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Why Does God Make Us Suffer?

tariqkhwaja

tariqkhwaja

Jihad Against Terrorism
We understand from the Holy Quran, that God did not create suffering as an independent entity in its own right, but only as an indispensable counterpart of pleasure and comfort. The absence of happiness is suffering, which is like its shadow, just as darkness is the shadow cast by the absence of light. If there is life, there has to be death; both are situated at the extreme poles of the same plane, with innumerable grades and shades in between. As we move away from death, we gradually move towards a state of life which is happiness; as we move away from life, we move away with a sense of loss and sorrow towards death. This is the key to understanding the struggle for existence, which in turn leads to a constant improvement in the quality of life and helps it to achieve the ultimate goal of evolution. The principle of the "survival of the fittest" plays an integral role in this grand scheme of evolution.

This phenomenon is mentioned in the Holy Quran in the following verse:
"Blessed is He in whose hand is the kingdom, and He has power over all things;
It is He Who has created death and life that He might try you—which of you is best in deeds; and He is the Mighty, the Most Forgiving." [67:2-3]

The answer to the question 'Why is there suffering?' is clearly implied in this verse in its widest application.

The profound philosophy of life and death, the innumerable shades in between, and the role they play in shaping life and improving its quality are all covered in the above verse. It is the very scheme of things that God discloses here. We know that life is only a positive value, and death merely means its absence, and no sharp border exists separating one from the other. It is a gradual process, the way life travels towards death and ebbs out, or from the other direction we view death travelling towards life gaining strength, energy and consciousness as it moves on. This is the grand plan of creation, but why has God designed it so? 'That He might try you—which of you is best in deeds', is the answer provided by the Holy Quran.
It is the perpetual struggle between life and death that subjects the living to a constant state of trial, so that all who conduct themselves best survive and gain a higher status of existence. Herein lies the philosophy and the machination of evolution as described in the verses above. It is this constant struggle between the forces of life and the forces of death which provide the thrust to the living to perpetually move away from death or towards it. It may result either in the improvement or deterioration in the quality of existence in the wide spectrum of evolutionary changes. This is the essence and spirit of evolution.

Suffering could only be considered objectionable if it were created as an independent entity with no meaningful role to play in the scheme of things. But without the taste of suffering or an awareness of what it means, the feeling of relief and comfort would also vanish. Without an encounter with pain and misery, most certainly, joy and happiness would lose all meaning. Indeed the very existence of life would lose purpose, and the steps of evolution would stop dead in their tracks.
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The above was taken from The Question of Suffering. I hope the lengthy read was worth it.
 
Cacafire

Cacafire

Member
We make ourselves suffer. I agree. Put a human in any situation and he can find something wrong with it. Doesn't necessarily mean anything's fundamentally wrong with the world, or something like that.
 
DallasApple

DallasApple

Depends Upon My Mood..
Some do NOT make themselves "suffer"..Some are just born..and they suffer till death because of that one fact...(they were born)

Love

Dallas
 
Darkness

Darkness

Psychoanalyst/Marxist
Dallas, has a great point. Some souls are simply thrust into a state of perpetual peril without a chance at happiness. Reincarnation is an attempt to explain this, though, it fails ultimately to fully explain it.
 
DallasApple

DallasApple

Depends Upon My Mood..
Cacafire said:
We make ourselves suffer. I agree. Put a human in any situation and he can find something wrong with it. Doesn't necessarily mean anything's fundamentally wrong with the world, or something like that.
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Put a "human" into a starvation situation and they will "find something wrong with it"?..Put a "human'" into sex slavery and they will "find something wrong with it"...Put a human in a "war zone" and they will "find something wrong with it"?

Hmm..We need to spread the word that if you suffer..??? Its YOUR fault..Not a problem with the "world"...

Love
Dallas
 
DallasApple

DallasApple

Depends Upon My Mood..
Darkness said:
Dallas, has a great point. Some souls are simply thrust into a state of perpetual peril without a chance at happiness. Reincarnation is an attempt to explain this, though, it fails ultimately to fully explain it.
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Reincarnation would be the only hope to deal with why a child would be born to suffer and die ....But how would you explain others who DELIBERATELY killed them?Or they just "happened" to be born to a starving mother who was so starving and dehydrated herself she couldnt even feed her infant???

Well..It must be "his her fault"...For BEING BORN!

