Understanding Christian Suffering

[Philos]

Folks,

I have been pondering this issue for some time, and may have the beginnings of an answer.

The question: Why do some Christians turn a hard heart towards the sufferings of others?

First of all, it may seem counter intuitive to the Christian message to take the above attitude, but I think there may be something in the Christian story which justifies it. The answer may lie in the Christian conception of what suffering is.

First of all, let us remember that the Christian message is not a story in the minds of those who believe it. The message is ontological, the fabric of existence, it is our reality. In this message we are told that the 'fall' occurred and from that action the world is corrupted. The evil of the fall is to be found in every particle of matter and every idea that we can imagine. Evil is present and inescapable for the mortal creature. The only hope of release is in the arms of the only saviour, Jesus Christ, leading us cleansed into the next world.

Now, for someone who believes this, suffering in this world takes on a character that the child or common sense pragmatist will not understand. For the Christian, suffering is not to be avoided, indeed it cannot be avoided, it is a gift from the creator, possibly the most precious of gifts we can receive. Given the unavoidability of suffering, why would we put ourselves out to reduce or change this gift of suffering for others? Such tinkering in God's scheme could be pretentious at least and ungodly at most. Indeed, the notion that unalloyed happiness can be had may be the very voice of the demon, or the demon's host of arch devils: atheists, communists, liberals and democrats who lurk and infest this fallen place.

Given these truths, we might begin to understand how the Christian believer can see this world, not as a place where suffering is an avoidable contingecy, but where suffering is the very flame of purification. It could be, according to the Christian, through this flame that all must go.

Alex.

 

[Thomas II]

Folks,

The question: Why do some Christians turn a hard heart towards the sufferings of others?

Alex.

Because they lack empathy and compassion?

 

[Keith&Co.]

Because they lack morals in any real sense.
They don't try to do the right things for the right reasons. God gave them no reasons.
He just listed behaviors that were anathema and behaviors that were to be followed. So they have rote memorization where others might have thought out a moral code of their own.
So when they don't murder, it's not because all other humans have value, it's because God said not to.
He didn't give them tools to open their hearts to the suffering of others. Just throw a certain amount of money to the church and wait for someone to organize a charity with the cash.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

People who ponder such questions would do themselves and all things a greater service by spending their time more productively. Magic space men are not real. That would be my take, though I did go through the same learning curve. We truly do grow too soon old and too late smart.

 

[Bronzeage]

Because they are bad people. If we can point out their badness and their Christianity, that's a twofer.

 

[Horatio Parker]

That Christian message is a profound one, but it's very often viewed with a morbid or even sado-masochistic tint.

Imagine never having to act or even wait to have every desire fulfilled. Hungry? immediately you're fed. Horny? immediate sexual gratification etc. Such a being would never reflect and never reach any self actualization. It's from checks on the ego that self awareness springs. The other side of it is the idea of God sacrificing and suffering - this ability to self examine is a divine power, so God, through mans portion of the divine, enters the world of suffering.

It's all too easy to twist this into "the more the better", becoming a rationale for cruelty.

 

[Sarpedon]

I've come to believe that religion has little affect on the way people behave. Its more commonly an after-the-fact excuse, or ignored.

 

[Philos]

That Christian message is a profound one, but it's very often viewed with a morbid or even sado-masochistic tint.

Imagine never having to act or even wait to have every desire fulfilled. Hungry? immediately you're fed. Horny? immediate sexual gratification etc. Such a being would never reflect and never reach any self actualization. It's from checks on the ego that self awareness springs. The other side of it is the idea of God sacrificing and suffering - this ability to self examine is a divine power, so God, through mans portion of the divine, enters the world of suffering.

It's all too easy to twist this into "the more the better", becoming a rationale for cruelty.

Horatio,

Thanks for the reply, and it's a good one. Your line "It's from checks on the ego that self awareness springs" is self evident enough to me, and much Eastern philosophy follows this line.

Yes, I think that Christians will say that God shows his love for us in the sacrifice of his 'only begotten son'.

Your last line in the paragraph is the best IMHO, and I can see the way it would affect a Christian to have this understanding and feeling. As an agnostic I can taste it, but don't swallow.

Alex.

 

[Horatio Parker]

Cheers.

Same for me. Christian doctrine is a tangled mess. I wonder it's practitioners manage to get anything out of it.

 

[Underseer]

Christians and Muslims have discovered that it is easier to simply declare themselves morally superior than to actually try to be morally superior, thus lack of empathy is the least of what we expect.

 

[DBT]

Folks,

The question: Why do some Christians turn a hard heart towards the sufferings of others?

Alex.

What motivates faith? Perhaps the answer lies in motivation ....

 

[Trodon]

Folks,

I have been pondering this issue for some time, and may have the beginnings of an answer.

The question: Why do some Christians turn a hard heart towards the sufferings of others?

Alex.

What do you mean by "turn a hard heart towards the sufferings of others?"

Can you demonstrate that Christians are more likely to behave the way you mention than non Christians, especially atheists?

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

Folks,

I have been pondering this issue for some time, and may have the beginnings of an answer.

The question: Why do some Christians turn a hard heart towards the sufferings of others?

Alex.

What do you mean by "turn a hard heart towards the sufferings of others?"

Can you demonstrate that Christians are more likely to behave the way you mention than non Christians, especially atheists?

Being Christian or whatever doesn't have anything to do with it. The question is why some "people" do it. My answer would be to ask the question, "Is there a species that doesn't do the same?" Kindness that is perceived as religious kindness is simply human kindness. If it were not so there wouldn't be any selfish religious pricks lacking empathy. But they abound. Understanding "Christian" suffering is understanding suffering. The word "Christian" misleads.

 

[Philos]

Understanding "Christian" suffering is understanding suffering. The word "Christian" misleads.

joedad,

A suggestion in the OP is that 'suffering' in a generic sense is something that we should avoid or relieve. In the Christian sense it is something that is ontologically inevitable and necessary. These are different viewpoints IMHO.

The question in the OP is about what Christians think of suffering in a fallen world.

Alex.

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

Understanding "Christian" suffering is understanding suffering. The word "Christian" misleads.

joedad,

A suggestion in the OP is that 'suffering' in a generic sense is something that we should avoid or relieve. In the Christian sense it is something that is ontologically inevitable and necessary. These are different viewpoints IMHO.

The question in the OP is about what Christians think of suffering in a fallen world.

Alex.

Then it's just a semantic distinction in my view.

 

[Tigers!]

The question in the OP is about what Christians think of suffering in a fallen world.

Alex.

Christians think that suffering, both personal and to others, is inevitable in this world in which we live.

 

[Perspicuo]

It's a concept not far from that of karma.

If you suffer, you either deserve it, or need it because you have to be schooled out of your evil.

It's quite simple: humans are depraved, so they deserve every bit of it.

But the biblical story is a hopeless crock of contradiction, because in final analysis, you are this way because of a "stain" in your "soul" you did not put there nor wish for. You were created fallen. So, the perfect god with his intelligent design, created horrible beings, and then invented the perfect remedy: torture them until they beg for mercy, wish their own suffering, and chant "alleluia we love you" for having subjected them to the pointless nightmare... for ever and ever, while having the sadistic joy of contemplating the suffering of the other imperfect wretches as they are eternally tortured because the temporary torture failed at making them love their torturer.

Makes perfect sense sado-masochism.