My friends,

let's open a theological can o' worms here:

Why do bad things happen to good people?


I'd like to hear your answers.


My answer, from a Huna standpoint:

1) Everything in the universe has been made by God, everything carries his divine DNA within.

2) So, everything (and of course everybody) is alive. Yes, things are living beings, too. I, for instance, know that my car lives.

3) God has given us the great gift of free will. So, everybody (and everything) can decide if it wants to do good things or bad things.

4) Our subconsciousness is directly connected to our father-mother-spirit ("guardian angel" in Christian speak). Our subconsciousness is the seat of our memories and fears. Our father-mother-spirit will make our most prominent wishes happen (as long as they are according to God's general plan). However, those wishes are not stored in our conscious mind, but in our subconscious mind. So, it's not what we casually wish for, it's what's hidden deep in our subconsciousness that's becoming a reality in our lives. Most of us don't know what their subconsciousness is thinking.

5) If our subconsciousness is filled with dreadful and negative thoughts, dreadful and negative things will come into our life.

6) Natural desasters and comparable things are, according to Huna, living beings. They have free will. Let's take tornados. Most of them will hit uninhabitated land and do little damage. Some, however. are angry and decide to do harm.

What's your explanation?

Classic answer is: When we pissed off God in the garden, he said we are on our own now and not his babys anymore. he will be around, but we have full free will now and no longer protected under his wing.

err, then we were escorted out the front gates and told, don't let the gates hit you in the ass on the way out.

Love that one

yep, have to love the auto-censer on this board.
Wonder what it will do if I say this.
Men used to say that Mary had a fine looking donkey...

What do you mean by bad though? Its really bad for me anyway that an item I was buying on Ebey fell through coz the seller muddled up his email address...................I am now out pocket to the tune of £120 that I need to wait 30 days for to get back.

My car is a wreck, it is NOT alive, it is a rusty wreck even, its also a tractor coz its a diesil and it starts and sounds like a tractor.

I have got Degenerative Osteoporosis of the lower lumber region, if I am lucky I will walk on sticks in the next five years till I die, if I am unlucky I am in a wheelchair in five years with a totally crumbled lower back and pelvis. Has this to do with God? Nope, it was working all hours in the pouring rain planting trees and moving very large and heavy concrete slabs, then running my own landscaping business for some 15 years with no help.

My Step father suffered for 40 years with Asbestos poisoning, nothing to do with God, it was the Nissan huts he was in during his national service in Cyprus that did that to him...................

John

Guzzik, really, once and for all, is it possible for you to stay on topic?
You are entitled to your opinions, but please, let's try a serious exchange of worldviews here.

It's your opinon that illness and so forth are things coming from the outside, and not from yourself. So, it's true for you. I think completely different, but this is a topic that doesn't matter here.

I want to know:
Why do bad things happen to good people?

What is your answer?

Ok, delete my previous post as its no good. One word. Circumstances.

John

No, really, John, I AM interested in your opinion in this.

And I say again, circumstances. If Mrs Jones had not gone that way to the store she would not have fallen over the hole in the ground and ended up with a busted pelvis that plaques her everyday.

All the kids wiped out at Columbine School, they were in the wrong place at the wrong time, the gunman chose THAT particular "lot" too shoot at.

Or am I so far of the base that I have no idea of what you mean or what I should be answering??

John

I see.
I thought when you wrote "circumstances" and told me to delete your old post, you related to circumstances in your life that made you write those lines.

Thanks for your answer.

I'll add my two cents, because I thought about this alot.

First answer: I think part of the explanation has to do with the nature of our planet. Winds blow, storms happen, people get hurt. So that would match with the verse about time and unforseen occurance happen to all (I think it is in ecclesiastes, and I am probably quoting form the JW version from when I was a kid); the point being, things happen.

Second answer: It's about consequences. People make bad choices and then bad consequences happen. (choice+ consequnce= either good or bad; depending on the choice) For example, someone drives drunk, and someone else is on the road, that person dies. Natural consequence of a poor choice. Another example, taken from real life: Bangledesh floods, millions lose their homes, several die. In this case, the rich loaned money to the poor. To repay the loan, the country of Blangadesh expand their shrimp fields along the coast. To maximize the fields, they cut down the trees that lined the coast. Then the monsoon comes and suddenly the country floods like no ones business. It is a natural consequence of human choices.

