# Why do bad things happen to good people?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bad-things-happen-to-good-people/722607>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [June 15, 2015, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bad-things-happen-to-good-people/722607 "2015-06-15T20:35:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\
**Post date:** [June 28, 2015, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bad-things-happen-to-good-people/722607/41 "2015-06-28T16:11:04Z")

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I find the reverse to be more perplexing : why do good things happen to bad people? It’s a lot harder to imagine a god that rewards evil as means to a greater good.

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**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\
**Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bad-things-happen-to-good-people/722607/42 "2015-06-29T10:50:46Z")

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Why does there have to be a “why”?

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**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\
**Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bad-things-happen-to-good-people/722607/43 "2015-06-29T12:47:06Z")

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> [@PatrickLondon](#):
>
> Why does there have to be a “why”?

Exactly. I posed that question to those who do believe things happen for a reason.

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**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\
**Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-bad-things-happen-to-good-people/722607/44 "2015-06-29T16:25:46Z")

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> [@jakob](#):
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> Basically everything bad can be thought of a stepping stone to something good

And everything good can be a stepping stone to something bad.

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