Reality Is Harsh

Reality is not for everyone.

It’s no wonder that most people see the world through the prism of belief that refracts what meets their eyes to conform to the ways they wish it to be. Without wishful faith in a benevolent universe with a higher purpose, the world can seem a profoundly discouraging, disappointing, and unfair place. We long for fairy tales, but in reality, bad things happen to good people.

People suffer and die from agonizing illnesses and injuries; they are robbed of their dignity and their minds. Natural disasters can destroy thousands of lives in a single random “act of God,” and survivors may lose everyone and everything they have. Innocent people are maimed and killed by other people acting accidentally, impulsively, insecurely, passionately, vengefully, or misguidedly.

Even worse are the premeditated, calculated, even predatory acts of violence. Much is driven by ideology or intergroup conflict, but some premeditated violence is merely opportunistic—for personal gain, sometimes even trivial gain.

Still more disturbing, some violence may be motivated by sheer callousness or even sadistic pleasure. And that’s just the human story.

Nature is a brutal struggle for survival for all creatures. Agonizing suffering of sentient beings is the norm throughout Eden.

From “Finding Purpose In A Godless World”. Ralph Lewis. 2018.