This really is the "why" do bad things happend to good people thread.

Some people experience the most horrid things. Horrors beyond imaginantion.

Some people experience mostly great lives.  lives of joy, abundance and peace.


Sometimes the bad things happen to good people.  Sometimes the good lives also happen to good people.  Yet... bad people also experience both.  

I think most people wrestle with some variation of this reality.

Why do you think this is?  

Does it seem "just" to you?

I assume many people will approach this with some kind of religious based point of view. I totally want that but also those that have feelings about ti and it does not seem to make sense to them....

Seeing sick children brings this out in my mind. Shit isn't fair.

It comes down to decision making

Bad/good luck in some cases.”Getting what you asked for” in others.

That is a good example of the spirit of this thread.

Yeah, that kind of thing makes you question the nature of things.

Fate is the hunter. / You are the master of your destiny.  

50/50?        Who the hell knows.  

The universe is governed by pure Chance at the subatomic level, and yet that Chance results in a predictable World.

It’s both.

Smart people make bad decisions, dumbasses get lucky. Shit happens. If we had the power to control every aspect of our lives, we would effectively be God. But, we are not, despite some people trying to do their best impression.

I don’t question it. I am very thankful for the fact I was born in the U.S.A. and all of the advantages that alone gave me in my life though. It just is.

We play with the cards we are dealt.

Some people will fold on a winning hand while others will bluff their way to victory.

It’s purely random; like being missed by a meteor that has flown through light years of space only to crash through the roof and hit your TV.

I am of the belief there is no god, there is no karma, and nature is cruel. Humans can improve upon this, but will never ultimately control it.

Fairness and justice are creations of man. They don't exist in the natural world and endorsing the idea that they should impact the outcome of an persons life is like shooting BBs at buffalo's... it isn't going to work. Life is a series of decisions that bring us to a goal. Many of those decisions are not our own and we never know that they were even made, but they sculpt our lives.

Consider if the driver of the car that just passed you had decided to get hammered before their drive and slammed into you, or the opposite, that the driver that killed a family member while druck had gotten sober the week before.

We are all so unintentionally intertwined that we truly have no control over life itself. This negates fairness since our decisions alone don't dictate our success or failure.

"everyday above ground is a good day." Prespective and appreciation go a long way.

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There is no answer. The universe is a chaotic place. There is no such thing as fairness, and justice is a subjective construct, created by us. Trying to make sense of it is part of human nature but ultimately will prove impossible. If you believe in a god, maybe ask him/her. I doubt you'll get an answer there, beyond other people saying it's just god's will.

Indeed.  However, some of our decisions can impact our success or failure.  E.g. you know a place is prone to high DUI so you avoid it.  So, in a macro scale we cannot control, but in a micro scale we can.  It's more like we are handed the cards and have to decide what we so with them.  Sometimes we get a good hand, other times a bad one.   Luck plays a big factor but it's not all.  E.g. how many are born from wealthy parents but end up destroying themselves with drugs or worse?  Others are born in shitholes but manage to pull themselves out of there.

My point is that we should never give up.  If people have a goal or a dream, they should go for it.

I think if we knew the answer to this there would be no point in living. If random things didn't happen & everyone was happy wouldn't we all be the same? If everything was fair & good then we would never grow or get better at anything.

I’ll only add that my GF of 2.5 years who I was going to propose to in July passed today at 33 years old.  Her mother, brother and I had to make the decision to turn off the machines and drugs that were keeping her “alive”.
She was the most kind hearted girl. Would never harm anyone or anything.
This really fucking sucks.

Agreed. There are 2 choices, either completely give up or do your best to react to the circumstances you're presented with. I think Darwinism comes in when you start to look at it from the standpoint of adaptability and flexible thinking skills. Those with greater adaptability will be more likely to respond both quickly and appropriately to challenges, increasing their likelihood of success. But, life is a spider web of connections... my good or bad decisions impact everyone and everything connected to me in either a positive or negative way and vice versa. It's all very "Newton-esque"; equal and opposite reactions and such.

persons who theoretically "burn for eternity in Hell" were already dead to get there, so they do not technically burn to death - they burn after death

Sorry to hear.

Sorry to hear that, bro. Very saddened for you.

I think you suffer a fundamental misunderstanding about life.

Life is not fair.

If someone tells you that they're lying. Life will never be fair no matter how oppressive of a government.

I understand, and I am sorry.

First, shit happens and it doesn’t matter if you’re good or bad. Even from a religious perspective, people have free will and can make their own life-decisions; some good, some bad. Having been around the globe, it gets more complicated. Some people suffer and are living in despair; why? Especially the kids?

As you peel the onion back, the past often does influence future generations. If a generation lives in poverty, tolerates abuse, and accepts their lot in life, so will most of their descendants.  Ironically, those born to good families in lands of opportunity will make bad life-decisions and end up destroying their lives leaving many to ask “why did/didn’t God do something”?

Good fortune or bad fortune happens to both good and “bad” people. I think what’s more important is what you do with what hand you’re dealt; good or bad. I don’t believe in coincidence, random acts, some mysterious fortune or misfortune…everything happens for a reason, many would rather ask “why” with their blame-blinders on. There’s reason and purpose to everything, even if you don’t see it.

There’s a lady in our small town who owns a hair salon my wife goes to. She’s the mother of four kids. Their oldest boy had just got his driver’s license and was driving his two younger sisters to school. Fatal car accident; all three killed. Good family, good mother, good kids…why? I don’t worry about the why. I think survivors of bad fortune can only answer the “so what”.  

