Why does evil exist?

[Quasar1011]

Good and evil don't exist. Evil is a higher (human) form of thought, created for the unplesantries that accompany the ability of logical thinking and emotions.

Evil is what good isn't.

BTW, no more rhetoric about what the bible says please, it's like the same stuff keeps spewing over and over.

Dude, do you want the truth about evil, or not? Apparently not, since you think it does not exist. But I can give you an account of the very first act of evil:

How you have fallen from heaven,
O morning star, son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
you who once laid low the nations!

You said in your heart,
"I will ascend to heaven;
I will raise my throne
above the stars of God;

I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,
on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain.

I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High."


So, the shortest definition for evil is: I will.

 

[Dida]

Dude, do you want the truth about evil, or not? Apparently not, since you think it does not exist. But I can give you an account of the very first act of evil:

How you have fallen from heaven,
O morning star, son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
you who once laid low the nations!

You said in your heart,
"I will ascend to heaven;
I will raise my throne
above the stars of God;

I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,
on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain.

I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High."


So, the shortest definition for evil is: I will.

Huh? what is this?

Evil does not exist! why, because what is considered EVIL changes from time to time. Without the ability to see till the end of time, one can never say something to be absolutely EVIL. Masturbation was considered to be evil, how many still think it is evil today? This is but one example of the dynamic nature of good and evil. One might say that murder will always be considered to be evil, but not really. Think about the distant future. At a time when we have aquired the ability to resurrent a person from death, murder will be an assult, but not purely evil. Will this day ever come? None of us know.
Does this mean that nothing can be considered evil? No. At this moment, we still cannot resurrect a dead person, so murder is still evil.
The point is, we can only say something to be evil at this moment, in this particular society. But, without knowledge of all societies, and without the ability to look into the future, we cannot say something to be universally(throughout space and time) evil.
So evil in the LOCAL sense exists, but evil in the UNIVERSAL sense does not exist.

 

[Tank_Guy#3]

Bear with me a moment and my point will be directly related to the topic at hand. They (the Church) say God created everything, then why doesn't he just create a full refrigerator full of food for those that are starving, why doesn't he magically cure the terminally ill, why doesn't he stop wars before they start, why doesn't he strike down evil dictators and the like? Why, why, why? I would like to see those religious fanatics answer me that.

However, R.I.P. John Paul II.

 

[A'AbarachAmadan]

Actually, here's a questin for people

If you don't believe in God, what stops you from putting a bullet in your head?

Nothing matters, may as well end it now. Actually, I'd rather ride a nuclear bomb like in Dr. Strangelove but... that's a dream... nothing more...

Disagree. I am more concerned about living since I stopped believing in God as this is all I get. My instinct to survive and reproduce has increased! I'm actually hoping our great science will first stop aging, then reverse. I (still) want to live forever, I just don't have an afterlife to look forward to anymore.

 

[CurtSibling]

The notions of 'Good' and 'Evil' can be embodied in human beings.

Same as 'Heaven' or 'Hell' are right here on Earth.
You have the option to live in one or the other, or create one or the other.

.......

 

[thestonesfan]

Evil is the abandonment of reason.

 

[CurtSibling]

Or the abandonment of sentimentalist idealism.

.....

 

[Aphex_Twin]

Or the abandonment of sentimentalist idealism.

.....

Quite the contrary. I'd say sentimentalist idealism is a great source for "evil" in the world.

 

[CurtSibling]

A good response!

It is both true and untrue!

 

[FearlessLeader2]

Evil exists because Satan is a liar.

He can't do a better job than God.
Adam and Eve did start dying the moment they took what wasn't theirs.

Evil is the proof that Satan is a liar and a loser. Once he has been thrown down, evil will become God's problem, and God has promised to put an end to it, along with suffering and death. If, after Armageddon, there is still evil, then you can blame God for it, not until.

 

[Aphex_Twin]

I'll take on a few replies in this thread...

Evil exists because we are inheritly evil. The Bible clearly states that we are evil because we are sinners. It is our own fault that evil exists, not God. He did not force us to do evil, we are very good at doing that ourselves.

If God didn't expect his minions to commit evil acts, even if he endowed them with that power he is not the smartest god. If something can go wrong, given enough time it will. So God is either very unknowing, or he purposely created humans to break his will and do evil things. He is responsible for the existance of evil because he is responsible for the existance of man.

All here is transcience. It loses what little importance it has in the face of such permanence.

By that logic genocide is perfectly acceptable.

Innocents suffer and bad things happen to good people because this is an imperfect world, full of evil and sin.

Who created that world in the first place?

Evil exists because Satan is a liar.

He can't do a better job than God.
Adam and Eve did start dying the moment they took what wasn't theirs.

