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      This is a question that has plagued philosophers - both secular and spiritual down through the ages. And part of the reason is because good and bad, when viewed from a "higher" perspective can be more difficult to determine. Of course, in some instances, various actions look bad to "just about" everyone. Even still, to get 100% agreement, a world wide consensus on what constitutes good and what constitutes bad would be very difficult if not impossible.

      Is consensus necessary for the correct interpretation of good and bad? Not necessarily. But just looking at the history of the world, with the partial understanding available to humans, and the partial "data" available, makes one think before answering too quickly. And interpreting from one's own viewpoint often disenfranchises whole cultures of theirs. Is this a "bad" thing to do? Again, the history of the world, with the constant warfare, often (or usually) brought about by warring world views of what is good for "us" makes one think once more. If people spent more time pausing to consider "how" they thought about things, they would have less time for fighting with each other, and strapping high explosives to their bodies to force their views of good and bad on others.

      So, perhaps the lack of a "good" answer to the question of "Why Do Bad Things Happen?" has partly to do with the fact that the question is too one dimensional. Painful things happen, car wrecks, sudden deaths of loved ones, murders, and so on. Things happen over which we seemingly have no control. Looking at these events from the normal consciousness we are all familiar with, we do not have control. And we have a huge body of "evidence" from the world as we know it that we do not have control.

      But science itself has provided some possible evidence to the contrary. Evidence that humans affect events. Their subatomic experiments seem to have been affected by the observer. This is not new evidence at all. It is decades old. Of course thousands of scientists still probably view the world in the usual "good and bad" fashion. It is a hard habit to break. And perhaps it is a useful "habit" to continue to use from a cultural perspective in many respects.

Spiritual Experiences of Metaphysical Truths

      The Hindus, from their inner science investigations into consciousness through yoga and meditation, have said for thousands of years that this is very true. And of course most people know that they also have strong beliefs in reincarnation. But Hindus, at least the deeply meditating yogis do not believe by faith. Their spiritual practice is "darshan" spirituality. The short explanation is "seeing is believing." When a person has deep and abiding spiritual experiences of metaphysical truths, he or she does not need to cling to professions of faith in the way that he or she did at the beginning of the spiritual journey.

      So the good and bad are multidimensional factors, which can be better interpreted as one "progresses" spiritually.

      Not exactly an answer, but the question is similar to "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" Certainly, following the 10 commandments, the Yamas and Niyamas of Patanjali (Yoga), etc. is very important. We need structure. The words disciple and discipline come from the same root, after all. It is important for our spiritual growth. And at the society level, structure is also important or the fabric of society breaks down. But the eternal Universal Consciousness of which we are a part, is an undivided wholeness, though it appears to us to be separated into constituent parts (and quite a few at that!).

~ God Unmanifested & Manifested ~

      Whatever happens in the manifested world is a slice of the wholeness, and ultimately not fully interpretable as it is perceived by the senses in that way. When we do, we are constricting the energy through a filter. That filter is "I" and though we really cannot entirely help it because we are "us" it is important to let the judgments of good and bad go as much as possible. As the Bible says, "Judge not lest ye be judged." Is this God's way of letting us know He's waiting to come down on us in a Cosmic Way? Not so much really. Just a way of letting us know that what we do has a way of repeating back on us. "Reaping what we sow." So to speak. The law of karma.

The best we can do is to work on our spiritual practice,
and always meditate on the fundamental reality, silent before us:

God and Soul