How Do You Know What Is Evil? (moral, homosexuality, abomination)

[Mister_T]

Originally Posted by Scott1

I believe you are... but I would never suggest that anyone ignore his/her conscience:

When he listens to his conscience, the prudent man can hear God speaking.

.... so if you continue to be told you are "wrong" by followers of your own faith, you might begin to ask yourself if maybe you are in error. Conscience needs to be formed... educated... and if you fail to do so, I believe that to be one of the most "evil" things a person can do in this world.

All with Peter to Jesus through Mary,
Scott

Well see here's the thing, I thought just like the "followers" at one point in my life. And for the life of me, I just couldn't maintain the same attitude that they had. It didn't feel right. I stepped back and looked how they acted and how they treated people with different beliefs. Catholic, Morman, Islam, different denominations within their own religion, etc. It didn't sit right with me.

So at this point I'm kinda in limbo, when it comes to follwers. I share the same beliefs with them as far as God is concerned, but anything beyond that is nada.

[Scott1]

Originally Posted by Mister_T

I stepped back and looked how they acted and how they treated people with different beliefs. Catholic, Morman, Islam, different denominations within their own religion, etc. It didn't sit right with me.

There is a big difference between people who might be a bit intollerant towards other faiths and your seeming inability to find evil in almost anything.

Peace be with you brother... but be carefull... the Holy Spirit is unity, and the farther a person goes off on their own, the farther they are away from God.

Scott

[Mister_T]

Originally Posted by Scott1

There is a big difference between people who might be a bit intollerant towards other faiths and your seeming inability to find evil in almost anything.

Peace be with you brother... but be carefull... the Holy Spirit is unity, and the farther a person goes off on their own, the farther they are away from God.

Scott

Whoa cowboy. I never said they were evil. I just said I can't think like them.



And I always try to have unity with people.
But now we're getting off topic.

Evil. What is it?

[lilithu]

Originally Posted by Mister_T

But now we're getting off topic.

Evil: What is it?

Mister_T, perhaps if you defined what you think evil is it would show Scott that you actually are able find evil in some things.

To define evil is to be able to say what is permissible and why, and what is not permissible and why. I admit that I did not read the original thread that spawned all this, but I think Scott's main concern is that he thinks you find everything permissable. Surely that is not the case?

[Mister_T]

Originally Posted by lilithu

Mister_T, perhaps if you defined what you think evil is it would show Scott that you actually are able find evil in some things.

To define evil is to be able to say what is permissible and why, and what is not permissible and why. I admit that I did not read the original thread that spawned all this, but I think Scott's main concern is that he thinks you find everything permissable. Surely that is not the case?

Evil ,in my opinion, is when other people are hurt or taken advantage of for selfish gain. Rape, murder,etc. People who are selfish and only care about themselves and could give a crap about anything or anyone else. The most important thing is having their needs met. Even if it's at the expense of others. That's evil to me.

People are telling me that certain lifestyles, such as incest and homosexuality is evil. I'm failing to see the logic in that. Obviously these things don't fit in with my perception of evil.

I'm just trying to see how others perceive evil and try and learn from what they think.

My apologies if my posts are unclear. It's been a long day.

[lilithu]

Originally Posted by Mister_T

Evil ,in my opinion, is when other people are hurt or taken advantage of for selfish gain. Rape, murder,etc. People who are selfish and only care about themselves and could give a crap about anything or anyone else. The most important thing is having their needs met. Even if it's at the expense of others. That's evil to me.

People are telling me that certain lifestyles, such as incest and homosexuality is evil. I'm failing to see the logic in that. Obviously these things don't fit in with my perception of evil.

I'm just trying to see how others perceive evil and try and learn from what they think.

My apologies if my posts are unclear. It's been a long day.

Sorry Mister_T, it's been a long day for me too. After I posted, I saw that you did include a one sentence description of what you consider to be evil in your OP. But your elaboration does clear things up for me. Thanks.

I think we're largely in agreement. For us, ethics is humanist based, not rule-based. And as such, homosexuality certainly isn't evil. But I still don't agree with you about incest. What about the harm to any potential children resulting from incest? And if a parent raises a kid that is sexually atracted to the parent, can you seriously say that the parent has raised a healthy, well-adjusted, individuated kid? How can a well-adjusted, individuated person be attracted to his/her sibling?

[ButcherGEIN]

Evil is intentionally chosing something when you know it's not right. There is a fine line tho. A schizofrenic serial killer who is caught in a world of dimentia within his own mind is NOT evil... just mentally disturbed. Often times they don't know that what they are doing is wrong.

A person who is sane of mind who is a serial killer is definitely evil. The stigma against murder is so strong in societies world wide that it's hard to be able to justify with yourself murdering numerous people without a damn good reason.

[cardero]

How Do We Know What Evil Is?
Write the word evil on a piece a paper, now hold it in front of a mirror to receive your answer.

[drekmed]

what is evil?
evil is an idea, an abstract. it has no substance, it has no set boundaries, and it has no rules. it cannot be measured. in essence evil does not really exist.
the things that people perceive as evil are different from person to person, no matter how religious they are, or what god they do or do not believe in. one person may see a war as the most evil form of social behavior on earth, the person next to them might see war as benevolent commandment of god, the next person in line might see it as something that has to be done to survive and has no moral reprecussions, and the list goes on.

so who really decides what is evil? the Holy Spirit? Allah? God? Buddha? any other diety from the infinite list of dieties?
i dont think so. i think all evil is, is a form of social expression. people either gravitate to others that think the same way they do or seek out those that think differently and try to influence those people to their way of thinking. it is simply a learned social behavior that people use to judge who they want to be around. nothing more, nothing less.

Drekmed