Evil is the proof that Satan is a liar and a loser. Once he has been thrown down, evil will become God's problem, and God has promised to put an end to it, along with suffering and death. If, after Armageddon, there is still evil, then you can blame God for it, not until.

There are several problems with that.

First of all, since Adam and Eve did not posess "knowledge" before eating the fruit, why are they to be held accountable?

Who is in the end responsible for evil, Satan or man?

Why must there be Armagedon for evil to be eliminated and not do away with it right now? Or at least He does not eliminate the bad things that are not a direct consequence of conscious human action? He has that power, he is God


Some good posts were also made by Bozo, Narz and Tank Guy

 

[FearlessLeader2]

There are several problems with that.

Fire away...

First of all, since Adam and Eve did not posess "knowledge" before eating the fruit, why are they to be held accountable?

They were told by God that they would die if they ate the fruit. Satan lied and told them they wouldn't. They chose to disobey God and ate, and subsequently they grew old and died.

Who is in the end responsible for evil, Satan or man?

Seems like it might be a shared burden. We are both God's creations.

Why must there be Armagedon for evil to be eliminated and not do away with it right now?

Because when Satan challenged His authority, and Adam chose to follow him instead, God had to answer that challenge and prove Satan wrong. Doing so will vindicate God's claim of sovreignty beyond mere 'might makes right'. If God simply eradicated us and started over, what would that say about Him?

Or at least He does not eliminate the bad things that are not a direct consequence of conscious human action? He has that power, he is God

If He refuses to give Satan a fair chance to prove himself by interfering, nothing will be proven by Satan's eventual failure. Satan's mismanagement of things is what causes these calamities. He's simply not up to snuff for managing one planet, and he thinks he can run the whole universe.

 

[blackheart]

Dude, do you want the truth about evil, or not? Apparently not, since you think it does not exist. But I can give you an account of the very first act of evil:

How you have fallen from heaven,
O morning star, son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
you who once laid low the nations!

You said in your heart,
"I will ascend to heaven;
I will raise my throne
above the stars of God;

I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,
on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain.

I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High."


So, the shortest definition for evil is: I will.

How does your little poem or whatever it is prove the existence of evil? You can quote from the bible and any you want, it's still not going to prove the existence of evil.

BTW, I'm not naive and already know the truth about evil, so don't speak to me like I don't. I think it doesn't exist, evil is a precept of human standards and morals as to which actions are acceptable or cause for pariahs.

 

[Xen]

I've always thought of "good" and "evil" aas mutually dependent; you cant have one, without the other because, to have one without the other, the one loses its meaning with no other condition to set an example of; that is to say, thier will be no good times with no bad times to compare them to.

with that definition in mind any higher power that may be would have no choice but to create "evil" if they wanted "good" to have any meaning or bearing on a person life; though I still think the bibles definition, and it connection with humanity is BS in a hand basket.

 

[Communisto]

That's quaint.

I guess this is just a another point of view?

Evil is that which purposely destroys life for the sake of it's destruction.

Evil exists because mankind chooses it to exist.

of course the holocaust was a terrible and evil thing. Evil in my and most sane people's sense of veiw. But fromt the perverse nazi point of view they were cleaning Germany of non-aryans. In a twisted mind set it is not evil.

 

[Dominik]

Evil is just the absence of good, much like light and dark. Go in a lit room, turn off the light bulb, voila, absence of light (ie. dark).

 

[Quasar1011]

How does your little poem or whatever it is prove the existence of evil? You can quote from the bible and any you want, it's still not going to prove the existence of evil.

That was not a proof of the existence of evil. It was about the origin of evil. If you want proof of evil, perhaps you could visit a holocaust museum or something.

BTW, I'm not naive and already know the truth about evil, so don't speak to me like I don't. I think it doesn't exist, evil is a precept of human standards and morals as to which actions are acceptable or cause for pariahs.

The truth? Seems to me like you are confused what you believe. Re: an earlier post.

Good and evil don't exist. Evil is a higher (human) form of thought, created for the unplesantries that accompany the ability of logical thinking and emotions.

Evil is what good isn't.

If evil is what good isn't, how can they exist? In one place you say they don't exist; in 2 others, you say they do. Which is it?

 

[Rhymes]

Well, you know, life's life. It's only because we, as humans, came up with morals and religions that we're dividing things into just/unfair, good/bad.

Now to me the important point is, do you want morals you freely choose and uphold, or morals imposed by some kind of god ?

Indeed.

Evil doesn't exist. At least not for me.

 

[boogaboo]

Life = suffering.
Evolution = Evolving of life = Evolving of suffering.
Humans = peak of evolution = peak of the evolution of suffering = Current peak of suffering.

I'm against life.

 

[civ2]

Evil is not only the lack of good - it's an illusion of itself!!!