Do you believe that everything happens for a reason?
Seneca said, "Events do not just happen, but arrive by appointment." Everything that occurs is connected to everything else.(7-7a) The Stoic Logos do believe that everything happens for a reason and that there is not always an answer why to our knowledge. Stoic Logos believe that there is an ordained reason. If this is true, then nothing that happens can be wrong or bad, since everything that happens is part of God's rational plan.(7-7a)
I do strongly believe that everything happens for a reason, to an extent. I have many instances that I could go into depth about but I'll only speak of a couple. For instance, when I was younger I had encountered the cops more than I ever wanted too. I needed them for help, I wasn't in trouble. But I was getting sexually harassed and assaulted more times than I could imagine. It started when I was about 5 or 6 years old and went on for over 8 years. I always would cry for a couple days after the situations would happen. I always asked my mom and dad, why me? What did I do to deserve this? I never understood until I got older, things do happen for a reason. Because of those instances, I grew up fast! I matured faster than most of my friends my age. I grew to a strong and independent individual before I was 17 years old. Later I realized that God was watching me and letting me know that I am a strong person. When I turned 18 I got a tattoo on my forearm, Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand." John 13:7. I haven't encountered anymore situations like that since and I couldn't be happier.
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ReplyDeleteTotal number of words in the post: 600
ReplyDeleteSpelling errors: 0
Grammatical errors: No grammatical errors but found punctuation error.
Lack of clarity: None, post is very clear.
Organization of ideas: Post flows and is organized.
Did the author answer their question? Author did clearly not readdress question at the end of post.
Did the author provide a concrete example that clearly illustrates their main point? Yes, author gave examples on main point.
How does the author’s concrete example illustrate or not illustrate their main point? The author's point is that she believes in the Stoic Logo belief that everything happens for a reason. The author gave clear examples as to why and examples do make sense.
Do you agree or disagree with the author’s answer and why? I do agree with the author's reasoning for believing that everything happens for a reason. I myself have experienced several things to make my beliefs warranted.
What is a concrete example that clearly illustrates why you agree or disagree with the author? I agree because I myself have experienced things in life that coincide with this belief. Two years ago I moved to Phoenix on a whim with no clear understanding of what it would entail. I believe that it happened for a reason because I am doing better that I ever expected and many good things have come out of it.
What is your explanation of how your concrete example clearly illustrates your reason for why you agree or disagree with the author? I believe every decision we make and things that occur, happens for a reason. It is always a learning experience and helps us later in life to make decisions based on our experiences.
Nice peer-review Lblogs08
DeleteI agree with the peer respondent's assessment to an extent. For some reason I re-checked my word count and Microsoft office says I have 595 words. I don't know how they got 600 or how I previously had 598. Also, the peer respondent stated that I didn't readdress my question at the end of the post. I know I didn't readdress it but I did answer my question more than once and by doing so I gave more than one example to prove why I gave the answer I gave. My question: Do you believe everything happens for a reason? Yes, I honestly do believe that things happen for reason. Such as the examples I provided of my past and the incident of losing my grandpa. I do like how the peer respondent gave their own example to answering my question and they also believe the same as I do. Although there may have been a couple things I disagreed with on my peer respondent's assessment, I still do really appreciated receiving the feedback that I did. Thank you again!
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ReplyDeleteDo you believe that everything happens for a reason?
Seneca said, "Events do not just happen, but arrive by appointment." Everything that occurs is connected to everything else [delete period) (7-7a)[.] The Stoic Logos do believe [is]←(Logos is, one might say, a metaphysical principle held by Stoics. It is the principle of Reason that governs the way in which things happen in the world. Another way of thinking about Logos, that is analogous to our more contemporary world view, is to understand Logos, as a physical law/law of physics. As such, it would be a law that governs how events and things happen.) that everything happens for a reason and [that there is not always an answer why to our knowledge.]←(This is a bit unclear, and it seems to contradict what is stated in the first part of this sentence. Can you resolve this tension for us by clarifying what you meant? Also, can you provide a source citation for where you are drawing your interpretation?) [The] Stoic Logos believe [is the principle] that there is an ordained reason. {If this is true, then nothing that happens can be wrong or bad, since everything that happens is part of God's rational plan [delete period] (7-7a)[.]}←(Do you think that this conclusion would necessarily follow from the premise that everything happened in part of God’s rational plan or that there is such a thing as a Logos that governs events in the world? I’m thinking the answer is no. For example, couldn’t one argue that the fact that everything happens in accordance with God’s rational plan or a Logos simply entails that everything can be given some kind of explanation Furthermore, one might suggest that the notions of good/bad and moral/immoral are human concepts. As such, there are no such things that are good/bad or moral/immoral outside of a human perspective. If that is the case, then things could actually be good/bad or moral/immoral without suggesting that things being good/bad or moral/immoral is a part of God’s plan or something that follows from Logos. By the way, what is suggested here is answer to what philosophers typically refer to as the problem of evil. This is the problem of how we can resolve a seeming contradiction between the fact that there are such things as evil that exists in the world and that God is something like an infinitely good or beneficent being.)
