Why do bad things happen to good people?
Be careful when answering this question. It's a minefield by the way.
I would like to hear your reasoning.
Another way to ask that question is why does being a US Marine, SEAL, or Army Ranger come with so much suffering? How could that suffering--whilst you're going through it--possibly have any paradoxical good come out of it?
Children going to school or being given homework often feel the same way.
The Marine Corps has this maxim they like to say--within the culture of the Corps, but they extend it to all of life outside of the Corps. Now, I forget the exact word for word saying but it goes something like this: struggle (suffering) builds character.
Listen, I'm not the most disciplined person on earth. And I've spent a fair amount of my life trying to find short cuts or the easiest route. Not that there is anything wrong with working smarter or more efficiently. Hard work in and of itself can be over glamorized. Wage slaves and chattel slaves work hard for instance. But the hard truth I've learned in my life is this: generally to get better, to get stronger, to get wiser or smarter requires going through the crucible of pain. I've found for myself that there is really no other way around this.
Sure, you can join an easy boxing gym or an easy American football team. Little to no cardio workout required. Coaches never push you. But as a rule of thumb the champs are pushed to limits. We may not--at the time of passing through the grueling crucible--understand why our coach, our mentor, our high school teacher, our troop handlers in infantry courses are pushing us so hard. We may well curse them in the process. I have.
But then when we pass on the other side and see ourselves better conditioned, superior in endurance and skills than our opponents, we look to the heavens and thank our coach, our mentor, our high school teacher, our infantry school troop handlers for every minute of hell they put us through. Semper Fi.
I was in boot camp when Mike Tyson was knocked out. That night while laying at attention in the rack, before being giving the command to sleep, the DI confirmed the rumor that the invincible Mike Tyson had been defeated. I could not believe it.
So, it remains a mystery to me “why” all these bad things happen to seemingly good people, even innocent children. But all I can do—or so I choose to do—is keep faith in God that as the great coach in the sky he leads all his pupils to final victory. So, I’ve got a “why” as to why I pray to Jesus.
). Indeed, what you've just described to me seems less like a way to get to know someone and more a way of brainwashing oneself into believing something.
