Bad Things

You know a question you never hear asked? Why do bad things happen to bad people?

Work with me here. Everyone always asks why bad things happen to good people (if they're interested in justice) or why good things happen to bad people (if they're jealous or vindictive... I mean, if they're interested in justice too, I guess). These are, despite the fact that most people don't think before they ask them, excellent questions.

They don't mean much if you think the universe is essentially random, or if you think that the universe is ruled by a cruel and capricious deity or deities (the Aztecs come trippingly to mind; it must not have been a question they asked their priests very often: "Why does Huitzilopochtli, cruel god who demands blood sacrifices, allow bad things to happen to good people?" Answer: he's a jerk). But if you, like many people who believe in a deity these days, believe in a God of infinite love and compassion, it's a fair question to ask why He or She or It or They don't evidence that compassion much.

The answer given defines faith, I suppose. If you say, "Well, God works in mysterious ways," that means something different from saying, "God doesn't cause bad things to happen, but we wouldn't have free will if He stepped in and kept bad things from happening." There are countless other ways to answer the question of bad things happening to good people, just as there are countless ways to explain good things happening to the bad.

But no one ever asks why bad things happen to bad people (or the corollary, why good things happen to good people, although that's slightly less illustrative).

Logically, it's just as good a question. If God(s) is(are) of infinite love, He/She/It/They should be opposed to bad things happening to anyone. Think about it; if you love someone (even non-infinitely) you should be opposed to bad things happening to them, regardless of their character. You might understand that there are consequences to bad actions, but you shouldn't wish those consequences on those you love, even if they deserve them. Now that doesn't mean you want them to escape consequences, just that you don't wish for bad things to happen to them. That seems to me to be a function of love.

So the answers that are given to the question, "Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?" should be just as valid for the question, "Why does God allow bad things to happen to bad people?" In fact, the question really could simply read, "Why does God allow bad things to happen to people?"

And again, those answers are illustrative. "To punish the wicked!" is definitely a different religion from, "God works in mysterious ways," which is different from, "Free will."

But the issue is that people ask certain questions and not the equally-valid opposites. And I think that the reason for that is that people want bad things to happen to bad people, and they want God to do it. You can disagree personally, but you have to admit that there are probably a lot of people out there who feel that way. We all think we're good, so only good things should happen to us, and people who oppose us are bad, and thus should get only bad things. Mercy isn't a quality which is possessed by many people, and when it comes down to it, most societies are set up to punish rather than be merciful.

Is God? If you happen to believe in a deity who is all-loving, all-compassionate, all-merciful, shouldn't it be as difficult for that deity to punish the wicked as to reward the virtuous?

I think asking the question, despite it being something of a knee-jerk reaction rather than a thought-out response to tragedy, illustrates more, perhaps, than the answer does.