I do strongly believe that everything happens for a reason, [to an extent.]←(Wouldn’t adding this clause be cheating a bit when it comes to committing yourself to the claim that “everything happens for a reason.”) I have many instances that I could go into depth about but I'll only speak of a couple. [For instance, when I was younger I had encountered the cops more than I ever wanted too. I needed them for help, I wasn't in trouble. But I was getting sexually harassed and assaulted more times than I could imagine. It started when I was about 5 or 6 years old and went on for over 8 years. I always would cry for a couple days after the situations would happen[ed]. I always asked my mom and dad, why me? What did I do to deserve this? I never understood until I got older, things do happen for a reason. Because of those instances, I grew up fast! I matured faster than most of my friends my age. I grew to a strong and independent individual before I was 17 years old. Later I realized that God was watching me and letting me know that I am a strong person. When I turned 18 I got a tattoo on my forearm, Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand." John 13:7. I haven't encountered anymore situations like that since and I couldn't be happier.]←(I know speaking of the kinds of experiences that you are speaking of is very difficult, and that it is especially difficult to get into detail about such experiences. However, I want to note something, and I was hoping you could explain things a bit more, especially for the purpose of clarification. From what you share in this paragraph, it seems that you are suggesting that all the experiences of harassment and assault that you experienced happened as a reason for you to get the tattoo that you got. I don’t think this is actually what you meant, but can you see how the way in which you went about telling us about your experiences seem to suggest that this might be what you are saying? Also, I was wondering what you might say if someone said the following to you: You are right. Most things happen for a reason, but those reasons are not the kinds of reasons that you might be thinking about, especially if you were thinking in terms of God having a plan. Rather, most things happen for a reason because most things, besides things that spontaneously happen in nature, are things that are caused by some person or a group of people. Yes, you were sexually harassed and assaulted for a reason, but the reason is not because God had a greater plan for you. That reason is because those who sexually harassed and assaulted you were assholes with issues of their own. And, yes, you became a stronger person because of these experiences, but it was not God’s plan to expose you to these situations in order for you to become a stronger person. The reason why you became a stronger person was because, unlike other people who might be viewed as being “weaker” because of these experiences—i.e., becoming more anxiety ridden, self-conscious, pessimistic, depressed, reluctant to trust people, etc.—you were able to somehow able to keep these experiences from harming you in these ways; perhaps it was the support system you had, perhaps it was your faith in God, perhaps it was something about your personality, etc., but in any case, the reason you became stronger was not because you becoming so was a part of God’s plan. Note that I am not suggesting this alternative interpretation in order to question your faith. What I am doing, however, is asking you to think about what it might mean to say or believe that all things happen for a reason. If this, and anything else I say here does end up making you question your faith, which is not my intention at all, I want to suggest something else for you to think about: What does it mean to have faith in something? Perhaps you can still have faith in God even if you ended up agreeing that none of what you experienced had reasons for occurring in the way that you thought they did.)
ReplyDeleteAnother situation is when I was pregnant with my daughter. The due date was December 14th and she didn't want to come into this world yet. I was induced on December 23rd at 4am. She was later born at exactly 6:30 [p.m.] on 12/23/14. During the last couple weeks of my pregnancy, I was informed briefly about my grandpa because he was in the hospital. The last I heard was that he fell down, couldn't get up, and went to the hospital. Since I didn't hear anything else, I thought everything was OK. Just a few days passed by, my mom calls me and tells me that my grandpa had passed in the middle of the night. Of course I instantly started balling. I was very close with my grandpa. I visited him and my grandma a lot. Later that day my dad called me to see how I was doing. I still cried but he was able to help calm me by saying, "There's a reason God didn't want Myla (my daughter) to be due on her due date. Although you may not have known it, God knew you were going to be losing someone very special to you and therefore granted you with Myla later in time to help you cope with the loss of your grandpa." By this example, I am able to reflect on it and know and understand that I am in the hands of God. He is taking care of me. I agree with the Stoic answer that "I can concentrate on developing an attitude of courageous acceptance. My efforts should be directed toward that part of my life over which I can exert the absolute control: my attitudes, or my will [delete period]" (7-7a)[.]←(I appreciated that you also gave this example as well. In this case too, one might suggest that there are reasons for why your grandfather passed away when he did and why your daughter was born when she was, but again the reasons are not what you thought they were—that these were all part of God’s plan. The reasons are that your grandfather’s condition was such that he passed away when he did. Perhaps, one day, we will know enough about the human body in order to be able to predict the exact date at which everyone who is living would die, but for now we will simply have to say that the reasons are not readily available to us because we lack the necessary knowledge to derive them. Something similar might be said about the time of your daughter’s birth, although we would have to add to this case something about how the doctors and nurses found it necessarily to induce her birth rather than leaving it to occur naturally. Once again, none of this is intended to get you to question your faith. Although I am not religious, I know a lot of religious people, and I respect everyone’s right to hold whatever religious beliefs they have as well as to reject any religious belief that they want. I just want you to consider other possible explanations to the one you accept. Finally, as in the suggestion I gave above, you might consider the following: even if you grant that the timing of your grandfather’s death and your daughter’s birth was not in God’s plan like you had thought, would that make your grandfather’s death and your daughter’s birth any less meaningful to you?)
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