Why is the world so cruel?

[greg775]

Didn't see a thread to put this in.

Not asking for sympathy of any kind just asking why the world can be so cruel?

A good friend of mine (a kind special ed teacher in suburban Chicago) was diagnosed with breast cancer a couple years ago. Instead of her battle having a happy ending her body has been fried from all the chemo and radiation and she's in intense pain day and night. Needs more surgery; cancer free at this time but saddled with some severe health problems related to the breast cancer.

Her husband divorced her a few years before she was diagnosed and I don't think has been involved in helping.

She is a kind soul who is supporting not only her 3 kids but a nephew who lives in the house too.

Last night her 20 something daughter got hit by a car leaving work and immediately died. Gone. My friend is in shock and engulfed in sadness. People are stepping up and trying to help.

 

Why are all these things happening to a good person? Why? Why did so many die in the earthquake in Mexico? Why are people dying in hurricanes? Just fate? So sad. My friend is devastated and not for herself, but having her daughter unable to live life past the age of 24.

Edited September 24, 2017 by greg775

[RockRaines]

Aren’t you a big believer?

[greg775]

Aren’t you a big believer?

Yeah but I'm human and have no answers to the earth's most unkind/unfair moments. I forgot to mention one of her other kids for some reason last year had a stroke in her 20s and was told she'd have brain capacity of a 6-year-old the rest of her life however is doing better than that at this time. And her ex husband had the nerve to tell her today he would not let her have any say in the daughter's funeral unless she paid for half. She is decimated in debt cause of our country's great healthcare plans and the ex is thinking money at a time like this.

Unfair I tell ya.

Edited September 25, 2017 by greg775

[iWiN4PreP]

Why is the world so cruel? Because humans aren't the centerpiece of it. Our society values us above animals, the earth, and pretty much everything, yet, the reality is that there is very little difference from us humans and an animal or even a plant or bacteria. There is no 'purpose' in life. Once one understands that we are nothing special, we are simply star dust, can you see that the world is indeed not cruel, it is simply continuing the evolution set forth from the big bang on.

 

With that being said, the better question is why is society so cruel? To that I answer, well, we are working on it. In the 21st century we are actually the least cruel society that humanity has known (that is, over large periods of time and not samples of minor societies here or there). An interesting book on this phenomena is Steven Pinker's "The Better Angels of our Nature".

 

I'm sorry to hear about your friends terrible luck.

[greg775]

Why is the world so cruel? Because humans aren't the centerpiece of it. Our society values us above animals, the earth, and pretty much everything, yet, the reality is that there is very little difference from us humans and an animal or even a plant or bacteria. There is no 'purpose' in life. Once one understands that we are nothing special, we are simply star dust, can you see that the world is indeed not cruel, it is simply continuing the evolution set forth from the big bang on.

 

With that being said, the better question is why is society so cruel? To that I answer, well, we are working on it. In the 21st century we are actually the least cruel society that humanity has known (that is, over large periods of time and not samples of minor societies here or there). An interesting book on this phenomena is Steven Pinker's "The Better Angels of our Nature".

 

I'm sorry to hear about your friends terrible luck.

I may read that book. Interesting stuff.

[kitekrazy]

Didn't see a thread to put this in.

Not asking for sympathy of any kind just asking why the world can be so cruel?

A good friend of mine (a kind special ed teacher in suburban Chicago) was diagnosed with breast cancer a couple years ago. Instead of her battle having a happy ending her body has been fried from all the chemo and radiation and she's in intense pain day and night. Needs more surgery; cancer free at this time but saddled with some severe health problems related to the breast cancer.

Her husband divorced her a few years before she was diagnosed and I don't think has been involved in helping.

She is a kind soul who is supporting not only her 3 kids but a nephew who lives in the house too.

Last night her 20 something daughter got hit by a car leaving work and immediately died. Gone. My friend is in shock and engulfed in sadness. People are stepping up and trying to help.

 

Why are all these things happening to a good person? Why? Why did so many die in the earthquake in Mexico? Why are people dying in hurricanes? Just fate? So sad. My friend is devastated and not for herself, but having her daughter unable to live life past the age of 24.

