Why do Bad things happen to Good people?

'Cause I said so!

Nah. Here's my answer to that question. Well, if that's the question in a vacuum, then the answer is that the things that happen are neither good or bad. They are just things, and we impose our own ideas of "what is good" or "what is bad" upon them. To this question, we just have to accept that the world is the way it is, and that these things happen. There is no higher power controlling your life. Bad or good things happen because they do, or for whatever reason.

An interesting addendum to that question. "Why does God let bad things happen to good people?" Any takers? Well, let's back up a second. We can have 1 or 2 worlds/universes. One where God exists and one where he doesn't. If God doesn't exist, then we can't be outraged when bad things happen to good people. Those things just happen. There is no question "why did this happen" that can't be answered without science or fact. There is no deeper meaning, and the make-up a person's character has no bearing on their fate.

Okay, so let's live in the world with God for a minute. I'm not trying to make either case, just trying to explicate an argument. So, "why does God let bad things happen to good people?" If God exists, he must be 2 things. 1. All powerful, 2. All knowing. This is our conception of God, is it not? So, if God is all knowing (he knows bad things happen to good people) and God is all powerful - that means that he doesn't intervene. God knows bad things happen, but does nothing to stop them. Some God.

Have you ever thought about what the world would be like if God did intervene every time something bad was going to happen to a good person? I can't imagine it, but if I would, I would imagine that there would be a lot fewer atheists or agnostics. And there'd be a lot more good people (because they'd be saved) and lot fewer bad people (they'd be punished/converted to being good). What a weird world that would be. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be a real world. There would be no science, there would be no diversity in opinion and thought (and no coveting of thy neighbor's wife. Even if they neighbor is Seal). God is watching and he's pissed. Be good, follow His rule and you'll be fine. Don't do that, and watch it.

It's conceivable that if there is a God, that he created the world and the universe, in some sense to run on ration and logic. Things fall to earth because the earth has mass and all things with mass have gravity - the more mass the more gravity. This world seems understandable by humans. The world where God pulls things to the ground (is tiring for God) is not understandable. There is no reason to it. God can do whatever God wants at any time without having to explain Himself. Impure thought? Nope, you're falling in a hole to the center of the universe, sorry. How tense would your daily life be? How little free choice would you have? If God ruled the Earth, it would be heaven. But it can't be heaven.

I'm not trying to make the case for or against God. Bad things happen to good people because they do. God, if he exists, can't step in. He just has to watch and be sad for us, hope we do well, and hope he sees us one day.

Ancillary to this whole thing is that it almost seems that for God to exist, there needs to be doubt about his existence. If you want to get to heaven in any of the major Religions, you gotta have faith. Faith seems to be important. Being able to believe in something you can't see or touch seems to be important. You make it into heaven by believing in something you can't prove. When God created the universe, he created science. God is not science. We can believe in science, can we believe in God too?

Lastly. There are still two things that haunt me. 1. What exists outside of the universe? I can't conceive of forever space or time. Entropy will one day make everything in the universe die. What then?
2. What happened before the big bang/what was outside of that little ball of everything?
These two things are inconceivable to us. So, they have to cast doubt, a little, on science.

If you don't want to die because you haven't chosen to die, and wouldn't choose it, know that you didn't choose to be born. But you're here, so deal with it.