The Problem of Suffering and a Loving God
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBPp22VSZMY
Atheists always raise this question, “ if God is all-loving all-powerful, how can He let so much suffering in the world in the form of disease or hunger or through various natural disasters, such as earthquakes, floods etc”.
Before answering this question, let’s find out what is suffering at an individual level. The word suffering is associated with a sense of pain. It can further be divided into two types.
a. Physical pain
b. Mental pain in the form of stress or anxiety
Though both kinds of pains are finally felt by the brain, their starting points are different, the first one works at a physical level and the second one at an emotional level.
Now let’s look closely at what exactly is physical pain. The whole process of feeling pain unfolds in the following order:
Pain starts at the source of an injury or inflammation inside or outside of our body. When we injure ourselves, the body’s automatic response is to stimulate pain receptors, which in turn release chemicals.
These chemicals, carrying the message “Ouch, that hurts,” go to the brain through the spinal cord where they register the sensation known as pain. Our brain perceives that pain, and triggers ‘the fight or flight’ instinct to avoid further pain. For example, when we mistakenly touch something very hot, the burning sensation felt by the brain sends the message back to the whole body to move away from that thing right away.
Now all this happens for one simple reason to protect us. Imagine if we couldn’t get any burning sensation in the first place, we would have burnt ourselves to death. Actually, there are people in the world who suffer from a rare genetic disorder known as congenital insensitivity to pain or CIP which means they can place their hands in boiling water or undergo an operation without an anesthetic, and yet feel no discomfort whatsoever. People assume that feeling no pain is an incredible thing and it almost makes you superhuman, but for people with CIP, it’s the exact opposite. Without the body’s natural warning mechanism, many with CIP exhibit self-destructive behaviour as children or young adults. Some have even ended up taking their own lives.
Therefore, pain or suffering isn’t something bad and it will be wrong to associate it with evil. Pain is incredibly important to the process of learning how to modulate our physical activity without doing damage to our bodies, and in determining how much risk we can take.
Suffering has played a crucial role in the evolution of life from a lower to a higher level of consciousness, by developing a better sensory system to provide better awareness of the surroundings. Whenever life in various shapes or forms suffered from the pain of hunger, it came up with innovative ways to find food. And this food worked like a reward for the suffering which offset the feeling of pain whether being in the form of hunger, fatigue or fear. Thus suffering was the driving force to teach life in various forms and shape important lessons on how it can sustain itself and figure out the survival tactics against other dangers or threats. Of course, this didn’t happen arbitrarily rather it was programmed this way by God almighty the creator of the world.
As mentioned before, the sensation of pain is felt through different senses, the more advanced forms of life show better sensory systems which means their sense of pain is far better than the less developed forms of life. In other words, they are susceptible to feeling more pain, however, this acute sense of pain is rewarded by the development of better tactics of avoiding the situations of pain such as enhancement of mobility or power skills. And also their sense of pleasure is greatly enhanced through better sensory organs.
Similarly, suffering played a pivotal role in human development as well. It made us think of innovative ways to avoid pain. For this reason, we as humans started growing crops farming animals to avoid the pain and suffering of hunger. We started living in societies to avoid the constant fear of danger from other attacking tribes or animals. We made connections with other human beings to avoid the pain of isolation and loneliness. All the modern progress made by humans is a reward for the suffering we have been through since the start of life.
Now other than physical pain or suffering, we as humans at this most advanced stage of life can also feel mental pain triggered by some emotional loss or emotional injuries. It could be caused by the loss of a loved one, breakups in our relations, or if someone has hurt our feelings. Just like developing a better sense of pain helped life equipped with better ways to avoid it, emotional pain has helped humans develop greater sensibility about what is morally good or bad, what can help build a society or break it. That is why we as humans are more sensible about the feelings of other humans. We can feel other people’s pain and share their grief and sorrows. No one likes a person who is insensible to the feeling of fellow humans. However, this enhanced sensibility has also rewarded us with a much greater sense of pleasure as well. It has also enabled us to feel and share the happiness of other humans which is more common and widespread at any given moment in time.
Talking about mental or emotional pain, it is important to know that our brain also has an incredible capacity to tackle physical or emotional pain by just looking at it from a different angle. Imagine, someone, getting an order from his boss that he has to go out and run for 30 minutes every day before starting his job. Now that person is more likely to take it to his heart(or mind) and get upset over such harsh treatment from his employer. However, he will never get the same feeling if he gets the same instructions from his doctor. Willingly, he would start running from the next day, especially if this advice come with a warning about his deteriorating health. Now the amount of pain or suffering the body will undergo is the same, however, the only thing that has changed is how the brain receives this information. If it receives it as an order from the boss who is depriving him of his freedom or receives it as advice from a doctor which is essential for his long-term health.
Thus we can respond to the same circumstances or the same situations differently. Going through a rough time is often challenging. But the moment we start looking at things from a different perspective, all our mental anxiety goes away. We can get over all kinds of mental suffering by teaching our brains how to assign new meanings to emotional pain. When we hear about a loved one that he has suddenly passed away, it may lead to a traumatic experience. However, if we learn about the same person dying while saving other people’s lives or defending his country, the sentiments of loss are drastically replaced by the feeling of the great pride we feel about him. Like physical pain, mental pain in the form of emotional suffering also serves as a barometer to measure our sense of humanity and sociableness. The more sensitive we are to other people’s feelings, the greater will be the pain we go through. But this is what makes us human.
