Refuting one of the most detrimental lies of the 21st-century
I have a confession ya'll.
I no longer think that everything happens for a reason. I haven't believed that for quite some time now. Quite the contrary, I think the notion that it does is utter nonsense. Foolery. Self-deception. Rationalization. And worst of all, the most evil among them, justification.
Sure. God, or the universe, or the grand equation, or nature, or whatever you believe in, is a magnificent economist. The most catastrophic happenings usually bring about good, somehow, someway. The most devastating situations bring about the most beauty and wonder and hope. Marvelous things and people are often born of tragedy. But that doesn't mean that literally everything happens for a reason. Some things happen for no reason at all. And many things happen because of our choices.
EVERYTHING does NOT happen for a reason. Sometimes it's the randomness of it all. Sometimes it's the chaos of nature. Sometimes evolution gets it wrong. Sometimes it's free will, if you will. But there is not always a good or divine reason.
Many will balk at this statement. One might say I'm being overly cynical or too literal. Pessimistic, even.
I, myself, have said "If it brings people comfort, who cares if it's wholly accurate? Why does it matter either way? Isn't it good that thinking this way helps people work through their pain?"
Well, I now have an answer to my own questions. And it does matter.
There's no reason for cancer. There's no reason for babies to die. There's no good reason for tornadoes or koala bears. There's no reason for child abandonment or rape or abuse or neglect. I know that sucks, and it would feel better to know that the babies die to make unicorn dust so the fairies can save the world. But they don't. That's reality. Dead babies aren't good, period. There's no good reason for human trafficking or slavery or childhood leukemia. There's no rationalization for the people starving in the streets of
Ch!na and there was no justification for the h0l0caust.
Why, then? You ask? Why does it matter?
Foolery is foolish, especially when it comes to matters of life and human existence. Foolery doesn't only fool others, a fool must fool themselves. Foolery requires deception, and worse, deception of oneself. Self-deception requires rationalization and rationalization is extremely dangerous. Because you know what comes from rationalization? Justification.
We humans have proven, time and time again, that we are capable of anything—as long as we can justify it. We can sit idly by, no matter how horrendous of acts we witness, if we are justified. We can dehumanize and demonize other human beings, if we are justified. We can brush things under the rug and continue generational cycles of harm, if we are justified. But if we are doing something or complicit in something wholesome, we don't need to justify it.
Is it worth, at least, making people feel better? This concept of infinite good purpose?
No.
Why?
Because "feeling better" has become a problem. Because we are so obsessed with feeling better, that we work harder to feel better than we work to BE better. Because we let terrible things happen, as long as we can "feel better" about them.
Look y'all, I'm totally down for feeling better. Trust me, I spent like half my life's work learning how we "feel better". I'm not against it. In fact, I find it valuable beyond measure. But there's some things we just shouldn't feel better about. There's things that we aren't served by feeling better about. There's things we SHOULD feel bad about and there's things that hurt so bad, they can't ever feel "better". Feeling better is great, but it's not more important than being better and it's not more important than being honest with ourselves. It's not more important than our freedom, our lives, and our future. And that's what's on the line right now.
Everything doesn't happen for a reason.
Written by Holly Kellums
Image by Rhendi Rukmana via Unsplash
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