anything wrong? You might want to re-think that. We are all born with an evil nature.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I am indeed blaming the famine and death of children on the actions of the entire nation of Somalia which happens to include from the bottom rung of their society to the top levels of government pirates, slavers, murderers, thieves, pederasts and pedophiles, and all manner of wicked, sinful behavior for which God is justly judging them.

You still keep thinking Somalia is innocent because some babies died. These babies are the children of wicked, evil people, no different than if they were the children of Adolf Hitler whose seed would grow up to be murderous Nazis. No difference. Somalia has been judged and found wanting. No nation can defy the laws of God and go unpunished indefinitely. This includes the United States and its murder of millions of unborn children because of the sins of adultery and fornication, not to mention homosexuality which is an abomination in the eyes of God. Abominable.

You are a monster. Since here it is OK to believe things that are likely false, I will choose to believe that you are a troll trying to make religious people look horrible.

Not a troll. Being accused of one is what people do when they have no argument against the truth. I used the bible to show that God will cause a famine and destroy babies for the wickedness of the people. It is why God destroyed Sodom an Gomorrah. It is in the bible. The bible is true and I believe exactly what it says.

God punishes a nation for its abominations, such as homosexuality:

Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination...And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants --Leviticus 18:22

In California, the land is vomiting out by fire the inhabitants.

Sounds like a pretty horrible god. why do you believe in him?

God is just and righteous. You are here safe in America pretty much, don't have to live in fear of Al-Shabaab kicking down your door taking your daughters off into sexual slavery. You don't have such neighbors so all you see is "oh dear, babies have died" not realizing these babies are the children of murderers and rapists and people who are more like beasts than humans. Their evil deeds do not register in your mind.

I believe in God because he is. God exists. And God is just and true. God gives life and he takes it away because he sees the entire picture and all circumstances.

I'll give an analogy: You see a man slap a child and push him away from a long table. Your first thought is "child abuse! How dare he do that to a little innocent child? But you did not see what happened before, the sinister grin on the child's face as he opened a packet labeled arsenic and started to pour it into a punch bowl on the table which would have poisoned and killed people had they drunk the punch. No, you did not see that, you only saw the child's punishment.

Dare you judge God for justly punishing the wicked? You do not understand the justice of God because you do not see the whole picture the way God does. I tell you, what the Somalis have been doing is as bad as the Nazis if not worse.

yep all of those wicked new borns. It seems like you worship evil

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Come on, the major symbol of Christianity was a common torture device in its day. Yes. Suffering is addressed. Over and over again.

I think the question is, “why does suffering exist for good/innocent people or people who did not choose it?” right? Or are you asking why any unhappiness exists at all?

So you are assuming here that there are people who have never done anything wrong? You might want to re-think that. We are all born with an evil nature.

You clearly were, you creepy skin-crawly monster. Speak for yourself. Not me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Come on, the major symbol of Christianity was a common torture device in its day. Yes. Suffering is addressed. Over and over again.

I think the question is, “why does suffering exist for good/innocent people or people who did not choose it?” right? Or are you asking why any unhappiness exists at all?

So you are assuming here that there are people who have never done anything wrong? You might want to re-think that. We are all born with an evil nature.

Well, there were only two people in the history of the world who never did anything wrong, and they both suffered tremendously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I am indeed blaming the famine and death of children on the actions of the entire nation of Somalia which happens to include from the bottom rung of their society to the top levels of government pirates, slavers, murderers, thieves, pederasts and pedophiles, and all manner of wicked, sinful behavior for which God is justly judging them.

You still keep thinking Somalia is innocent because some babies died. These babies are the children of wicked, evil people, no different than if they were the children of Adolf Hitler whose seed would grow up to be murderous Nazis. No difference. Somalia has been judged and found wanting. No nation can defy the laws of God and go unpunished indefinitely. This includes the United States and its murder of millions of unborn children because of the sins of adultery and fornication, not to mention homosexuality which is an abomination in the eyes of God. Abominable.

You are a monster. Since here it is OK to believe things that are likely false, I will choose to believe that you are a troll trying to make religious people look horrible.

Not a troll. Being accused of one is what people do when they have no argument against the truth. I used the bible to show that God will cause a famine and destroy babies for the wickedness of the people. It is why God destroyed Sodom an Gomorrah. It is in the bible. The bible is true and I believe exactly what it says.

