This is a rather lightweight op-ed piece from the Friendly Atheist which, however, has generated a fair amount of comment. If a friend starts confiding in you about some tragedy in their life and then slips into,“This is all happening for a reason.” or “It’s part of God’s plan.”, how do you react?
If you believe in a god - any god - you may be able to sympathize. The search for some consoling meaning in the randomness of the universe is often natural. But to build up one's personal problems into some grand cosmic plan seems largely unhelpful, both practically and emotionally. Sure, shit happens! Why did lightning strike here and not there? Complex system. Why has my partner lost interest in me? Complex system.
The universe is a complex system; some parts behave in good old fashioned cause and effect whilst others appear random and unpredictable. We've known this for some 100 years - in just the last 40 years we've even come to understand how simple systems can exhibit complex structures. Perhaps it's just time for human psychology to catch up with human science.
Taking a drug may relieve the pain but it won't heal the wound. Would you rather your friend kept taking the drugs, or would you rather be genuinely helpful?
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Surprisingly, being straight that "sometimes shit happens" is a lot easier for someone to hear than "god has a plan". A friend of mine had 4 kids - two boys, two girls. Both girls were born with an extremely rare form of juvenile brain cancer. One passed away at 5, the other is still here at 9 (the longest out of her study group). This friend is Christian and was beating herself up, thinking god killed her baby girl to punish her for petty high school sins and being a teen mom (who made principal's honor roll AS a teen mom). One day I told her, "Sometimes there is no reason. People die. It's horrible and it's sad and I'm sorry it happened to you, but you're never gonna find an answer and blaming yourself for something you had no control over isn't helping." (Not that this made it all better, but I think it helped.)
ReplyDeleteAlso, excellent use of "whist".
erm... I didn't quite get the "whist" comment!
ReplyDeleteMulling over your comment, I also think that blaming God for anything bad that happens also risks avoiding to investigate whether there is a real cause. I don't think supernatural beings are necessary for humans to be beastly to each other. Cases of genetic defects may, indeed, be random mutations or they may be caused by artificial chemicals that affect foetal development. The latter is cause for concern and an appeal to God is not going to reveal a solution.