Wednesday, October 6, 2021

Why do bad things happen?

The misery so often visible on Earth is a major cause of people deciding there’s no loving God behind everything.

But the complexity of creation, both physical and biological, demands a higher intelligence. Nobody can point to anything complex, like encoded information, arising without an intelligent source. So, how does this work?

Viewpoint

We see things as humans from an Earthly viewpoint, which is understandable; we’ve only ever been humans living on Earth. For us, the highest value is human life, especially our own. But see things from the standpoint of some creatures we’re familiar with, say a sheep. Nobody can say a sheep does not value his life as much as we do. Prey animals flee from predators and often show terror when facing death. We slaughter tens or hundreds of thousands of cattle and sheep daily without blinking an eye. If we don't value the life of lower animals as much as they do, who’s to say the creator of the Universe values human lives as much as we do? This leads to the next point.

Knowledge

We know humans have lives on Earth—we see that every day. We’re intrigued by what happens after death and speculate about it, but let’s be honest—no one’s ever come back from death with a report of how it is. There are near-death experiences, but they’re not widely accepted and too varied to convince. And they cover at best a few minutes. But how would we see death if we knew what lay beyond? Would Earthly death still be such a big deal? Even total annihilation is a painless nothingness.

The creator of the Universe can reconstruct us from our genetic code and engrams to the same state we were on Earth. A few improvements in our genetic codes, and we never die. Would such a creator not value our short lives on Earth less than we do?

Accountability and choice

Mankind wants to row its own boat and not be accountable to a Cosmic Creator.How can mankind now expect this creator to step in and save them from their own choices? Will we then ever get the message that while humans can manage many things, there are many we cannot manage? Will we be willing to hand over government of Earth to the creator if we don’t come face to face with the full consequences of human government?

Conclusion

Seen this way, what’s happening on Earth makes sense. Compared to what comes after, our time on Earth is short and not that important. The creator of the Universe will doubtlessly know far more than we know and it’s arrogant of us to question him. In the book of Job, Job questioned God about his misfortunes, and God’s only reply was, how can you question me? It’s like a cat or a dog questioning our decisions.