Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People
While contemplating and researching the question of why do bad things happen to good people I struggled with the thought of creating or knowing the answer. Would knowing the answer as to why bad things happen to good people give me or anyone else on this earth the power or choice to prevent them from happening? The more I read and thought about it I felt more strongly that this question was never intended to be answered. As Rabbi Harold Kushner states “The question we should be asking is not, “Why did this happen to me? What did I do to deserve this?” That is really an unanswerable, pointless question. A better question would be “Now that this has happened to me, what am I going to do about it?”
If we knew the answer to why do bad things happen to good people then what? The answer would not keep bad things from occurring since bad things are in inevitable. Rabbi Aron Moss writes, “If this ultimate
But stop looking for answers. Start formulating a response. Take your righteous anger and turn it into a force for doing good. Redirect your frustration with injustice and unfairness and channel it into a drive to fight injustice and unfairness. Let your outrage propel you into action. When you see innocent people suffering, help them. Combat the pain in the world with goodness. Alleviate suffering wherever you can. We don't want answers, we don't want explanations, and we don't want closure. We want an end to suffering. And we dare not leave it up to God to alleviate suffering. He is waiting for us to do it. That's what we are here for.” I’m amazed of what I’ve learned while thinking and looking for a possible answer to why do bad thing happen to good people. My final thoughts are to accept that there is no answer and our purpose in life is to help eliminate suffering where
In CrimJ 100 we were talking a lot about how to court system works and the different severities of sentences. I was asked to watch the movie A Few Good Men, I was able to watch it on Popcorn time. The purpose of watching this movie was so I could relate what I was learning in class to this movie. The movie is about two marines; LCcl Harold and PFC Downie were ordered a code red on a fellow marine that was requesting to leave his company. The Commanding Officer Nathan Jessep ordered the code red to “train” the marine to get use to the conditions in Cuba. The code red back fired on the commander when Santiago died from the code red. The commander tried to stay under the radar and erase his name from getting tracked back to him. The protagonist Lt. Daniel Kaffee has to prove the Lt. Kendrick called the code red on Santiago. Another main character in this film is Lt. Cdr. Galloway, she is PFC Downie’s attorney for this case. There are many themes that we have covered in class that occur in the movie. This is great representation of how a real court case would play out. The movie showcase key themes, such as Plea bargains, Responsibilities of the Criminal Defence Attorneys, Responsibilities of the Procsector, Bringing in a witness, and also showcases judges in a courtroom scenario.
Bad things are bound to happen; it’s just a matter of when. I agree with his particular view on this matter, “Some are caused by bad luck. Some are caused by bad people, and others are silly an inevitable consequence of our being human and being mortal, living in a world of flexible natural laws” (pg.134). I believe the presence of God does not change the existence of good or evil, but may influence humans to have great faith, and therefore act accordingly. I do think people abandon their faith because of the problem with evil than for any other reason. It is certainly a test of faith, and temptation to unbelief. This world is way too random and unpredictable. Things interact in complex ways so their will always be room for the unexpected, and that’s why I think bad things happen to good people. But I don’t have the true answer, Kushner does not have the true answer, and I don’t believe anyone will ever have the true answer. Although I was raised believing in God and having faith, I don’t think there is a higher power interacting with the world causing whatever bad thing to happen. Like Kushner, I think God gives us the strength to cope with bad things when they come our way. Ultimately, I believe the nature of reality is blind as to weather you’re a good or evil. You could be a good person your whole life and then one day something tragic happens; you lose your job, your house
Evil can be characterized as or accompanied by misfortune or suffering; being unfortunate or disastrous. The presence of evil and suffering in our reality appears to present the argument of the existence of an immaculate God. In other words, the conclusion of the Basic Argument is that God doesn’t exist. If the conclusion is true, then perhaps the problem of evil is caused by human moral agents, not the deity or God. The conclusion matters if we want to understand why innocent people suffer.
Some people just have bad luck in their lives but others really do cause lots of bad
Some theodicies prove to be objective and intelligent explanations for the problem of evil, and others are feeble justifications for the intense suffering seen in the natural world. John Hick, a theist philosopher discusses the idea that god has a reason for evil. His essay on the reason for evil discusses the idea the when god created the universe he thought about what being he wanted to create. According to Hick, he wanted to create a being that could freely morally develop rather than creating a world in which humans are already morally perfect. Hick argues that moral and spiritual development that is freely chosen is fundamentally superior to moral perfection that would simply be given to human beings. Hick describes evil’s purpose as to assist human beings in the development of moral perfection. He believes that humanity begins self-centered and selfish, but with development and moral advancement there is the capability of
Can a person be strictly good or evil? This is a timeless question that people struggle with.
