I am asking this question if there really is an eternal blissful afterlife. I personally am agnostic and don't know if there is a God and an afterlife. But if there is an eternal blissful afterlife, then why aren't we all born up there where we can live forever happy and not have any suffering and misery in our lives?
The "eternal blissful life" is not after this one, it is here and now. You were born into this.
Some people value suffering. But others do not and are completely miserable. They resort to suicide. There is no reason for such people to be here and suffer like that. There is everything wrong with suffering. I have struggled with depression and my life has lost all joy and meaning. You don't realize just how much my life has been taken away from me.
Some people would say that we are here to learn and grow and that suffering is for our personal learning and development. If this is so, then that is no God at all. That is no loving caring God at all. You don't realize the torment that others go through. Many have lost all joy and meaning in their lives and resort to suicide.
There is no reason for this. There is no reason for innocent people to suffer like this. They are not evil people out harming and tormenting others, so there is no need for them to be here and suffer. They should of been born in heaven (the eternal blissful afterlife) and just stayed there for all eternity where they can be forever happy and never have to be suicidal and miserable.
The only reason why I think we are here and suffer is because this universe came about through random chance and that what happens to us in life just simply happens and nothing more. That there is no grand reason for any of it.
There is reason for suffering. I personally see it as self evident, obvious. It is effect of desire to exist as if this place (my/our world) is without God. It is literally an insane reason, but doesn't mean that there isn't a reason, nor that it doesn't have a sense of appeal. I personally think the appeal is so underestimated, it is challenging to describe. Partially challenging because of how distorted God is in this world (he allegedly is scary, vengeful and punishing), and partially challenging because admitting to wanting what is painted as 'horrible, tragic, hurtful' is fairly taboo. Almost gotta find a strange cult to be honest about such an appeal. When in our shared existence, that strange cult is 'the world as you know it.'
I would liken the appeal to desire for marriage. To be so involved with another person that you wish to share literally everything with them, indefinitely. For earthly marriage, a ceremony of sorts needs to occur for that to be seen as 'marriage has actually occurred between these two.' This is partially, if not primarily the appealing situation. To knowingly be married. Yet, I think we are all aware that 50% of those end in divorce. The other 50% could be eternal blissful life, or perhaps some of that (other half) are persons too self restricted to obtain divorce, and willing to accept ongoing pains and discomforts in that relationship (marriage) as way they are supposed to live.
IMO, the desire to enter into monogamous marriage (or relationship) is actually great analogy. The type of bond that lays claim to 'greatest love' we possibly can achieve. The type of bond that may seek, at times, to exclude all others (including God) for what is the potential to be shared between the two. And yet, is the type of bond we currently understand has a 50% chance of ending in ugly, spiteful separation of the two physical selves. One would wonder where is the appeal in that? But then one just realizes, a fantasy is set up to suggest how it will work out well for this particular couple because they are magically different than the ones that came before them. That their bond is extra special.
Exclusive love, is IMO, why suffering exists. Fortunately, as much of an appeal there is for that type of (distorted) love, it is actually not really what keeps us going, keeps us living here in a place where appearances matter and Creator God is not making Herself known (physically). Our innate ability to Love despite conditions, situation is the path to finding an eternal blissful life. How often and how consistently will likely be in direct proportion to level of perceived suffering. Sometimes, this process could, theoretically, take more than one earthly lifetime to play itself out, accordingly.