I am not up for believing in a G-d that capricously chooses to save some and let others die. I do think G-d can be present in the midst of the bad thing that is happening. Since I think of G-d as that which moves toward love, when ever there is love happening in the midst of the bad thing, G-d is there working to lessen the pain or tragedy.

Let's see if this sort of holds up with something like Sept 11th. Some Americans hog resources, act as know it alls, pontificate about righteousness and live as hypocrits. (Choice) People with other views took offense and flew plane into buildings. (Consequence) Results? Bad things happened to many people. In that worst moment of history for the American people, love rose from the ruins. People sacrificed, sweated and worked hard to try and rescue others. In the midst of 9-11 G-d was.

I know alot of people probably think this is sucky theology, and I am okay with that; it is the only way I have come to think about the question without compromising what I observe. That's my two cents. It's really personal, but I wanted to share.

Karionie;
Well done! I just might add to what you said. From the beginning of mankind, the human race set into motion a series of events that cause the perpetuation of more events with negative consequences. The bad things that happen are, and have been, and always will be, caused by mankind, not by God.

And by the way, your thoughts are not "sucky", they're good!...God's Peace....To`na Wanagi

this is the age old question. My wifes uncle became an agnostic after the holocost.....the Rabbi at his funeral stated "remember we all feel this way from time to time...how could a loving God in heaven do this to us"..he then stated that this is the reason for the name Isriel..."he who struggles with God"

I believe the answer is very simple....we look at death and pain as a loss to us....Selfishness...we do not know the mind of God. God may simply look at pain as a lesson we need to learn, and death as coming home to him.....hardly a bad thing.

Rick

Good point, Rick. Thanks for this answer.

In this thread a dispute occurred when Guzzik gave a detailed answer about many bad things. You mentioned that he got off subject - But I disagree. I think he was smack on course. He was trying to say - DEFINE BAD. For what is bad to one person may be good to another. Ying and Yang.

So although I am not as certain as the author of the question is to whether automobiles are living things. I do believe that God creates many opportunities for all to shine and all to fai so others can shine.

Examples:

Police and Firefighter can never be hero's and do great sacrificial things, if not for the bad fires that take lives and properties.

Doctors can never use their talents to save lives, if car accidents did not happen.

Morticians can never give peace to a family when they gather for some as a reunion long in waite, at the passing of a loved one who dies 'needlessly'.

Car manufacturers would never improve safety features if folks never died in car crashes.

God gives us a choice to be on both sides of the fence - so we can APPRECIATE what we have what we need and what we shall give to others. If not for pain, we could not feel plleasure. We would siply exist robotic and comotose. No, we need both ends of the spectrum to understand the value of life.

We must appreciate the gifts he has given us and use them properly to acheive happiness. We must feel sorrow to understand when our actions or the actions of others are not within his guides.

Bad things happen to GOOD PEOPLE, because most would not care if they happened to bad people. In fact we learn more from bad things to good people then when it occurs to a bad person.

Ask yourself...

How many teenager would think twice about driving after a few beers if the only people who ever died in such crashes were the drunks themselves? No, the prom queen and the football hero must die, unexpectedly and without self cause as a resutl of anothers actions - a bad action, in order for so many others to see the importance of thier life, and the life we posess.

God is a teacher of men. Sadly we are always in school.

WHY DO BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE - Circumstance - Yes. Beccause we must have bad to love good.

When we each our heaven - we will have learned our lessons well, and bad will no longer be a necessary tactic to that means.

This is a subject that creates much passion, I’m going to chime in here with my opinion.

First of all I’m not a Christian however I often quote from the bible because I was brought up as a Christian even if I don’t believe the whole Bible so please bare with me. I remember The Book of Job (Why Job and Job (work) are spelled the same but pronounced different I do not know) anyway One time I listen to my Mom’s pastor preach on the same subject and did not have an answer, I wanted to remind him that Job said, the thing that I have “FEARED” has come to pass.

My belief really goes right along with yours.

Keep in mind, I don’t really believe in good, bad, evil etc I do use those words because most understand those terms.

