Does Everything Happen for a Reason?

[qos]

I completed -- and then deleted -- a Q&A meme last night. One of the questions stays with me, however: Do you believe that everything happens for a reason?

No, I don't. Not on a grand, spiritual scale. I believe that some things are caused by a higher power, or a subtle purpose, but that most things are the result of mundane cause and effect. I don't believe that there are intentional "reasons" in the mind of a divine being behind disease, accidents, acts of nature, and/or most human accomplishments or follies.

I believe that, in general, humanity would rather believe in angry, vengeful deities who may or may not be propitiated, or who have a benevolent but obscure plan for everything and everyone, than facing the alternative: that the universe is a very big, very dangerous place, where anything can happen -- sometimes for the best, but often for the worst.

When faced with tragedy, it's easier to cope with the pain if you can believe it happened for a reason, possibly even a good one. "God called him/her home," is much more soothing than "This was a random, meaningless accident. There's no good reason why my loved one isn't here anymore." Or "God sent this sickness to help me grow and to learn to trust him more" rather than "We don't know what causes this painful, often fatal disease. You lost the lottery of chance."

I do believe that the Divine can help us transcend tragedy, can inspire growth, faith, courage, even heroism in the face of terrible things. But that doesn't mean that the tragedy was caused in order to have those effects. Likewise, I don't believe that the Divine is personally responsible for any and all good fortune or success.

The only reasons behind hurricanes, earthquakes, avalanches, and disease are the laws of nature -- including the natural consequences of human actions in a material world. The only reasons behind acts of terrorism and other violence are human fear, greed, and hatred. God does not set up these things like chess moves or patterns of dominoes to teach us lessons.

Are there exceptions? Almost certainly. (I try to avoid putting Deity into absolute boxes.) I've had experiences where I believe that there was divine influence. But I don't believe that it's everywhere or always.

Comments

[makhsihed.livejournal.com]

*grin* I was just reading something about this on the House of Netjer boards... I'll message you with it.

[wlotus.livejournal.com]

You expressed my exact sentiments far better than I could have expressed them. Thank you.

[oakmouse]

The interesting thing is that I agree with your reasons for your answer, but I would answer "Yes" --- because I see "happens for a reason" as including things like "Your spouse was killed in that terrible car wreck because the other driver was hopped up on cold medicine and decided to drive while impaired" and "You got this incurable cancer because you were exposed to toxic chemicals as a printer's devil in the job you had to get through college and we didn't know back then that the chemicals were toxic".

But then I'm odd enough, it makes sense that I would overlook "a reason" to be an implicit way of saying "a big important cosmic reason" and conclude that it simply means "a cause". And I'm quite sure that not all causes are Big Important Cosmic Causes. Some of them are just little things, sometimes totally idiotic little things.

[heron61.livejournal.com]

I completely and totally agree. It's easy and sometimes (at least for some people) desirable to believe that the good in one's life (or in other's lives) is a result of their virtue and that horrible things happen for a reason, but largely that's not true.

On a somewhat related point, one of the things I'm most thankful for my luck. I consider it a trait much like my having brown hair or being left handed. I've always had it, and it has no relation to any virtue or lack thereof on my part, it merely is. In addition, I also know that sometimes (although surprisingly rarely) it simply doesn't work, and I believe that there is no reason for this beyond chance and the fact that we live in a complex and ever-changing universe.

[coen.livejournal.com]

I mostly agree with you, and that surprised me a bit.
I am, as you know, an atheist, and though I often agree with religious people on a lot of things, when it comes to questions about reason, purpose, and goal, I most often dissagree with religious people.
But in this case, I agree with you. People do things for a reason, but events happening to us have no reason, they happen because they reason.
Which does not mean you cannot give meaning to them.

When something bad happens, it does not happen for you to learn from it. It just happens because it happens. But even if there is no reason for it to begin with, you can still try to learn from it and in that way give it meaning. Bad things have happened to me that allowed me to become what I am today, so looking back at it, those bad things do have meaning.

[amqu.livejournal.com]

Ecclesiastes 9:11 says,

I have seen something else under the sun:
The race is not to the swift
or the battle to the strong,
nor does food come to the wise
or wealth to the brilliant
or favor to the learned;
but time and chance happen to them all.

Luke 13:1-4

Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."

Interestingly, I find that coen the atheist's opinion on the matter cogently outlined the Biblical view.