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neon tetra · Post by **neon tetra** » Thu Jun 09, 2011 5:13 pm

Do you think that 'evil' exists as an actual force, or is it just the lack of those qualities that we generally accept as 'good'?

I'd like to believe that people are inherently good, but sometimes act out of their own fear, confusion, delusion, etc.
But honestly... some people really make me question that belief.

Obviously certain criminals and/or political leaders throughout history (and even today) seem downright evil, and there's a particular group of people in my own life who seem like they possess a certain darkness to them, that almost seems to be contagious.

Curious what people think about this topic.

FIGJAM · Post by **FIGJAM** » Thu Jun 09, 2011 5:52 pm

Good and evil, right or wrong, are different all over the world.

If it's not universaly accepted, then it's just opinion.YMMV

Trishntek · Post by **Trishntek** » Thu Jun 09, 2011 6:40 pm

Evil exists only as long as good exists. Without goodness, evilness cannot be discerned. There are extreme cultures of life and death, war and peace, community and government, family and loneliness, hope and fear, faith and doubt, light and dark.

People are not naturally evil, but we are naturally selfish. Selfishness is simply part of the instinct to survive. Evil is paranoia which feeds on the young of the middle east. These children are educated to believe that death is the means to victory.

Children in the West are being taught to believe in nothing. And so we sit on a fence. As a nation, we seem to still be throwing our weight around the world. More activity with our military hitting on Yemen,,,, WTF? Meanwhile, an extreme culture is willing to risk all to impose their beliefs on the rest of the world and we seem to do everything possible to piss them off,,,, except for ONE MAJOR THING.

We do not confront the EVIL NATURE of this culture of death. We sit on the fence and try to patronize them into playing nice. Evil exists,,,, it seems our culture tries to deny its existence.

That is partly why lying has become a "part of doin' bidness",,,
The meaning of marriage does not mean what it traditionally has for millenia
Justice is not appreciated by victims of murder and abuse.
The family unit is mocked and ridiculed every night during prime time TV.
The debtor has become the lender's slave.
Popularity and sensation is more important than posterity and truth.
Yeah, we are under the INFLUENCE of EVIL.

Simon of the Playa · Post by **Simon of the Playa** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 5:45 am

Whats truly evil is wasting precious time on actually reading tetra's stupid fucking threads.

So very very evil.

Ugly Dougly · Post by **Ugly Dougly** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 11:02 am

Ignorance.

Everything else is good.

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 11:24 am

"to the Wolf, good and evil, do not exist, the only thing that matters, is, "is", what is (no no, I'm not a president asking for that definition)

Nature does not have good and evil
We, create it in our own minds.
It's like time.
Makes us feel good, and in control, but, matters not at all.

IMHO.

Mojojita · Post by **Mojojita** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 11:39 am

Yup - I think I may have really seen "evil". I believe it may be more of an "intention", such as purposeful cruelty - with a hurtful or immoral goal.

FIGJAM · Post by **FIGJAM** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 11:42 am

ygmir wrote:"to the Wolf, good and evil, do not exist, the only thing that matters, is, "is", what is (no no, I'm not a president asking for that definition)

Nature does not have good and evil
We, create it in our own minds.
It's like time.
Makes us feel good, and in control, but, matters not at all.

IMHO.

+1 Like I said, opinion.

Simon of the Playa · Post by **Simon of the Playa** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 11:43 am

Honi Soit, qui mal y pense.

BBadger · Post by **BBadger** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 11:45 am

Mojojita wrote:Yup - I think I may have really seen "evil". I believe it may be more of an "intention", such as purposeful cruelty - with a hurtful or immoral goal.

And so if a person performs some supposedly evil act like gassing Jews, but with good intentions--at least from the view of the perpetrator--it is not evil?

Uh oh, Godwin's law.

Psychocybin420 · Post by **Psychocybin420** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 12:08 pm

i think evil exists in one who was treated poorly themselves. A bad mind and lack of self esteem creates a poor self image leading one to be depressed and possibly cause him or her to lash out in a downright evil manner. .....

people who act out in violence and kill people become psychopaths and when they die, (if they dont become contained and put in the looneybin first) it carrys on to the afterlife and it causes them to get stuck in the void with their negativity and negative emotions until they are able to rid such emotions and focus on love.. those people that are stuck in the void are "black souls" some which cant rid negativity or bad habits some killed people and have a very bad past life , that they cant shake. Thats how i think black ghosts and hauntings occur. Weird theory i know.. i read lots of weird books and looked up some interesting sites.

Roberto Dobbisano · Post by **Roberto Dobbisano** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 12:21 pm

those people that are stuck in the void are "black souls"

i knew the race card would be played eventually...

neon tetra · Post by **neon tetra** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 12:33 pm

Trishntek wrote: Selfishness is simply part of the instinct to survive.

Sort of, but so is cooperation.

