An answer to "Why do bad things happen to good people?

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Lord Terrible
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Post by Lord Terrible » Wed Apr 28, 2004 6:05 pm

Very relative indeed. I don't believe there are any bad persons around, because they all think they aren't bad...
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Post by Azurain » Wed Apr 28, 2004 6:31 pm

[quote="Deacon";p="327884"]Why bad things happen to good people is because the world is not perfect.[/quote]

But the world was created by a perfect God, wasn't it? I'm confused...

/me looks innocent...
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Post by Deacon » Thu Apr 29, 2004 1:29 am

Did you completely miss my other post on the topic, or are you just being contrary?

[quote="Deacon";p="327216"][quote="Azurain";p="327198"]Were there an omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent entity, things on Earth would have to be different.[/quote]
Really? Why do you say this? If God has existed before the earth existed, then you do not know anything different. In other words, you can't suggest that something would be different if you've never know anything else. Perhaps "different" would mean "a million times worse". You have no baseline from which to judge "different". I assume by "different", you mean "perfect"--YOUR personal idea of perfect, from the perspective of your own selfish desires.

Of course, the world was different when God created the first couple of humans. It was as perfect as you can get in a physical world, and there was only one command to follow. When those two humans disobeyed God, disobeyed that one command, they introduced imperfection into the world.[/quote]
The follies which a man regrets the most in his life are those which he didn't commit when he had the opportunity. - Helen Rowland, A Guide to Men, 1922

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Post by peter-griffin » Thu Apr 29, 2004 1:42 am

Thank you Deacon, for being such a great ninja. Perhaps, one day, I will be as ninja-ish as you.

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Post by Azurain » Thu Apr 29, 2004 1:57 am

[quote="Deacon";p="328323"]Did you completely miss my other post on the topic, or are you just being contrary?[/quote]

Mostly just being contrary. *I* thought it was funny...

As to your response, I thought I'd responded to that rather well when I said:

[quote="Azurain";p="327247"]
It's the same thing with an omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent all-creator. If there was an entity which could do *anything* knew *everything* created *everything* and was completely and utterly good, there is no explanation for suffering that is remotely valid. Free will doesn't work as an explanation, and even if it did it sure doesn't explain hurricanes, or tornados, or leprosy. These things had to be deliberate creations of God, if he is omnipotent and omniscient and all-creating. If he created them, he must have known they'd cause suffering, but in that case he deliberately caused suffering. Not benevolent. I have never once seen an even remotely coherent resolution to the Arugment From Evil. None of the myths in the Bible can explain how an omnibenevolent entity could deliberately cause harm for any reason whatsoever.

Since there is suffering in the world, an omniscient, omnipotent, all creator cannot possibly be benevolent. So no such thing as the Christian God can exist.
[/quote]

But we can get into that in the original thread if we like. I was just being flippant (with the innocent look and all it didn't tip you off?).

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Post by Prospero » Thu Apr 29, 2004 2:08 am

there are any bad persons around
Illogical. For one: there are. Relatively. Secondly, if a person considers themselves bad, and goes out and kills a hundred people because he clains he is an evil person, what then? Still good?

Posted Wed Apr 28, 2004 9:09 pm:

*claims

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Post by Lord Terrible » Thu Apr 29, 2004 2:17 am

See, that's the point I'm trying to make. IMHO, nobody kills people just because they think "Oh well, I'm a bad mofo anyways, might as well kill some more people". They do it
a) because they have some greater purpose in mind (they may be twisted, ignorant or right, I don't know)
b) because they are insane, and feels it is something they have to do. If they enjoy it then that's another thing, but then again they are crazy. Most of us aren't. Hopefully.

BTW, it's only USA that has mass murderers. Pretty much everyone else are free from that kind of Evil b) people :)

I don't think anyone would consider themself bad, I think they think they are right. So in their own opinion, none or very very few are Evil. That's what I meant :)
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Post by mrchapel » Thu Apr 29, 2004 4:27 am

Bad things happen to good people, because life and wants causes suffering.
(haha a Buddhist cop-out)
I'll put something here eventually...

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Post by Mew Guy » Thu Apr 29, 2004 5:29 am

[quote="Lord Terrible";p="328375"]BTW, it's only USA that has mass murderers.[/quote]
Erm... Dr. Harold Shipman killed nearly 400 people.

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Post by mrchapel » Thu Apr 29, 2004 5:36 am

BTW, it's only USA that has mass murderers
Hitler, Stalin, Mao Tsetung(sp?), Pol Pat, Ghengis Khan....
(Ken lists for hours)
.... and Saddam Hussein.

Sorry, about that, can't let people blame my country for everything wrong in the world. (some things sure... but not everything.)
I'll put something here eventually...

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Post by confusedcious » Thu Apr 29, 2004 5:40 am

And they are only the high profile cases...
*lurk*

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Re: An answer to "Why do bad things happen to good peop

Post by SomGuy » Thu Apr 29, 2004 12:11 pm

What is good and bad is subjective, end of story. "Bad" things happen to "good" people because what happens to people is completely and totally random... and because most of the people who we consider "good" are actually anti-life. :lol:
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Lord Terrible
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Post by Lord Terrible » Thu Apr 29, 2004 1:15 pm

[quote="mrchapel";p="328599"]
BTW, it's only USA that has mass murderers
Hitler, Stalin, Mao Tsetung(sp?), Pol Pat, Ghengis Khan....
(Ken lists for hours)
.... and Saddam Hussein.

Sorry, about that, can't let people blame my country for everything wrong in the world. (some things sure... but not everything.)[/quote]
I'm not talking about military dictators, generals or other leaders that are or have been around the globe. Jack the Ripper we had. None we have now, only deluded killers. Mass murderers a la the texas chainsaw massacre guy is currently an all-american phenomenon. Not blaming anyone, since noone have massmurdered me yet :)

Hitler, Stalin and Mao Zedong (sp..?) all had ideologies they operated within. Well, Stalin was more innit for the power I guess. But they didn't actively engage in the action of killing a lot of people. I'm not even sure what you mean about Mao. Genghis Khan, well, he might have participated but then it would have to be on warrior-level, not psycho-level.
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Post by mrchapel » Mon May 03, 2004 3:02 am

Jack the Ripper we had
Ok so you were wrong in your original statement...
I'll put something here eventually...

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Re: An answer to "Why do bad things happen to good peop

Post by Aether » Mon May 03, 2004 4:57 pm

[quote="SomGuy";p="328735"]What is good and bad is subjective, end of story. "Bad" things happen to "good" people because what happens to people is completely and totally random... and because most of the people who we consider "good" are actually anti-life. :lol:[/quote]
Exactly. ... That's all I got. :D
In the end though, it's really the bees that get Sam.

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