Coming back to the argument of atheists, the idea of suffering would not be reconcilable with the concept of a loving God if it is taken as something evil and negative. While in reality, suffering is a blessing of God in disguise. God can only be blamed for the suffering if He hadn’t provided us with the means or ways to get out of it. Or if there were no system of reward for the pain we go through. If a farmer suffers in the field while taking care of his crops. He is also rewarded by the yields much greater than the efforts he put in. No one can object to a parent for making their children study hard for the exam and thus causing them mental stress, because we know it would pay off as they succeed academically and get a better job.
Another point to be kept in mind is that God has granted us free will that cannot be compromised at any cost. Imagine, if someone is going to kill an innocent person and cause great suffering to him as well as his loved ones, should God intervene and stop the killer from carrying out his plan and thus deprive him of his free will? If yes, then we are going to have a world where no human can do anything wrong because God would interfere every time a crime was going to be committed. If people can’t make any choice by exercising their free will, they shouldn’t expect any reward for being good because no one can even think of doing wrong. However, we all take pride in our ability to make good or bad choices freely. We sometimes have to pay the price for this freedom of choice when someone else makes a wrong choice and inflicts physical or emotional pain or suffering upon us. For this reason, to avoid even this type of suffering, All-Merciful God, planned to send His messengers through whom He gave us a moral code to live by. Though this sense of right or wrong is by default built-in our human structure, it is reinforced by the teachings of these divine messengers over time. Therefore, we believe, the messengers or the faith preached by them played a very significant role in the betterment of society and thus alleviating the emotional pain or suffering that can be inflicted by one human upon another. We also find teachings such as upholding the dignity of humans and promoting the environment of peace and harmony common between all faiths.
Coming back to the discussion of pain or suffering and the role of a divine being in it, the atheist argument does not hold any ground because not having any faith in a divine being is not going to alleviate all suffering from the human. Instead, faith or belief gives the ailing people or those who suffered any emotional or mental loss the hope that they will finally be rewarded for all this suffering. The hope or even a vague idea of a reward is the only solution to overcome pain or suffering. A labour worker takes so much pain in the hot and cold weather because he has faith and the hope he would be rewarded with the money that can eventually sustain him and his family. There is no guarantee if he would be alive by the time he gets his next paycheque, nevertheless, this strong hope and faith keep him motivated and strong. The same applies to the people of faith, they get much-needed emotional strength through their faith in the reward promised by the divine being they believe in. This hope and faith help them overcome enormous struggles and challenges which otherwise can lead a man without faith to a nervous breakdown. However, this should not lead one to think that every faith is built upon the idea of false hopes.
There is one more thing more powerful than hope which can help overcome both kinds of physical and mental pain. This is the power of love. A mother does not consider it a burden to carry a baby for 9 months neither she finds it painful while taking care of him after the birth. If someone offers her all the wealth of this world to cast away her baby, she would never agree to that. But what if she loses her baby to a disease or some other natural cause, isn’t she going to suffer terribly? What can eliminate her overwhelming pain of loss? Now, only the greater love of all-powerful God and unwavering attachment with Him can rescue her from this pain. Love and submission to His will can, not only reduce her pain, rather convert it into a symbol of her nobility and perseverance in the face of such huge loss. Like a runner experiencing a sense of euphoria after crossing the finishing line, such a believer suddenly starts experiencing feelings of utmost serenity and peace and finds himself or herself in the presence of God. Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the promised Messiah for the latter days, considers this to be a sign of a true believer. he states:
The greatest sign of their (believers’) sincerity is that they give precedence to their Real Beloved over everything else, and if they experience any tribulations from Him, they view them as bounties because of their overpowering personal love and consider the torment to be a sweet drink. The sharp edge of a sword cannot bring about a separation between them and their Beloved and no great calamity can restrain them from the remembrance of the Beloved. They regard Him as their very life and find all of their delight in His love. They deem His Being as the only being and consider His remembrance as the purpose of their lives. Him alone they cherish and from Him alone they attain comfort. They have only Him in the world and become wholly His; for Him alone, they live and for Him alone, they die. They are in the world but are outside the world; while possessing self, they are selfless. They have no concern with honour, reputation, life, or comfort; rather, they lose everything for the sake of the One and give up everything to find the One. They are consumed by an imperceptible fire and cannot explain why they are consumed. They are deaf and dumb to every admonition and exaltation and are ready to endure every hardship and disgrace and find their delight therein.
Love is what makes one roll in the dust of disgrace;
Love is what makes one sit in the scorching fire.
No one offers his head or sacrifices his life for someone else;
Love alone makes one perform this task with utmost sincerity.
The same idea has been beautifully captured by Rumi, a Mystic Poet, in the following words:
“in the midst of an ocean of sorrow Love is sorrowless”
