Evil

[JerryB]

I wrote a friend recently and asked her what she thought
of the concept of Evil. She wrote back that she didn't believe
in God so she didn't believe in Evil. That was a bit of a surprise.
I hadn't thought of Evil as a purely theological concept. It had
seemed to me that it might also be secular. But then the term
is ambiguous and that was why I asked the question.

So what is Evil?
Is it entirely a religious concept?
Do incidents of random unprovoked murder and brutality qualify
as Evil in your mind? Would a tsunami that killed thousands of
people be included in your own personal definition of Evil?
I guess I'm pretty familiar with religious concepts of evil.
What I'm curious about is to what extent people hold a
concept of evil without any religious baggage attached.

Probably a personal definition of Evil is the best we can do.
I don't get the feeling that there is ever going to be universal
agreement on it. What's your take?

[UncleAl]

So what is Evil?

1) Evil is anybody who disagrees with you.
2) Evil is what you desire that others possess.
3) Evil is a means to seize power.

The most concentrated ever-flowing source of evil is a do-gooder. They'll drain your wallet while kicking your ass.

[JerryB]

Originally Posted by UncleAl

The most concentrated ever-flowing source of evil is a do-gooder. They'll drain your wallet while kicking your ass.

Bingo! Uncle Al. That nails it for me.

There's a story I read once. I think it was in Milton's "Paradise Lost"
but I've never been able to find it again so I'm not sure.
But it recounts a scene where the Devil has just been kicked
out of Heaven and he is plotting his revenge on God. He says
to his first Lieutenant that he knows he can't defeat God so
he shall try to corrupt Man, God's creation. And he explains
further his tactics. He says that the best way we can accomplish
this is to pretend that we are there to help and protect mankind.
Once we have gained their trust we will succeed.

[BEAKER]

Originally Posted by UncleAl

The most concentrated ever-flowing source of evil is a do-gooder. They'll drain your wallet while kicking your ass.

Uncle Albert have you heard - Your Avatar is a modified picture of me?

[Dark Mind]

Inside joke...

[GAHD]

Evil is; anything that does not benefit life.

[UncleAl]

Evil is; anything that does not benefit life.

Mice and rats cannot be evil because they breed like, well, mice and rats and abundantly harbor all sorts of virulent ectoparasites microorganisms. The Black Plague was a celebration of life! Though 60% the population of Europe died, more than ten times that number of rats were extant and probably 100 fleas/rat. A whole lot of Yersinia pestis bred, too.

Are you some sort of hate language perveyor who believes the value of life is proportional to the mass of the organism? If god didn't love beetles he wouldn't have made so many of them.

http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/1803/gatepost.htm

Think more.

[GAHD]

Aren't viri life? The black plague culled the weak, benifiting life in the long run.

[pgrmdave]

Evil seems to me to be that which not 'Good', when it comes to a moral decision. Evil, in my understanding, is more of a corruption of that which is good, not an entity unto itself. Much like Darkness is the absence of Light, and Coldness is the absence of Heat, Evil is the absence of Good. The problem comes in defining 'Good'.

[JerryB]

Originally Posted by GAHD

Evil is; anything that does not benefit life.

I'd tend to agree with UncleAl. Life feeds on life. Every thing you eat
is life. You destroy an enormous amount of life every day just
by eating. Does that make you evil?