Do things happen for a reason?

So i was talking to my friend the other day about this subject and we ended up gettin in a debate...he says that he believes people that are more religious tend to believe that they do as opposed to less religious people...i disagree because i know plenty of people that aren't religious and still believe this...what do you guys think?

Huh? who what? :confused:

Well, Im a practicing Lutheran and I do believe most everything happens for a reason, despite how bad situations get there is good to come from it. But having said that I dont believe there is any good from children being molested, abused, exc, I just cant fathom how that "happens" for a reason. Contradicting yes but thats what i believe.

everything happens for a reason. every single detail. from the color of your carpet to the number of lanes open at vons.

Just my personal view....I wouldn't say that horrific things "happen for a reason" (what does that mean, anyhow???)....but what I DO believe is that God can take ANY circumstance and use it for good if you trust Him to do so.

Now...how that plays out from a "non-religious" view point, I don't know. And I guess it depends on what you consider "religious" too....which is a whole 'nother ball of wax to discuss. ;)

You'd have to define "religious". If you mean "Christian", or if you mean "I believe in some higher power", then it's sort of differs.
Me? I prefer to believe that it just happens.
The only "reason" behind it is if you MAKE it happen. If I'm careless around my blackthroat, I get bitten. So the bite happened because I was careless, and it would teach me to not be careless. So did a higher power make it happen? Not in my book.
I think a LOT of people are superstitious too, so you have to further divide it into superstitious as opposed to religious, which SOME will say is the same thing, and OTHERS will say is totally different.

i dont get it

sorry i'll try to explain it again...let's say that someone close to you passes, then you come to financial struggles...do you believe that happens for a reason and that down the line it will be to teach you a lesson...kinda like, that, that doesn't kill you makes you stronger?...idk maybe i'm just really really bad at explaning things

I kind of embrace that things happen for a reason. And I consider myself more spiritual than religious. I believe in God, but I don't take the Bible literally. I kind of like something I heard Oprah say years and years ago. That she believes that when we die and we meet our maker (if you believe in a higher power) that He will have you experience every joy, every sadness, every hurt that you caused people in your life 10 x what they experienced.

I try to live my life that way. Trying to be respectful of other's feelings. I don't always succeed in not hurting others, but I really try not to.

I was out of work for a year after 9-11. As a result - you will never hear me complain about my job. I also got a better job than I was laid off from. So, yeah - I sort of felt it happened for a reason.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AshleyB

Well, Im a practicing Lutheran and I do believe most everything happens for a reason, despite how bad situations get there is good to come from it. But having said that I dont believe there is any good from children being molested, abused, exc, I just cant fathom how that "happens" for a reason. Contradicting yes but thats what i believe.

---

Maybe it happens to make them stronger when they get older, then maybe they will help someone, in some way.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not for it or anything, but I do believe things happen for a reason. Everyone at some point has a vast impact on someone else.

I'm not religious, in a sense of every creature was created. I feel spirits watch over you and help you, and I definately believe in karma.

People that believe that things happen for a reason would have in common the belief that there is some order to the universe. While such people would not necessarily be of a religious bent I would say that religious people would be more likely to believe that things happen for a reason than would non religious people.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dsirkle

People that believe that things happen for a reason would have in common the belief that there is some order to the universe. While such people would not necessarily be of a religious bent I would say that religious people would be more likely to believe that things happen for a reason than would non religious people.

---

I definately agree with that.

I am not a religious person but I think that all things happen for a reason but that reason may not always be a higher powers fault. I think believing in a higher power gives a person hope. Maybe I am wrong.. but I see a lot especially with kids today. I work at a group home for fostered teenage boys who have done some pretty awful things to other people Those who don't believe in a higher power seem to me to not have any hope that tomorrow might be a better day. All there is to them is right now and how awful their lives are, so they cut themselves and fight and wallow in despair. Those that have some spiritual background are the ones that can hold it together and work towards tomorrow.

I am not saying to blame every little thing that happens on a higher power... lets face it... we all have free will and make plenty of messes for ourselves. Its up to us to learn what we need to learn from our mistakes so that we don't go around making the same ones over and over again. But somethings that happen have no rhyme or reason, we have to take it on faith that this was for the best or else let it drive us nuts.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Lucero87

sorry i'll try to explain it again...let's say that someone close to you passes, then you come to financial struggles...do you believe that happens for a reason and that down the line it will be to teach you a lesson...kinda like, that, that doesn't kill you makes you stronger?...idk maybe i'm just really really bad at explaning things

---

Coming at it from this angle, I would say this....Everything in life is going to be what you make of it. Yes, bad things happen that we have no control over. BUT...we DO have control over how we respond to and react to those bad things. We can choose to be bitter and angry and see only the darkness or sadness of a situation....OR we can CHOOSE to find the lessons we can apply to improve our lives.

If someone close to me dies, of course I will mourn and grieve. But do I choose to stay there in that place of sadness? Or do I choose to rejoice that I had such a remarkable person in my life to begin with? Do I choose to wallow in my grief and numb myself with various substances? Or do I choose to live my life in such a way that that person would be proud of me?

