I wasn't all that keen to read this book. This book has been in my personal library for many years, but I do not forget it. Donate . But answers don’t take the pain away and they aren’t always available. This all leads to the inevitable question, “What good, then, is religion?” which is the title of the book’s final chapter. Afterall, what else is there to do? These ideas fly in the face of what most every believer has been taught, and the ideology that is embedded and reinforced by the Judeo-Christian folk religion of the larger society. "â€who have been hurt by life," and now struggle with God as a result. But according to Rabbi Harold S. Kushner’s claims in his book When Bad Things Happen to Good People, it’s simply not true. In the New Test. Bible. I can hear Rabbi Kushner's voice on every page of the book and he is so compassionate. You don’t have to be a theologian or philosophizer to find yourself asking, “Why me?” when you’re getting screwed for no apparent fault of your own. She had just come from the Unitarian Meeting House and checked out some books, because Walter's dad, Irving, was dying. The book is dedicated to the memory of Kushner's young son, Aaron, who died at the age of 14 in 1977 of the incurable genetic disease progeria. He chooses explanation (3). I have to admit that the crowd was right this time, this book is a great read that I highly recommend. But according to Rabbi Harold S. Kushner’s claims in his book … My sister, who had never hurt a flea, mother of 2 young children never saw or heard the car coming. Needless to say, I was completely devastated by these events. In... ... All papers are for research and reference purposes only! especially the loss of a child, experienced a search for meaning and a             Well, that’s why I am writing about this because I just went through it. Still, from time to time we do need to deal with them. What did I do to deserve this?” That is really an unanswerable, pointless question. If this a concept unfamiliar to you then you might find this book mind opening and perhaps relieving. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. The theme of his story is how good people get punished for doing great things. I enjoyed his logical methodical manner of understanding trials and God's role, there are some points I agree with. Someone recommended this book to me after my younger sister (age 33) was killed by a car that no-one was driving. Kushner wrote the book because his son was born with progeria, a disease where his body aged much faster than it should, and he died young. They were simply “teaching the compesinos how to read” the bible. And if there’s no God at all, then it’s obvious that laws of nature apply to the good and bad equally. After all, if God were really so powerful and loving, he would protect good people from having bad things happen — but, all too often, he doesn’t. evolve as a person. Actually, this is a question that has plagued not only theologians, but philosophers and regular folks throughout history. Kushner chooses to believe in an imperfect god, which allows him to maintain his belief while at the same time exonerating his god for all the pain, suffering, and death which befall the most innocent of bystanders. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. According to Kushner, God does not intended to punish good people by let them suffer and go through disasters and tragedies. In this essay I will talk about the torturing of prisoners in Abu Ghraib. This copy was used as assigned reading to classes of high school juniors studying morality and the nature of good and evil. Often imitated but never superseded. I have come. We also have to understand that man lives in a world that, at the moment contains a lot of evil, God gave man free will and that means that we have the choice to be good or bad. This is especially interesting, considering the fact that             Anyone. ?�[ �v�|�$� �j��h�B�������y��s��Q��d���q�da���g5�Q�����n_?�Q����X���*,�\+ì����}��>,�l�����V���q�-���'G%S��ҽK����5�bQ0����cx��#|�R�ٮ ��eT�*5Y�z���[����?�Y۽&�3|��l٬x��3�5�'��K[����kK�՜��U���A��ʄ�A�^#�������J����;����v�ZL���s��w��}$�Ҟ��Å�b������{�� Ћ��C):ҿ?T�����;S�e��AO July 27, 2014 He seems to "get" it - s. I wish I could say that this book answers the question posed by its title. We don’t know why exactly someone developed a rare type of cancer, or why that car skidded off the road just where it did. Harold S. Kushner is rabbi laureate of Temple Israel in the Boston suburb of Natick, Massachusetts. Rabbi Kushner's position is that, because suffering exists in the world, only three options are possible: (1) God does not exist. Rabbi Harold S. Kushner's work, When Bad Things Happen to Good People, was inspired by the suffering he experienced with the tragic death of his son, Aaron. MegaEssays.com. 2*�TaU��B�7�>����%� d0 2��ITf�@�B��-�nVF��R��!���c&�E�@dd�)A�a��� (���2�1�Y� ��������"ؒ�*Œl����� �F$|�1'r�@q+-^ӆ�$K�p��L����*#���uh,,)B�B�LNˌ�8���w��3=eͯ��(���6�{vn�m��. When we understand that, our question will change from, “Why do we have to feel pain?” to “What do we do with our pain so that it becomes meaningful and not just pointless empty suffering?”, “I don’t know why one person gets sick, and another does not, but I can only assume that some natural laws which we don’t understand are at work.