 

Some of this is answered in a book of 66 books. Fewer people die in natural disasters these days.

 

[RockRaines]

Yeah but I'm human and have no answers to the earth's most unkind/unfair moments. I forgot to mention one of her other kids for some reason last year had a stroke in her 20s and was told she'd have brain capacity of a 6-year-old the rest of her life however is doing better than that at this time. And her ex husband had the nerve to tell her today he would not let her have any say in the daughter's funeral unless she paid for half. She is decimated in debt cause of our country's great healthcare plans and the ex is thinking money at a time like this.

Unfair I tell ya.

All of your answers to why are in the Bible.

[greg775]

All of your answers to why are in the Bible.

Interesting.

[Reddy]

All of your answers to why are in the Bible.

The bible was literally created for this exact purpose - to explain the unexplainable and to make people feel better about tough things.

 

That said... to me it's just stories to give people a reason not to confront the difficult aspects of life, and to make hard things somewhat easier to get through. In reality, life IS random. Good things happen to bad people and bad things to good people. Nothing is fair. I have a mentor who I've known all my life who's the greatest human on the planet - a composer and choral conductor who has worked with kids for decades and changed so many lives all over the planet. Got hit by a drunk driver, mangled his whole body including his right arm - the one he conducts with - immediately after getting hired to be the artistic director of one of the most prestigious choirs in the country. Boom. Life changed. Forever. I'm sure we've ALL got that story.

 

But to me, running and hiding from it by telling yourself and others that there's some magical afterlife isn't doing anything to help anyone. I'm a rock climber. I have a lot of friends who climb. At some point one of them is going to die climbing. It's a given. Every climber has the experience of losing someone. But the reason we do it in the first place is because of how much we LOVE climbing, love the community, love to experience life to the absolute fullest. Climbing has taken me to incredible places, all across this planet, and I'm so grateful for that experience. I handle the tough s*** by immersing myself in the things I love, telling the people I love that I love them, and doing what I can to make this world a better place. I channel my pain into loving life and loving people. Because if I think that this is all I've got, and that there's no magical fairy land waiting for me, it'll make me bust my ass that much harder to APPRECIATE every damn moment.

 

You handle these tough times by practicing gratitude - being grateful for the life you've led, and making sure the one you still have to lead is worth living.

[greg775]

The bible was literally created for this exact purpose - to explain the unexplainable and to make people feel better about tough things.

 

That said... to me it's just stories to give people a reason not to confront the difficult aspects of life, and to make hard things somewhat easier to get through. In reality, life IS random. Good things happen to bad people and bad things to good people. Nothing is fair. I have a mentor who I've known all my life who's the greatest human on the planet - a composer and choral conductor who has worked with kids for decades and changed so many lives all over the planet. Got hit by a drunk driver, mangled his whole body including his right arm - the one he conducts with - immediately after getting hired to be the artistic director of one of the most prestigious choirs in the country. Boom. Life changed. Forever. I'm sure we've ALL got that story.

 

But to me, running and hiding from it by telling yourself and others that there's some magical afterlife isn't doing anything to help anyone. I'm a rock climber. I have a lot of friends who climb. At some point one of them is going to die climbing. It's a given. Every climber has the experience of losing someone. But the reason we do it in the first place is because of how much we LOVE climbing, love the community, love to experience life to the absolute fullest. Climbing has taken me to incredible places, all across this planet, and I'm so grateful for that experience. I handle the tough s*** by immersing myself in the things I love, telling the people I love that I love them, and doing what I can to make this world a better place. I channel my pain into loving life and loving people. Because if I think that this is all I've got, and that there's no magical fairy land waiting for me, it'll make me bust my ass that much harder to APPRECIATE every damn moment.

 

You handle these tough times by practicing gratitude - being grateful for the life you've led, and making sure the one you still have to lead is worth living.

Great post Reddy. I do respect your perspective and appreciate it. I can't prove there is an afterlife. I do take solace in the fact I think there is one and there are still a lot of smart people out there who think there is a God. I will ask them about it, these are smart people, too, and they believe so that makes me think I could be correct.