That mother had college funds set aside for each of her three children who died. She started up a charity and scholarship fund. She will choose and pay for another high school graduate’s college for each year one of her three kids would have graduated.  One’s severe tragedy and misfortune has now just become another’s opportunity and good fortune.  

What happens to me or my family, good or bad is God’s business. Regardless of what happens or doesn’t happen, good or bad, it does no good to see the “why”, it’s more important to focus on the “so what and what now”.  

So, what about those abused little girls in some small, shit-stain, Afghanistan village? Why? I know that the culture perpetuates that abuse and all men will be judged.  “Suffer not the children”, yet many around this globe will continue to suffer. I know that’s not God’s will, but the free will of men will affect the innocent lives of children. There is evil in this world and you don’t even need a religious view to see it. Much of the suffering can be linked back to the evil or just bad choices of others.

ROCK6

Shit happens.

Life is not fair.

I watched a near death experience interview once with some guy that drowned. He said before we were born every soul picked their part here. Some chose the part of the drug addict, criminal or whatever. Some chose to be the baby with a terminal illness and so on.  He said it's like one big play.  It kind of made sense.

Whatever it is I guess we are not supposed to know.  I believe in God.  Every time I've gotten so down & tried to convince myself God didn't exist I came to the conclusion that he does. It does drive me crazy trying to figure out why things happen the way they do.

So sorry to hear that.

AIs choosing their character in the simulation.

We're some alien kid's The Sims game. The only reason we haven't been invaded by extraterrestrials or hit by multiple meteors is that he hasn't run across this planet yet

Serious answer: Life sucks and is hard. Be grateful for your blessings.

My son has autism, sensory, and Crohns disease.  To say the least I’m pissed off about it but I don’t know who/what to be pissed off at.

A combination of circumstance and decision making.

I was dealt shitty circumstances, by American standards, but found a way to eventually stop stepping in potholes and make a good life for myself.

I destroyed that life with bad decisions.

Restored through good decisions. Seriously got my life figured out for the first time in 30+ years, then...

Disrupted again through circumstance (cancer).

Life is a journey. Some get to enjoy the rewards of good circumstance and good decisions. Some are dealt shit circumstance and make shit decisions.

Great point.  I agree that adaptability is probably the most important characteristic, since people don't know the cards they will receive and need to adapt (sometimes very quickly) to whatever they get.

Not always.

Life isnt fair, its pain and suffering but at times is insanely beautiful and amazing.

I dont believe anyone is watching out for us, life is what it is and you play the hand you are given, there is no cheating this game

The bell curve rules the universe.

To quote Sturgill Simpson, “That’s the way it goes, life ain’t fair and the world is mean.”

Justice clearly does not exist in this life. Anyone who tries to make out some explanation where it does is capable of lying to themselves and others at an astounding level.

This tells us that life is either fleeting, meaningless, and existence without justice and cruel, or that justice resides in eternity or outside of this life, and is administered by something also outside of it, where we don't get to see it play out in this life.

This tends to make life either ultimate and self-centered, or inordinately aligned in the first alternative because it is all we've got and we don't know what to fear and what to worship, or it means this life "ain't it" but might must have impact on eternity, and the most important thing one can possibly do is seek and orient to what echoes in eternity.

There is no why? Being unlucky sucks.

Karma is just the manifestation of bad choices finally lining up with statistical probability.

Everything in life is about probability and all you can do is shift the odds in your favor by routinely making good choices.

That GIF with the guy who get pegged by a runaway tire?  Can't do shit about that kind of bad luck.

You can’t have light without the dark.

Without suffering there isn’t free will.  

Without risk, there isn’t meaning.

Usually it does but there are many exceptions.

Bad health and random acts of violence can bring down anyone, of any age, regardless of how hard they work and what decisions they make

As far as answering OP's question: we can't rationalize it.  The universe works by physical forces, not moral ones.  

Life's a bitch, then you die.

19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’

25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’

27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’

29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’

30 “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

There is no normal life, only life. Life is not fair, everyone is offered life, free will  and opportunities, and a billion things large and small mixed it, sometimes it results in good things, sometimes bad. We often have no clue which are good and which bad, as some tiny decision can put you on the path to doom, or success , the end result varies wildly.

I believe in god, I believe god gave us free will, and the opportunity to do good or bad. Earth is  basically a gigantic ant farm experiment according to the Bible, the end result being will more people turn out good, or bad if allowed free will. everyone has free will, sometimes bad people do great, sometimes good people suffer, and god occasionally takes a interest and sways the results.

That makes as much sense to me as odds, fate, etc controlling my future, shit,  maybe it’s all rolled into one, god, fate, the devil, aliens, minor gods, witches, demons, fairies, nature etc, all possible IMHO as even the Bible admits witches, demons, magic etc exist to some extent.

I doubt we will ever know the truth of it.

I believe my life is blessed for whatever reason, I have bad things happen, but generally things turn out great for me and I live a happy life and want for nothing.

In the entirety of human history, bad things have happened to 'good people' exactly and only one time, and He volunteered for it.

It doesn’t make any sense to me.  I believe in God and pray daily but I also don’t think that it’s “God’s plan” for someone to burn to death.  I believe that day to day life is random and that we should all do what we can to mitigate risk but no amount of preparedness will completely shield one from drawing a short straw at some point.

think on this...

The odds are this is all just a fever dream of a boltzmann brain which flickers into existance for a picosecond, then "poof" is gone...

Our Lord has a plan, and it is beyond our understanding.
What we cannot know is how much worse it would be without Him.

Even if you don’t believe in Jesus that is a good way to look at it.

The universe is randomly equal, with the extremely rare exception of divine intervention.  Try not to over analyze it.