The first way is, that God loves us and wants us to love him as well. If he simply stops bad things from happening then what reason would people have to look for his grace and blessings? The saying goes if you spare the rod you spoil the child. We are God s children and if we do not have things happen to us then we can never appreciate the good things that he blesses us with. If you never fall, how will you know what getting up feels like? Think about it.
The second way is a more philosophical / scientific way of thinking. The entire universe is made up of laws, ideas, forces, and other things that we use to explain life’s mysteries. These things are built upon a type of symmetry. Newton’s Third Law of Motion says, “For every action there is an opposite and equal reaction.” Yin and Yang is the idea that inside all good there is evil and inside all evil there is good. If all this is true then it would make sense that a world filled with good without evil cannot exist. The opposite is true as well.
This is how I thing about the situation. This idealism is not for everyone. This is simply how I try to explain things. By all means comment and share your ideas on the situation.
While the notion of counteracting forces in physics and mathematics is something I have grown accustomed to, I have never thought of adversity as being a necessary evil which allows for humans to experience to the good of the world. As you stated, without some misfortune in our lives, we would never be able to fully appreciate all of life's blessings. When applied to the Mill's concept of maximizing happiness for the most amount of people, this idea of "yin and yang" does seem all that important however. Therefore, it does not seem to me that Mill acknowledges suffering to be a vital part of our lives, but instead views it as something that should be avoided or at the very least minimized.
ReplyDeleteThis is a question many people ponder on, and something people ask all the time. Why does God allow suffering? While I was in church this week I believe our priest answered this question with one passage from the Bible. If you have FAITH then yes I believe all answers can be found in the word of God. The passage was Romans 8:18, "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in Heaven."
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with what you are saying, Ben. Both points make a lot of sense and they seem to be the right answer to everything that has happened or will happen. While reading your post, I was wondering how Kant would feel about all of this. I believe that he wouldn't accept what you are saying. This concept goes against deontology and may even go against the idea of the categorical imperative.
ReplyDeleteThe second paragraph strikes home very well. If we do not fall and learn from our mistakes, then how are we to ever truly grow. If God did not allow anything bad to happen and only gave us the choice of good there is a lack of independence. We would be more like slaves and he does not want that. We are created in the image of God and to worship him, but of our own choice. He is all powerful and does not need us if he does not choose so, but he enjoys our compassion and love. This is freedom that we are given and not just a choice of right with no second option.
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