Why do bad things happen to good people?

The question above has plagued religious people through history. The opponents or religion take this as an indication that either there is no God or that God is not able to control events in one's life. The proponents of religion on the other hand insist on seeing beyond the pain of bad things happening to the eventual good which may come from it.

That bad things happen to good people is something everyone grapples with. After the bombing of the World Trade Centre in New York (2001), and again the earthquake in Indonesia (2007) as well as that in Haiti (2010), many people wanted to know why a loving God will allow such a thing to happen. Some also point to the reality that many people suffer from cancer, diabetes and other forms of illness. Are these to be seen as punishment from God or even as God neglecting his creation?

The answer to these questions and other questions people face may not be very simple, however, I will dabble into it. With regards to the World Trade Centre bombing, it shows how perception of reality coupled with religious fundamentalism can lead to a distorted understanding of life and eventually to disaster. For the people who propagated and carried out this horrible attack, there must be a belief that this is the way "God" wants them to avenge what they perceive as evil against their religion or kin. To the rest of the world, it was a bad decision. No loving God wants anybody to kill for him! Why then did he allow this to happen? We can say that the answer to this hinges on human freedom. Because God is not a "control freak" who is interested in making his creatures robots, he gave us the freewill and the freedom to make choices. The bombers could have decided not to fly the aeroplanes into the buildings, but they did otherwise. To them it was the right thing to do based on their perception of reality, to the rest of the world, it was the wrong thing to do based on our perception of reality.

Imagine a situation where one who has no mental health/medical conditions or accidents that limit her/his use of any faculties, at the age of 30 or older, is being told exactly what to wear everyday by the parent(s), what food to eat, how many steps to walk in order to get from point A to B. In our minds, forcing the individual will constitute abuse. In this situation, there is absolute lack of love. God loves us so much that like every good parent, he gives us options and yet reminds us of the consequences of our actions. It is up to people to choose to do what is right and not what destroys. I know that there may still be questions arising from this, but I will handle them as they come up.

The same response may be used for the prevalence of cancer and other forms of illness. I have a sister who is struggling with cancer so it is not like I am insensitive to the plight of people who suffer this and other horrible illnesses and their families. When God created the earth and the rest of the universe (according to Judeo-Christian tradition), he saw that all he made was good. For those who do not ascribe to the Judeo-Christian tradition, there is also the acceptance of the goodness in people and things. How did we end going from goodness to bad situations?

As people's perception of reality and understanding of the laws in nature mature, humans began to learn the reactions of certain materials when mixed together (science started), and how some of them react in the human, animal or plant species. This led to the development of different hormones, drugs (prescription and non-prescription), pesticides, herbicides and other chemicals. Some of these developments were accidental in nature while others were done within controlled environment.

My thought (non-scientific research) is that as some of these hormones are being used, they start interfering with the workings of the human body. Cancer is the result of the human cells growing uncontrollably. In the olden days, animals were raised in the farms and it often took much longer to raise them, but today, it takes about a fifth of the time it took in the olden days as a result of the use of hormones on these animals. Chicken used to take six months in a free range farm to reach maturity, today they are ready for the marked after four to eight weeks or so. What this is telling me is that the rate at which we see our younger people look much older is a result of the hormones society allows farmers to pump into the food we buy and the hormonal rage within their bodies. These external hormones join force with the ones their bodies produce naturally to overload the body. When these hormones overtake the normal workings and functioning of the body, coupled with stress, lack of water intake and proper nutrition (fatty food, eating at odd times), the body starts to grow uncontrollably!

This also has to do with choices. Society can choose to control the use of these external chemicals and laboratory hormones. Please note that I am not against the use of chemicals and medications when necessary, but the prevalent overuse and wrongful use results in many of the avoidable illnesses. I think part of the problem is that the corporations put profit over health. One ca also say that the human species is one of the few that sees what will kill it and goes on to eat it. Often we do not see cats fighting for dog food or vice versa. Could these hormonal overload be responsible for the many behavioural issues we see in some of our young people today? Possibly.

In my next posting, I will talk about the earthquakes and the likes.