„Can pain and suffering be of any value?”
What are pain and suffering? Well, suffering can be defined as the experience of discomfort. Discomfort may be physical pain, either from injury or not, or mental illness. There are many different words to describe these sensations: agony, sorrow, hurt, etc. There is no doubt that suffering is usually connected with pain, so we can discuss the problem without separating this sensations. But the real question is, can these feelings be of any value?
On the one hand, wars, crimes, diseases are full of pain and suffering. In those situations pain and suffering have no meaning, they are representing pure evil and tragedy. We need to remember that those feelings have no value in themselves for people who experiences them and for people that are observing them.
On the other hand, we need to take into consideration a religious viewpoint on pain and suffering. Different religious traditions accepts pain as an essential aspect of every human life. For example the Christianity preach redemption through suffering in many different forms. It of course refers to Christ suffering, crucifixion and death, the most important dogma in Christianity.
All in all, we could find some values of pain and suffering in some aspects of religious life. However, they are still many features of those feelings that makes them evil and unfounded. Those features in my opinion also turns the scale for meaningless of suffering and pain in all situations.