This film does a great job at illustrating that -

http://www.iamthedoc.com/

Roberto Dobbisano · Post by **Roberto Dobbisano** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 12:55 pm

oh MAN!

you mean this thread was just a clever guerilla marketing set-up scheme to schill some VIDEO website?

well played, tetra, well played.

Laf' · Post by **Laf'** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 1:06 pm

Evil, huh? Naughty is much more fun and fun to talk about.

swampdog · Post by **swampdog** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 1:14 pm

I would say that evil actions are those in which one person fails to respect another person's humanity.

Good intentions don't forgive evil actions. If your good intention to relieve another country from a horrible dictator forgets the humanity of the people in that country then you are very prone to commit evil actions.

Notice that I specifically refer to evil actions. There are people whose adherence to dehumanizing ideas makes them very prone to commit evil (cf. Dick Cheney) as there are people whose biochemistry or tragic personal history reduces their ability to discern or respect the humanity of others.

But these people begin each day as a human being.

I think our popular culture gives us a reductive idea of what an evil person might be like. We see gloating criminals and warlords intent on destruction for its own sake. I doubt that there are many, if any, like that. I suspect that it's all just people who fall in love with their own power and forget about the humanity of others, or people who fall in love with an abstract ideal, or people who are damaged.

And I don't believe there is a devil, an entity calling out to us to be evil.

swampdog · Post by **swampdog** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 1:17 pm

Tetra: Do you get paid for this sh*t? How do you feel it falls on the scale of evil? as I posted above, evil is the failure to respect another's humanity. You've just treated me like a mark, not a human.

I stand by my comments.

Psychocybin420 · Post by **Psychocybin420** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 1:52 pm

roboto: im not refering black souls to black people im referring them to evil souls. theres no racism in that..just the COLOR black. lol

Ugly Dougly · Post by **Ugly Dougly** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 2:06 pm

swampdog wrote:Tetra: Do you get paid for this sh*t? How do you feel it falls on the scale of evil? as I posted above, evil is the failure to respect another's humanity. You've just treated me like a mark, not a human.

I stand by my comments.

Mojojita · Post by **Mojojita** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 2:48 pm

No, I don't think "good intentions" cancel out an evil act. The trick is to define "evil act". Is any killing evil? I hesitate to open such can of worms on Neon's thread. I think though that if the act is intentionally aggregious, premeditated or calculated to cause suffering - the threshhold has been reached.

Mojojita · Post by **Mojojita** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 2:59 pm

BBadger wrote:
Mojojita wrote:Yup - I think I may have really seen "evil". I believe it may be more of an "intention", such as purposeful cruelty - with a hurtful or immoral goal.
And so if a person performs some supposedly evil act like gassing Jews, but with good intentions--at least from the view of the perpetrator--it is not evil?

Uh oh, Godwin's law.

Actually, anyone who could truly believe that gassing Jews could have some "good" result is so far off the rails that it begs other questions - such as: If a gunman who opens fire in a crowd is truly chemically insane, are they responsible for premeditated murder? Is it an evil act, but is he really responsible if the voices told him to do it? If someone is holding a loved one hostage unless you do something else horrible, is doing that thing evil? Even though the act is evil, what is the goal in its accomplishment?

I really like Swampdog's ideas about this. However, I do think that if there is a "devil" it is literally evil itself, not a little red guy with horns and a pitchfork.

When I said that I think I have seen evil, it refers to those who actually take pleasure in the suffering of others.

neon tetra · Post by **neon tetra** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 3:30 pm

Huh? My point was that nature is often seen as 'survival of the fittest', but it's much bigger than that. Even Darwin stressed more cooperation than competition, but that's not how he's usually paraphrased.

knowmad · Post by **knowmad** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 5:16 pm

White Phosphorus hand grenades are pretty evil, very little redeeming thing about them.

Don't bother posting about a reply NT you was plonked oh so long ago.

TomServo · Post by **TomServo** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 5:18 pm

EvilivE...my favorite

maryanimal · Post by **maryanimal** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 6:36 pm

good/evil is as good/evil does...

neon tetra · Post by **neon tetra** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 6:53 pm

TomServo wrote:EvilivE...my favorite

& Walk Among Us!

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 7:33 pm

What do you think "the road to hell is paved with good intentions" if not "killing jews (and gypsies and polacks and the "feeble minded" and glbt-people) for the good of germany" does not count as "good"?

TomServo · Post by **TomServo** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 8:00 pm

[youtube][/youtube]

TomServo · Post by **TomServo** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 8:06 pm

[youtube][/youtube]

the underworld dangers and underworld scum..they check into room 21

Ugly Dougly · Post by **Ugly Dougly** » Sat Jun 11, 2011 10:18 am

knowmad wrote:White Phosphorus hand grenades are pretty evil, very little redeeming thing about them.

Don't bother posting about a reply NT you was plonked oh so long ago.

Unless you use one to save an orphanage from an army of child molesters.

For instance.