Many people ask the question all of the time about why there is so much suffering and hurt in this world, irrespective of whether a God does or does not exist, of which, the most straightforward answer is that there is suffering because too much of mankind is selfish, greedy, deceptive, and mean-spirited. That is to say, basically all the ills of mankind can be laid at the very feet of mankind, for doing wrong to each other, and for doing wrong to their neighbor, of which, those wrongs will create suffering.
Despite the fact that suffering is due to mankind’s abuse of one another, many people somehow still believe that suffering in and of itself, shouldn’t be permitted in this world, or any world, and at anytime. If this would be true, than mankind, would have to forsake its free-will either voluntarily or by compulsion, and indeed, without free-will, and assuming there was a benign God in control, or some other benign-being, than there indeed would not be any further suffering.
However, as good as this might sound, an even better good, is for mankind to actually have free-will, and from that free-will to thereupon make decisions that are freely made, of which those decisions would make for a better world. This would then demonstrate that the proper use of free-will is a way to prove that mankind has acted in accordance to truth, justice, and liberty, in a manner that bestows the ultimate respect and tribute to its Creator.
So then, it is fair to say that the suffering that any person, or peoples go through, is an opportunity for those that are suffering to challenge those that are creating that suffering to become a better person, by them ultimately recognizing that what they have done is wrong. Further to the point, this is also an opportunity for those that suffer, to demonstrate that the correct response to those that create such suffering is not to match evil with evil, or wrong with wrong, but to endure the injustice and to keep on striving to see that such injustice will eventually, no matter the length of time, or no matter the cost, be overcome, by staying true to the course, and thereby acting in the face of adversity with courage and integrity.
Again and again, injustice happens all of the time, but that story does not end, not even through the death of one individual, or even of millions of individuals, but rather the story keeps on repeating itself, till time immemorial, until it is corrected and thereby becomes correct, no matter, how long that time is measured, in mankind’s terms. This then means that the point of suffering is to have that wronged individual demonstrate their courage to maintain truth, fairness, and justice in the very face of untruth, unfairness, and injustice, and to be unrelenting about doing so; until mankind rouses itself from its slumber of ignorance and willful stupidity, to recognize that mankind’s conscience must be awakened, so that right and justice, will have its illuminating day, and thereby suffering replaced by unspeakable joy.