I believe God is the Ultimate form of Energy that created all forms from God’s form. Energy does what energy does it follows a path. Our thoughts and emotions are also energy, if we focus on the lower level thoughts and emotions than we attract them to us. The energy of the tornado will be drawn more towards the homes with the energy that attracts it.

Our health has a lot to do with the way we lived along with the thought process, if we do not give our bodies the right amount of vitamins and minerals we suffer through things like poor immunity system, osteoporosis, arthritis, heart disease, etc. I have also suffered through some illness, due to poor health care decisions and emotional stress etc.

I recognize how my thought processes has brought on a lot of troubles in my life, how hidden anger and resentment has recreated the situations that I felt anger towards to began with.

So as “Good” as someone can be, if there focus is on the injustice in the world they will then suffer injustice. if they don’t properly take care of themselves with the appropriate amount of vitamins, minerals, exercise etc. There bodies will develop problems.

Its better to work for peace than rally against war, because of the focus or energy you put into it. If you’ve notice you have a better chance to remember something them you tell yourself to remember this or that than when you tell yourself not to “forget” something. I would right more but My husband is about to take me out to eat… IM HUNGRY>>>> anyway.. I did not have time to edit my note so please excuse my mistakes, or any poorly written paragraph… Sincerely Reverend Penny.

Here's my first response to a forum question so take it with a grain of salt. Bad things happen to good people because it's God's, Buddha,the universe's(whatever you want to call it) way of getting things done. For example, a couple of years back A lady I had broken up with a few months back brought some charges against me. Unable to make bail, I spent a full year locked up awaiting trial. Suddenly, without warning, the charges were dropped and the lady in question was forced to pay me for making a false accusation. For the next year I walked around urinated at the world for putting me through that. Then one day I stopped in a restaurant and my waiter was a kid that was locked up with me. I had listened to his story and hearing all the inconsistencies about his case, I suggested that he talk to his lawyer about taking his case to trial. He went to trial and was found not guilty. The day after, thew charges against me were dropped. The kid told me that if I hadn't been there he would have taken the plea deal and would have been in prison. Now he has a job and is going to collage. Is it fair that someone I had not seen in a year could have me arrested and charged with no evidence? No. Is it bad that I loose a year of my life because of spite? Yes.
But after talking to that young man I realized that god put me dead center in that boy's flight path. The bad thing that happened to me possibility affected the life of another human being, and who knows who that kid will help out in his life.
God,The Goddess, or whatever you believe in, puts you where you need to be. It isn't always pleasant. Occasionally we take a beating, but the universe never leaves us without a safety net.
So when bad things happen to good people especially if it's you, take a step back and ask yourself, "How can I handle this situation so that it helps or inspires others?". If you want to whine about it, go ahead. God understands, just look at Job. But when the day is done, make sure you've conducted yourself in a way that helps the people around you. Even if it's just providing an example.
Blessing Be.

It is all about perspective and our spiritual condition after the storm. Our perspectives usually change when the shoe is on the other foot because we now have the opportunity to see things from another angle/viewpoint. Is the glass half full or half empty? I guess it depends on how thirsty one might be and the gratitude we have whether it is full or empty. Doing what is right has its own rewards a you have just testified to....God's Peace...and welcome to the Forum....To`na Wanagi

Penny,

You wrote, "I remember The Book of Job (Why Job and Job (work) are spelled the same but pronounced different I do not know)..."

There are a lots of words that are spelled the same but are pronounced differently. For example, I wound the yarn into a ball, then stuck myself with a knitting needle and suffered a wound.

In the case you mentioned, in Hebrew the name is אִיּוֹב, pronounced ee-yov from which Job, with a long o sound is derived.

Shalom,

Peter

Here's the short and simple, s*** happens. If it didn't they never would have made the bumper stickers.

OK I like that.

I very rarely get overdrawn. Im very careful with my money and keep a close eye on my bank account. But accidents happen and a couple of months ago I was overdrawn for one day by 59p because it was either spend the money or be stranded in London for a night due to a concert running overtime and the tubes being on strike - things beyond my control.

I would have been happy to pay a resonable penalty charge but I was not going to cough up the Ј15 the bank wanted.

Ј15 for 59p? Thats taking the mickey and there is no excusing it.