The Good Life The good life, can be described as a multitude of different things for many different people and often varies within cultures and generations. While basic desires of the good life often include good health, wealth, and companionship, we all usually desire a bit more, personal wants. As discussed in class and throughout the readings, each philosopher presented to us had varying degrees of what they consider to be the good life and ways in which the good life can be achieved. While each philosopher had certain appealing aspects to there argument, I felt that Ralph Waldo Emerson’s idea of the good life best fit with desires and beliefs I previously held about life.
People live in a broken world: injustice, illness and death are everywhere, meanwhile, love, joy and hope are just a shadow of an utopian society. Even the most optimistic people have realized that humanity is immersed in darkness concluding that a hopeless future is what this humanity awaits. Although, the endless works of intellectuals and philosophers have offered explanations of the problem of evil and suffering to the anxious people who seek an end to their interminable sufferings, none of these solutions have satisfy their anguished heart. Hence, where can a man find an answer? Religion has played an important role in this human issue, and Christianity has taken the challenge on explaining the whys of the problem of evil and suffering.
The answer to the Problem of Evil is not one many people like, and unfortunately a better answer has not been thought. The Problem of Evil is the issue of why God, if he exists, allows evil to occur in the world. God is defined as being omnipotent, all powerful, and all good. So why do evil things occur to good people? And why do evil people profit off of good people? Well, the Christian theology believes that bad things happen to test your faith, and that Earth is basically a trial for your entrance to Heaven. Whereupon, you attempt to be and do as much good as possible. However, if you’re not a Christian, this is quite dissatisfactory. This answer doesn’t even take into account philosophical thinking; it is one based on faith. So if you’re attempting to convert your friends, that would not be the best argument.
People tend to have different opinions on what a tragic hero is. Everyone knows that a tragic hero has to go through the 4 stages to be considered one, but the real question lies on the last stage of harmentia, wisdom. People think that if a person that goes through wisdom but doesn’t learn anything and gives in and accepts his defeat, he is not a tragic hero. That isn’t necessarily true. It doesn’t matter what the character does in the end, even if he hasn’t learned anything. If it gives the reader a message and gives them a lesson in life to think about, then the character is a tragic hero. All the character has to do is to go through the 4 stages and give the reader a message to be considered a tragic hero. This was shown in the book,” Things fall Apart,” by Chinua Achebe. The main character, Okonkwo, went through the 4 stages of and gave the reader a lesson to think about without learning anything from what he has done. To emphasize on this, the following evidence will show how Okonkwo is a tragic hero, by expanding on the stages he went through. High status, tragic flaw, nemesis, and Wisdom.
In the words of American businessman and religious leader, Joseph B. Wirthlin, he states: “I give thanks to my Creator for this wonderful life where each of us has the opportunity to learn lessons we could not fully comprehend by any other means,” (“Wonderful Life Quotes”). I completely agree with Wirthlin’s statement and realize that life has taught myself important lessons. I believe through my responsibilities as a babysitter I learned the lesson of patience. Through food, I learned the lesson of diversity and congregation. Finally, my family taught me the lesson of unconditional love and strong values. Therefore, the three things that contribute to me being a wonderful person is my work as a babysitter, food, and my family.
There are contrasting perceptions as to what makes a life good or bad and what makes an act justified or unjustified. Socrates and Plato recognize evil as the result of human ignorance, while Augustine’s philosophy suggests that people can also have deliberate evil intent. While the two philosophers have slight variations in the perceived conception of why people act out of evil, they both ultimately agree that God is not the reason for the derivative of the evils that exist.
Throughout ages, people have argued about the nature of man, and the complexity of this matter. According to various studies as well as ideas of major writers and philosophers, man is naturally born good. However, society and environmental factors determine if one will remain this way or become evil. When one is born, they are naturally good, but their environment and interactions with people from their very early ages determine whether or not they will develop a sense of badness throughout their life.
The book Lucky was both enlightening and inspiring in countless ways. It was enlightening to read about a subject that many people shy away from or feel uncomfortable discussing. It was inspiring because it allowed you to read, in a very intimate way, the strengths and weaknesses of one woman as she dealt with the aftermath of being raped. Most importantly, the book Lucky allowed me the opportunity to think and reflect about the victim’s family and friends, statistics involving rape, and the physical/emotional toil the victim under goes.
As CCC 309 of the Catechism tells us and which was noted in the prior chapter, our Christian faith gives us some answers to the question of why God permits evil to exist. It is through the reliance on our faith that we must trust God's divine wisdom and love; that the existence and his permission of evil leads to a greater good, than would otherwise have been possible. Will we have all the answers to that during our time on earth? No. But we do have our Christian faith, which permits us to believe and accept that evil and sin will result in a greater good.