God punishes a nation for its abominations, such as homosexuality:

Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination...And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants --Leviticus 18:22

In California, the land is vomiting out by fire the inhabitants.

Sounds like a pretty horrible god. why do you believe in him?

not pp, but this God sounds like a god you want to stay on the good side of, or else you could be vomited out by him, like those poor people in CA.

Also, sounds like a big strong God you'd want to identify with and have on hand to help you when needed.

[Anonymous]

OP, you should read some introductory college philosophy books (or high school theology). As you might imagine, you are not the first human to ask this question.

You will find discussions and contemplations on the topic by such as Augustine, Boethius, Anselm, Aquinas, Descartes, Pascal, etc. An easy read to start would be Nigel Warburton's "A Little History of Philosophy."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I am indeed blaming the famine and death of children on the actions of the entire nation of Somalia which happens to include from the bottom rung of their society to the top levels of government pirates, slavers, murderers, thieves, pederasts and pedophiles, and all manner of wicked, sinful behavior for which God is justly judging them.

You still keep thinking Somalia is innocent because some babies died. These babies are the children of wicked, evil people, no different than if they were the children of Adolf Hitler whose seed would grow up to be murderous Nazis. No difference. Somalia has been judged and found wanting. No nation can defy the laws of God and go unpunished indefinitely. This includes the United States and its murder of millions of unborn children because of the sins of adultery and fornication, not to mention homosexuality which is an abomination in the eyes of God. Abominable.

You are a monster. Since here it is OK to believe things that are likely false, I will choose to believe that you are a troll trying to make religious people look horrible.

Not a troll. Being accused of one is what people do when they have no argument against the truth. I used the bible to show that God will cause a famine and destroy babies for the wickedness of the people. It is why God destroyed Sodom an Gomorrah. It is in the bible. The bible is true and I believe exactly what it says.

God punishes a nation for its abominations, such as homosexuality:

Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination...And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants --Leviticus 18:22

In California, the land is vomiting out by fire the inhabitants.

Sounds like a pretty horrible god. why do you believe in him?

not pp, but this God sounds like a god you want to stay on the good side of, or else you could be vomited out by him, like those poor people in CA.

Also, sounds like a big strong God you'd want to identify with and have on hand to help you when needed.

Like Zeus.
Doesn’t sound like a Christian God.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, you should read some introductory college philosophy books (or high school theology). As you might imagine, you are not the first human to ask this question.

You will find discussions and contemplations on the topic by such as Augustine, Boethius, Anselm, Aquinas, Descartes, Pascal, etc. An easy read to start would be Nigel Warburton's "A Little History of Philosophy."

Don't forget Ehrman https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00125OKXU/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

God's Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question--Why We Suffer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Come on, the major symbol of Christianity was a common torture device in its day. Yes. Suffering is addressed. Over and over again.

I think the question is, “why does suffering exist for good/innocent people or people who did not choose it?” right? Or are you asking why any unhappiness exists at all?

So you are assuming here that there are people who have never done anything wrong? You might want to re-think that. We are all born with an evil nature.

Please tell me you're not for real -- or at least not a member of a religious group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you think too much about it, you might lose your faith. So if you truly believe, you'll always trust God and be able to come up with a reason why he does what he does. If you can't explain God, then you might stop believing that he exists. That prospect can be frightening or freeing.

Frightening? If you only knew how terrifying this sounds to me.

Please answer this question: what other thing in your life do you treat this way?

e.g., Santa Claus - I was skeptical after a while, but the thought of not believing in him was tempered by knowing the gifts would continue and that other big kids and all adults also did not believe in him. Also, in the case of Santa, there was peer pressure after a certain age not to believe.

In our culture, it's often the opposite with God. There is societal pressure to believe in him, or at least not to openly say you don't believe. It's OK to express doubts, though, with the expectation that you will return to belief.

Please answer this question: What about the prospect of there being no God sounds terrifying to you?

PP here. None. I do not believe in a god. It's the rationalization and denial that is terrifying to me. There is no other aspect of life, no matter how trivial, that requires that much denial of reality. I blame many of the world's ills on it.

Not rationalizing or denying -- just explaining how some people think.

[Anonymous]

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?

[Anonymous]

This is a book that really helped me. It’s very deep and goes into a lot if history. https://www.amazon.com/Walking-God-through-Pain-Suffering/dp/1594634408

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

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.

There's a third option: God does not exist.