If I find myself in the midst of extreme financial crisis....do I whine and complain and blame everyone around me for my troubles? Do I feel entitled to some sort of rescue from the world? Or do I learn to be frugal...do I learn the value of not only a dollar but of all the things I still have? Do I strive to improve myself so that I can improve my financial circumstances?

Easy??? Certainly not. But it's a choice and a power we all possess.

My financial situation is completely my doing. If I want more money, I go out and get a second job. If I am happy with getting by with $1 in my account all of the time, then I stay put at my crummy job. If I want a job that requires higher education, I find some way to get that education and move on in the direction that I want.
If health, or other factors, limit me, then I do my best that I can in that situation and rest at night knowing that I am doing just that. This is how I know if my life is going in a good direction; I can sleep at night. If something is serious enough to cause me to lose sleep, I assess that facet of my life. I had a minimum-wage job, and was feeling really down about it. So instead of staying at that place like many others still do, I went out and applied myself; got a much better job that requires none of the heavier labor that I got shafted with before!
I am all about creating your own destiny and making your own path in life. Sure, things happen to facilitate or hinder you; but these outside factors are something that you have to just make the best of. I don't think that everything happens for a reason; a good reason at least!

Being an atheist I would say things happen, because something caused them. Fate is also another word for this topic. Along the same lines just a bit farther.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ginevive

I am all about creating your own destiny and making your own path in life. Sure, things happen to facilitate or hinder you; but these outside factors are something that you have to just make the best of.

---

Exactly. I am of the mind that what we make of our life is based on our decisions, not fate. So many "what if's", one decision could change my fate. It doesnt even have to be my decision that changes my life. I don't believe in fate. If my boyfriend we're to get drunk and die tomorrow, does it mean it was his fate? I dont think so. He made a poor decision. Does it mean that he died for a reason to make me stronger or crumble? I can't believe that.

I really don't like the idea of fate, either. If everything were laid out for me, I would feel like an automaton, going through someone else's motions. Not something that I'd like! I also grind my teeth at the whole "predestination" notion.

I've always been somewhat amused by discussions about "fate" or "predestination." A person can choose to believe whatever they want about such things...but it's not something we can KNOW is taking place. And even if we did...what would it change? We're all still faced with our own personal choices each and every day. How can you know which choice you were "predestined" to make? :rolleyes: I've rarely ever heard an intelligent discussion about such things. Almost always, it is little more than someone making an excuse for their own poor choices in life.

Yes. I never make excuses. I actually say that, if I had to go and do things over, I would have not changed a thing. I made some bad decisions on who I was friends with.. but those people ultimately led to me meeting my awesome husband, and my best friend, neither of which I would have known if I had not befriended some people who were basically charity cases, who took advantage of me. But they inadvertantly paid me back more than they could ever have done with money!

I was tormented and abused as a child and I think in some weird way...it did teach me something.

I don't take my kids for granted. Not one single day. I make sure they KNOW I love them. As I never felt that as a child. They aren't afraid to come to me with their problems and they trust me. And that is the most awesome feeling in the world.

I agree with Judy when she said "We can choose to be bitter and angry and see only the darkness or sadness of a situation....OR we can CHOOSE to find the lessons we can apply to improve our lives".

I try to think of everything as a life lesson.

:)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JLC

Coming at it from this angle, I would say this....Everything in life is going to be what you make of it. Yes, bad things happen that we have no control over. BUT...we DO have control over how we respond to and react to those bad things. We can choose to be bitter and angry and see only the darkness or sadness of a situation....OR we can CHOOSE to find the lessons we can apply to improve our lives.
Easy??? Certainly not. But it's a choice and a power we all possess.

---

Well said!! I'm not sure what I believe (religiously/spiritually), but I have always believed things happen for a reason…when one door closes another opens.

I believe that religion was created by man in an attempt to keep some sort of order. Opium for the masses if you will. Imagine if people believed there would be no recourse for their actions. If everyone thought there was no god, or hell, we would live in a pretty horrible place.

That said, I am agnostic. But that dosen't mean that I am not spiritual. I believe there is only one "LIFE". Not that we each get only one life, but rather... There is only one life and we are all just pieces of it, vibrating at different frequencies. And when I say "we" I mean every living thing. The only difference between me and my Ball Python is that we are vibrating at different frequencies. So I say yes. Everything must happen for a reason because it is all connected.

Yea i too agree that you can either choose to stay in a crummy state of mind or move on...it's the difference between pain and suffering, everyone experiences pain i.e. when a loved one passes...but we choose to suffer, like JLC said before, we can choose to think about the good times or we can pity ourselves.

I read a couple good quotes a while ago that kind of relate to the subject...

"Take death for example.
A great deal of our effort goes into avoiding it.
We make extraordinary efforts to delay it and often consider
its intrusion a tragic event.
Yet we'd find it hard to live without it.
Death gives meaning to our lives. It
gives importance and value to time.
Time would become meaningless if there were too much of it."

"We tell ourselves all kinds of lies to justify our stupidity"