Evil: if it exists, what is evil?

[Slammr (imported)]

Inspired by my tag line, a Shakespeare quote, someone said to me that the deity within keeps one from committing evil - if I interpreted his statement right. That, however, presupposes that a deity exists inside us. Is he talking about God? He didn't use that name. What if no deity exists? How, then, does one not do evil?

What is evil? Does it exist separate from Man? Are certain things inherently evil? Or, does evil exist only in the mind of Man, evil at certain times during history and in certain societies and not evil at other times or in other societies?

We might say killing is evil, but we hand out medals for killing during war; so for a killing to be murder is a judgment made by society and isn't evil in itself.

Genocide: is genocide evil? For the religious, Joshua was ordered by God to commit genocide, to wipe out every man, woman, and child, and he did so in city after city. Is genocide evil when ordered by God? If it isn't, then genocide, itself, can't be evil.

Is war evil? But what if one's country is attacked? How can it be evil for that country to defend itself? So, war isn't necessarily evil. Whether it's evil or not is a judgment call and depends on which side one is on.

Is wiping out practically everyone on Earth evil? According to the Bible, God did that with the flood. Is God evil, supposing that he exists?

So, what is evil? Give me your definition of what you think evil is.

[moi621 (imported)]

Evil is not doing what is, just, right, good.

The deity in humankind allows the recognition of good from

evil.

Some argument for biological development.

Some belief in spiritual influences as in Angels and Demons. Like the old Disney cartoon of the Devil whispering suggestions in the left ear and the Angel whispering good advice in the right ear. One chooses between the two many times a day and the soul bears the accounting.

Sadly, in the unipolar 21st Century, everything not against the law is okay. Evil has become a joke word or reserved for Hitler types.

What a party for the Devil when not recognized.

And that is why there is so much petty and major Evil today. And why I prefer cats over people. Cats are not hypocritical about evil. They can't know it.

Moi

Genesis 4:3

Evil couches at the door

Its desire is you

Yet you can be its master

The word can shows, choice - "East of Eden", Steinbeck

for the thread topic.

[JessicaH (imported)]

I don't believe that evil forces exist or anything supernatural that is evil. I think most things that we would consider evil are the result of mentally defective people who lack any amount of empathy or sympathy for others.

A psychopath is not inherently evil but if he has other pathological desires or issues, he can be very dangerous. He may kill a child and destroy a family for a 3 minute sexual encounter or he may raise an army and destroy a continent of people for fun and profit with no regard for the suffering caused.

Evil is not a spirit, it's simply what happens when humans are without empathy for others.

[butterflyjack (imported)]

Well said Stacy..Like that avatar...scary ...drag n fly

[Slammr (imported)]

Evil is not doing what is, just, right, good.

You've defined Evil as the antonym of words just as difficult to define, just, right, good. Until you define them, your definition of Evil has no meaning. Your concept of them might be entirely different from my concept of them. You need to define Evil by giving examples of what is Evil.

The deity in humankind allows the recognition of good from

evil.

Again, undefined. To which deity do you refer, and what is your evidence that you have one inside you?

Some argument for biological development.

Some belief in spiritual influences as in Angels and Demons. Like the old Disney cartoon of the Devil whispering suggestions in the left ear and the Angel whispering good advice in the right ear. One chooses between the two many times a day and the soul bears the accounting.

What does that prove? Dragons and unicorns exist in literature. Does that prove anything? Man has used gods as a way of explaining the Natural world, but that isn't proof that such gods exist. Some would also argue that there is no choice, that we do what we are conditioned by our past to do.

Sadly, in the unipolar 21st Century, everything not against the law is okay. Evil has become a joke word or reserved for Hitler types.

What a party for the Devil when not recognized.

And that is why there is so much petty and major Evil today. And why I prefer cats over people. Cats are not hypocritical about evil. They can't know it.

Moi

Genesis 4:3

Evil couches at the door

Its desire is you

Yet you can be its master

The word can shows, choice - "East of Eden", Steinbeck

for the thread topic.

Until you define Evil, nothing you've said has any meaning, and because the word can exists doesn't come close to proving choice exists, but let's stick to evil for now. Whether or not choice exists is another argument.

[Slammr (imported)]

I don't believe that evil forces exist or anything supernatural that is evil. I think most things that we would consider evil are the result of mentally defective people who lack any amount of empathy or sympathy for others.

A psychopath is not inherently evil but if he has other pathological desires or issues, he can be very dangerous. He may kill a child and destroy a family for a 3 minute sexual encounter or he may raise an army and destroy a continent of people for fun and profit with no regard for the suffering caused.

Evil is not a spirit, it's simply what happens when humans are without empathy for others.

So, if a commander orders the killing of thousands of families, innocent civilians, men, women, and children, yet he thinks he's doing it out of necessity to prosecute a war and has empathy for those he kills, it's not Evil? Was Harry Truman evil when he ordered the dropping of the Atomic bomb on Japan? It killed thousands upon thousands of innocent women and children, but it may have saved millions that might have died, had we instead invaded Japan.

There is nothing good or bad but thinking makes it so.

The question is does Evil exist separate from the mind of Man. Is anything inherently evil, or is evil a transient quality, evil only when society decides it is evil. I'm looking for an example of evil.

