Are we far enought off topic yet? > Why does God allow suffering was the question.... We lived with God before this life as spirits. We could see that he was perfect and had a winderfull physical body. (Yes, God is ressurected and has a physical body.) We wanted to become like him. Since we were with him in heaven, we could not understand what a great place heaven is since there was nothing to compare it to. Thus WE elected to come here to earth and suffer all the "slings and arows of outrageous fortune" so we could see what it is like. After we die and are resurected into a body like God's body is, then we will see eye-to-eye and truly understand happiness. God does not inflict us with suffering. We chose it for very good reasons. You might as much ask why does anyone ever go to a scarry movie? Because the experience is interesting and worhtwhile. (Acually I don't much like scary movies.) R. Keene