Love

Dallas
 
.lava

.lava

Veteran Member
DallasApple said:
Im sorry...I am following what you are saying..Yes ...like "handicapped" people...

I use sarcasm...that is pretty dry..

Love

Dallas
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got it :)

people who were not born in war zone, people who does not starve..they are suffering too. saying "we make our selves suffer" is nothing like "yea you deserved it, go starve" or "you were born in war zone so you can suffer" it is not like that Dallas.

everyone who lives a life away from God, suffers within. that is what i meant. on the other hand, someone could be living in very undesirable conditions but he might have peace within.


.
 
Azakel

Azakel

Liebe ist für alle da
DallasApple said:
Some do NOT make themselves "suffer"..Some are just born..and they suffer till death because of that one fact...(they were born)

Love

Dallas
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Darkness said:
Dallas, has a great point. Some souls are simply thrust into a state of perpetual peril without a chance at happiness. Reincarnation is an attempt to explain this, though, it fails ultimately to fully explain it.
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What they said. I agree with them. ^_^
 
logician

logician

Well-Known Member
We suffer because of the chaotic processes of life, no supposed entity makes us suffer, and we don't suffer because we are sinners. We can suffer from stupid or ill thought out actions.
 
Darkness

Darkness

Psychoanalyst/Marxist
logician said:
We suffer because of the chaotic processes of life, no supposed entity makes us suffer, and we don't suffer because we are sinners. We can suffer from stupid or ill thought out actions.
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...because our biology (what we are) and how our environment interacts with us, makes us who we are and "chooses" what we do.
 
B

barney1

barney1
I don't believe God relishes in our suffering. Much of the suffering on this earth is brought on by man. At the same time, nobody ever seems to slide through life without challenges. We all need to go through the refiners fire in order to be worthy to stand in Gods presence someday. God knows us personally and to that extent, he allows the trials that will hopefully help us to progress and become more like him. Isn't that what all fathers want for their chioldren? Many (those who have serious physical or mental problems) may not need the same amount of refining as others and their disabilities may be a protection for them.
 
tariqkhwaja

tariqkhwaja

Jihad Against Terrorism
For those of you asking about babies who are born into this world suffering, if you had read the link I posted with the article that question would have been answered.

Let us once again examine the scenario of the 'innocent sufferers', the newborn babies with congenital defects or those falling ill at a later age with typhoid or some other disabling disease, rendering them blind, deaf and dumb, or even partially or totally paralysed for life. Worse still may be the case of those, whose central nervous system is damaged by mishaps during birth, resulting in mental disorders. Is the question valid: Why this particular child, A or B? Why not another, say for instance C or D? Would not the same question repeat again and yet again: Why C or D? Why not E or F and so on? The only valid question therefore, would be: Why anyone at all? Hence the only option the Creator is left with is either to create all babies equally healthy or equally unhealthy. This leads us to the realization that the health of a baby itself is merely of relative value. Perhaps it is hard to find any two babies equally gifted with the health of mind and heart and all the physical organs alike. To resolve the question of suffering, there is another valid question to be raised against the Creator. If one child is born with pinhole eyes and a large ugly nose and other disproportionate features, will he not suffer all his life comparing his disadvantages with the advantages of other more fortunate fellow human beings?

Inequality of health and looks will continue to irritate most individuals and will even agonise some at finding themselves to be at a disadvantage in comparison to others. Does it not warrant in the name of absolute justice and fair play that God should create every human exactly alike in health and looks? Widen the area of comparison by bringing into play the faculties of head and heart and disposition and the contrast between those who have advantages and those who have disadvantages will become even more pronounced. In the absence of extreme cases even the mild cases will appear offensive to the sense of justice. One has to begin somewhere to create variety and diversity to break the monotony. Wherever there is variety and diversity, comparative suffering and happiness are bound to be generated. To object against the plan of things in the name of compassion for disabled children is one thing, but to replace the plan with a more just and compassionate viable plan is quite another. One may try one's hand at altering the scheme for aeons of time but one will still not be able to replace the plan of God's creations for a better one. In other words, we shall be again reverting to the question of why any disease and suffering at all; why should they be inevitable?
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tariqkhwaja

tariqkhwaja

Jihad Against Terrorism
Or, no god exists, and suffering is merely a chaotic result of living.
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Yes but Atheists often question Theists on how they can believe in a God that makes us suffer. And this post presents that answer. The point is that the existence of suffering does not question the existence of a God and, moreover, does not question the existence of a Merciful God.
 
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