I like your take, though. This was a brilliant post.

[BlackSox13]

Really sorry to hear about your friend Gregg and wish her the best. Losing loved ones is very difficult to cope with. IMHO, the biggest thing to consider is the human free will. We all have choices to make in life and unfortunately sometimes our choices not only affect our selves but others as well. I lost a close friend in '99 to a contstruction accident. It was his day off but his boss called and asked him if he would come in to work that day. Being a new guy on the job he didn't want to say no and since he and his wife were planning a family he decided to go in to make a few extra bucks. Unfortunately his bosses decision to work on a very windy day ( friend was a jack man for a crane) that they normally would not work, it cost my friend his life when the wind caught the load mid air and toppled the crane onto its side and I'll just leave the rest of the story at that. Sigh, not a pretty picture.

 

As for the natural disasters. I'm not going to try and explain it because mother nature is far beyond my understanding.

Edited September 26, 2017 by BlackSox13

[greg775]

Really sorry to hear about your friend Gregg and wish her the best. Losing loved ones is very difficult to cope with. IMHO, the biggest thing to consider is the human free will. We all have choices to make in life and unfortunately sometimes our choices not only affect our selves but others as well. I lost a close friend in '99 to a contstruction accident. It was his day off but his boss called and asked him if he would come in to work that day. Being a new guy on the job he didn't want to say no and since he and his wife were planning a family he decided to go in to make a few extra bucks. Unfortunately his bosses decision to work on a very windy day ( friend was a jack man for a crane) that they normally would not work, it cost my friend his life when the wind caught the load mid air and toppled the crane onto its side and I'll just leave the rest of the story at that. Sigh, not a pretty picture.

 

As for the natural disasters. I'm not going to try and explain it because mother nature is far beyond my understanding.

Geez, that is sad story. Same type deal. Sorry about all these deaths. Very sad.

[Quin]

Because, I'll be blunt, most people don't give a s*** about others unless it's convenient for them.

[greg775]

Because, I'll be blunt, most people don't give a s*** about others unless it's convenient for them.

I know. Yet the minute we have a natural disaster, we see strangers driving 200 miles to go rescue people in Houston area. We see people risking their lives to help others during times of crisis.

But during NORMAL times? We see road rage; we see rudeness; we see case after case of meanness. Like I told everybody that's one reason I like my hour at Mass every week; whether it's genuine or not peole are so damn friendly for that one hour a week.

As far as what you said relating to why is the world so cruel? Well in my friend's case it was a 69 year old driver not seeing her cross the street at 8:30 pm. Bam. Taken off this earth in one crash. I don't think that lady had anything nasty on her mind. Now if she was usuing her cellphone that's another thing. No tickets were issued.

 

I do agree with your first sentence mostly though.

[2nd_city_saint787]

Surprised there isn't a thread on this, I don't know where to put it, but there was a mass shooting on the Vegas strip. 20+ dead, 100+ injured. How sad.

[greg775]

Surprised there isn't a thread on this, I don't know where to put it, but there was a mass shooting on the Vegas strip. 20+ dead, 100+ injured. How sad.

Totally sad. Once again, 58 people I think dead. They live their lives properly and many of them are in Vegas for a good time at a concert, and little did they know they'd be blown away and it would be their last night alive. The cliche is true. Live each day like it's your last. I know we can't do that in this harsh world but it's true. Go to a movie ... you can die. Go to a concert ... you can die. Go to a mall ... you can die. Go to church ... you can die. Live each day everybody.

[greg775]

Just another example. ... 500 injured; 58 dead in Vegas. You live a good life, go to a concert in Vegas you probably were looking forward to for a long time, and you don't come home. Your time on earth is over. Your one life to live is gone. For no good reason.

 

[greg775]

My same friend whose body was ravaged by all the chemo and radiation and is down to 95 pounds, the same woman whose 20 something daughter was hit by a car and killed a week ago, now has her other daughter in ICU. They thought they were losing her but she's rebounding nicely as they are inserting proper fluids to rebuild her system.

One thing after another and my friend is a good good person. Special ed teacher, salt of earth type.