This post was part of my homework for Indiana Wesleyan University in response to a recorded lecture Harold Kushner gave. If I can find the YouTube video, I will edit this post to include it. Specifically, my response to this video had to answer the following questions:
- How important is this problem for you?
- What do you think of Kushner’s answer to the problem?
- Have you found other ways to address this issue?
Parts of this video were hard for me to watch, particularly the portion about the young man who was killed by a drunk driver and buried on what was supposed to be his wedding day. I had not thought that speaking in such a manner was teaching people – even subconsciously – to hate God.
The problem of good people suffering needlessly is – I suspect – important to everyone in some degree or another. I’ve had to deal with it when I lost my job last year and earlier when a friend committed suicide. The question of "Why do bad things happen to good people?" is a fundamental question, even if it is the wrong question.
I liked Rabbi Kushner’s three-fold approach:
- The natural world makes no distinction between good and evil. This is something I had not considered when I’ve asked myself that question.
- How do we respond to someone who is suffering? Simply say "I'm sorry" and be there for them. I can attest to that being the most appropriate way more often than not. One of my friends is currently going through a rough time due to an incorrect medical diagnosis that resulted in a drug regimen that’s probably caused more damage to his body than it was intended to fix. I do not know what to say, so I just let him know I'm there and listen as he vents his frustration and hurt.
- Sometimes the "why" is not a question, but a cry of pain. That bit reminded me of a quote by John Hagee in his book, Day of Deception. On page 155, he says:
Hey, it’s all right to say, "Things are not going right. We're in trouble." It's all right to say "I'm hurting." It's all right to say, "I'm a Christian but I still need somebody to pray with me or I'm going to lose control."It's also okay to be angry at God. It's okay to have doubts. What matters is how you react to those doubts. I remember an episode of Reba where her son-in-law refused to go to church because he lost faith in God. She told him her story, ending it with "He [God] waited for me when I was mad at Him." Despite being on a secular television show, that brought home a truth for me: God waits for us. We may struggle, but God struggles with us, helps us through it, and waits for us.
I went through and skimmed the book of Job. I will certainly be reading it in-depth. Job 35:1-8 brought home another point: God will do just fine, no matter what we do. If we sin, we don't injure Him, we injure ourselves.
One part I had trouble with was that Satan orchestrated these tragedies against Job. I would say, "But why would God let Satan do that?" The answer – if it can be called that – came to me via two ways. First, I re-read the beginning chapter and noticed that God had Satan on a leash, so to speak. God kept Satan from attacking Job's health, then later kept Satan from taking Job's life. The second was Bob Larson's book In the Name of Satan. In this book, Larson detailed some of his encounters with the demonic. He illustrated that demons exist to destroy what God created, and that includes human beings. Many times, he noted, demons perform evil acts just because they can. However, they are still subject to God. It may not sound comforting, but I took a measure of solace in that.
Another additional reading that helped me through a difficult time was James Dobson's book, When God Doesn’t Make Sense. The book helped me realize that even though I am going through tough times, God is with me and I need to trust in Him.
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