[YodaNell (imported)]

Hi Slammr, did you miss me?? You ask an interesting question. Here (http://www.debate.org/debates/God-is-wo ... -Hitler/2/) is another one. I have thought about the same thing for many years, specially about all those killings in the old testament. I do see your point. Who decides what is good and what is evil?

I could claim I received a word from God and must kill my whole congregation so we can unite in the deity (http://www.ktnv.com/story/14909148/loca ... ous-ritual), or to kill a doctor (http://www.alan.com/2011/05/27/wisconsi ... on-doctor/) because he practices abortions. Remember Joan of Arc (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_of_Arc)? Claiming that one is 'Hearing' God's voice (http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthr ... ?t=1655344), can be dangerous. Frankly, if I heard an audible voice from God, I'd be compelled to do the same thing...offer my kid on a mountain, kill millions of people, push down a pillar and have the entire building collapse on everyone etc.

The 'Law' will convict me for doing this evil act, though. Strangely enough, this is exactly what we read in the old testament. Joshua heard God's voice and destroyed millions.

Yet, in God's eyes those acts were justified! Why? How?

Well, I can think of only one thing...it seems God justifies the killing of a person if his blood is on his own head. If the person did something evil (deserving death) in God's eyes, he should die. In the New Testament, though, we must forgive a person that does evil against us.

Comes to the Law of the land... I think there is a lot of hippocracy in our laws. With a good lawyer one can get away with evil.

I'm looking for an example of evil.

Evil is the act of sinning against our fellow man and God. Our conscious (thus our minds), at best, should convict us of evil. Like StaceBeaumont stated: "...

I think most things that we would consider evil are the result of mentally defective

(i.e. evil is a process of thought)

people who lack any amount of empathy or sympathy for others...

"

What defines good and evil (outside our minds)? Our religions and in part, our laws.

I also believe that we inherit evil. Our 'innocent' kids kids knows how to lie, steal, fight among each other etc. from a very early age. Yet, WE parents are the biggest hypocrites, for while we teach our kids not to do these things, we do the same things. Evil is second nature for mankind. If we argue evil away, we'll be like the animals. FREE to do what we want with no consequence. Talk about survival of the fittest.

Here is a question for you..."Are you suppressing your conscience when you do something wrong or are you at a point where your wrong actions are TRULY not wrong, in your eyes?"

Goodness Slammr, can you not think of a better topic?

Regards...

[Slammr (imported)]

...

Evil is the act of sinning against our fellow man and God. Our conscious (thus our minds), at best, should convict us of evil. Like StaceBeaumont stated: "...

I think most things that we would consider evil are the result of mentally defective

(i.e. evil is a process of thought)

"JessicaH (imported)" time=1308608940]
people who lack any amount of empathy or sympathy

for others...
[/quote]
"

What defines good and evil (outside our minds)? Our religions and in part, our laws.

My supposition is that Evil does not exist outside the mind of man. If you are saying laws determine what is evil, you are affirming that supposition, and as both of us have said, religion has no firm definition of Evil either. At one point, God orders genocide, while Jesus says, "Forgive."

God is changing the rules. What is Evil at one time, is not Evil at another time, and what may be Evil for one religion may not be for another. The Christian religion condemns people that fail to believe in J

esus. Anything else is forgiven. Is failing to believe in Jesus the only Evil as far as Christians are concerned.

I also believe that we inherit evil. Our 'innocent' kids kids knows how to lie, steal, fight among each other etc. from a very early age. Yet, WE parents are the biggest hypocrites, for while we teach our kids not to do these things, we do the same things. Evil is second nature for mankind. If we argue evil aw

ay, we'll be like the animals. FR

EE to do what we want with no consequence. Talk about survival of the fittest.

Again, you are not defining Evil.

Here is a question for you..."Are you suppressing your conscience

when you do something wrong or are you at a point where your wrong actions are TRULY not wrong, in your eyes?"

Regards...

A conscience, I contend, is man made, determined by society's dictates, by what one was taught and observed growing up aided by what one has learned since. Conscience is not inherent. Many, if not most, Nazis felt no guilt at killing Jews. Conscience is a poor way to measure Evil.

When you say, truly wrong, you are failing to define Evil, because you first have to define truly wrong.

[YodaNell (imported)]

[/I]

When you say, truly wrong, you are failing to define Evil, because you first have to define truly wrong.

Hi, for the religious (Christian in my case), one does evil by not doing God's will or obey His commands (laws). The bible is full of those laws which a Christian writes on his heart (forming his conscience). If your conscience is clear, you are in right standing with God.

For the non-religious, evil is defined as disobedience of the land's law. Doing wrong (breaking the Law - rob a bank) is doing evil to society.

[Riverwind (imported)]

I have been giving this a lot of thought, and evil must by definition only belong to man, no animal can be evil. Even Hitler loved his dog, we see him as evil but in his mind he was promoting Germany, the same could be said for Stalin. Man is capable of doing evil deeds but that again does not mean the person is evil. Even the mythical devil is not evil, he builds communities is at war with some deity forgot the name, but it could be said that good and evil are just opposites sides of the same coin.

So no, I don't think that evil exists in the terms you are looking at, because evil is a concept and one persons evil maybe another persons salvation.

River