After years in the church, and years out, and various and sundry tragedies, I have come to the conclusion that this isn't something that doesn't make sense. It makes perfect sense. It was kind of an epiphany, but I finally asked myself, "What gives you the idea that this stuff is wrong, or unfair?"
I couldn't come up with an answer. I can't think of a single source that tells me things are going to go well. I can't think of anywhere I got the idea that I was supposed to live to a ripe old age. If you look at nature, what we go through is normal, but when we look at ourselves, it's unfair.
In terms of God, my conclusion is God doesn't allow bad things to happen to good people. We've just IMPOSED our idea that these things are bad. In reality they are natural. As mortal beings we are afraid of them, as we should be, and we strive to live as long as we can. As thinking creatures, though, I think if we look at everything as a whole, and see ourselves as a part of it, we're just living natural lives like every other creature on earth.
I think the problem is when we shake our fist at the sky and demand to know why God allowed bad things to happen, we're seeing things as 'bad', when they are just normal occurances. People do heinous things, sure, within the bounds of free will. I think in terms of natural tragedy, though, we have to accept that if God made the world, and God is perfect, then our concept of death and dying being 'wrongs' might not be accurate.
All the imposition of original sin and satan and the rest are just bandaids that don't explain why a loving God would allow such "bad" things to happen. In reality, you don' tneed them if these things aren't "bad".
