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

[lilithu]

Originally Posted by 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.

That very conveniently absolves you of all moral responsibilities, doesn't it?

Originally Posted by drekmed

so who really decides what is evil? the Holy Spirit? Allah? God? Buddha? any other diety from the infinite list of dieties?

How about you? What a shocking concept.

[Mister_T]

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?

Well the same could be said for gay couples who adopt children. A gay couple could influence that child to be gay. Using your logic, you could say that gay people are evil. Which you said they wern't.

[Mister_T]

Originally Posted by 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.

I did that and it said livE. I don't get it

Heh.

[EnhancedSpirit]

How evil are you?

[Mister_T]

You are Good

Yay!

[MysticSang'ha]

Very good question!


Evil, in Buddhism, becomes a situational response one has within one's place in samsara. We can choose to become trapped in samsara, unconsciously accumulating bad karma by wrong action and with harmful intent (which defines evil) -



Or we can choose to develop actions that are truly not "natural" such as compassion, love, forgiveness, and patience toward one's enemies. These choices in the numberless opportunities life provides us brings us closer to liberation or rebirth into samsara.




I apologize if the above sounds like I'm proselityzing.



My above statements are relevent in that evil can dwell in our hearts long before any actions bear it's fruit. The Five Precepts are a good start:



1) I will be mindful and reverential with all life. I will not be violent nor will I kill.

2) I will respect the property of others. I will not steal.

3) I will be conscious and loving in my relationships. I will not give way to lust.

4) I will honor honesty and truth. I will not deceive.

5) I will exercise proper care of my body and mind. I will not be gluttonous nor abuse intoxicants.




The Buddha then spelled out specifically the Eightfold Path that includes not only what is Right Action, but Right Speech and Right Thought.



Therefore, in my tradition, evil does not exclude minor infractions such as yelling out of anger at your spouse or your children. It is a much broader definition that encourages the Buddhist practitioner to consistently practice toward enlightenment in order to not only escape the wheel of samsara, but to eradicate evil toward all sentient beings, and to plant the seeds of compassion for the world's benefit.





Again, I hope I'm not perceived as trying to "sell" my beliefs on to anyone here.





Peace,
Mystic

[Jaiket]

Originally Posted by lilithu

That very conveniently absolves you of all moral responsibilities, doesn't it?

Why do you say so?

[Faint]

I would say that "bad" is anything that leads people away from happiness towards misery and suffering. Evil is that which does this on purpose.

Sometimes bad is not as bad as it first seems. There may be opportunity in crisis.

But it is always wrong to cause intentional pain to those who don't deserve it. The greater the pain caused, the greater the level of evil.