is there an eruption of evil in the US ?? is evil real ??

[yidnar]

the reason I put this thread in the clean debate zone is to debate the subject of Evil ..is Evil a force that exists ?? is it mental or spiritual or idiological ?? are we going through a wave of evil in the US with all of the mass shootings and terror attacks ect..???please refrain from blaming the left or the right or a certain group of people !!! I want to debate the force of evil itself !! NOT BLAME THE RACE,POLTICAL IDIOLOGY ,OR RELIGION OF THE PERPERTRATORS OF EVIL ACTS !! IS EVIL A FORCE THAT ACTUALY EXIST ??

 

[PaulS1950]

"Good" and "evil" are moral aspects assigned to actions taken by people and only exist in the minds of mankind. In nature there is no "good" or "evil". There are no "good bears" or "bad bears", no "good" sharks or "bad" sharks.
We, mankind, interpret things that affect us positively as "good", but they might affect another negatively and be perceived as "evil". Mankind can aspire to be more or less than it is and so we have words to descibe how we are affected by the deeds of other members of mankind.

When a child is beaten by a man it is evil but when a child is battered by a mountain lion it is trajic that the child was attacked but the lion is only being a lion. Not "good" or "evil".

 

[Dugdale_Jukes]

What is "evil"? Before we can tell if it exists or not, we need to know what would characterize evil if it does exist.

Is evil using influence to build alliances for the purpose of invading other nations that have - as nations - done nothing to the invading nation?

Is evil deliberately enriching war industries to reduce public monies available for medical research and education?

Is evil giving bloodless entities the same constitutional rights as the natural born citizens whose blood protects bloodless entities as well as the avaricious politicians and malfeasant judges screwing natural born citizens?

When we know what evil is, maybe then we can determine whether or not it exists.

 

[G.T.]

I don't think our rate of attacks is much different than any other point in history. The deadliest school shooting In our nations history was in the thirties. We used to be cool and fine with owning other people, turning a blind eye to how disgusting that really is. Beating children and wives has gone from common place to taboo. I love the direction we're headed in. A lot of people see the sexuality of modern america and call it evil because its so permiscuous. In my opinion, it was never something to be frowned upon in the first place. Humans got it wrong. I also see much more compassion in younger people than ever before. Bullies used to be the cool guys, now there's exremely dedicated factions of kids out there promoting anti bullying. Aside from the pockets of low educated persons residing in poverty, our nation is getting better and better. And the debt is not its highest its ever been as a percentage of gdp either.......but even if it was, I don't think our national debt has a thing to do with out good or evil, as a nation.

 

[yidnar]

i think evil is real .I think it is a force that we should study scientifically . humans are the only species that will kill for the sake of killing alone .

 

[PaulS1950]

i think evil is real .I think it is a force that we should study scientifically . humans are the only species that will kill for the sake of killing alone .

Really? There are cases of weasels, wolves , sharks and great apes killing and leaving the dead corpses to rot. Usually humans have some sort of reason behind killing - even if it makes no sense to some - it must to the killer.

 

[yidnar]

i think evil is real .I think it is a force that we should study scientifically . humans are the only species that will kill for the sake of killing alone .

Really? There are cases of weasels, wolves , sharks and great apes killing and leaving the dead corpses to rot. Usually humans have some sort of reason behind killing - even if it makes no sense to some - it must to the killer.

true ,but sometimes animal fight over territory ect .... some humans will kill for the thrill like serial killers do.

 

[G.T.]

i think evil is real .I think it is a force that we should study scientifically . humans are the only species that will kill for the sake of killing alone .

Really? There are cases of weasels, wolves , sharks and great apes killing and leaving the dead corpses to rot. Usually humans have some sort of reason behind killing - even if it makes no sense to some - it must to the killer.

true ,but sometimes animal fight over territory ect .... some humans will kill for the thrill like serial killers do.

That's typically because they have some of psychotic disorder, which means their brain synapses don't fire correctly, they're confused. I don't know if I'd call a biological condition evil, but it certainly has the sick person performing sick acts.

 

[yidnar]

Really? There are cases of weasels, wolves , sharks and great apes killing and leaving the dead corpses to rot. Usually humans have some sort of reason behind killing - even if it makes no sense to some - it must to the killer.

true ,but sometimes animal fight over territory ect .... some humans will kill for the thrill like serial killers do.

That's typically because they have some of psychotic disorder, which means their brain synapses don't fire correctly, they're confused. I don't know if I'd call a biological condition evil, but it certainly has the sick person performing sick acts.

not in all cases .I really believe evil is a force that exist outside the realm of understanding . I am going to leave religion out of the debate and concentrate on the what puts someone in an evil state of mind .

 

[jwoodie]

Start with the Ten Commandments.

 

[depotoo]

Of course there is evil within this world. I have faced it.


But to your question of an eruption here? I say no, it is the eruption of 24/7 nationwide news which once didn't exist. If something half way across the country happened, other than major events such as this, we never heard about it. Today we hear of just about every event that ever happens.

 

[Katzndogz]

The concepts of good and evil are those pesky shared values that we fight so hard against.

Is it evil to place a deadly bomb in front of an eight year old boy? Only if you value that child. Otherwise it could be a heroic act of eliminating an enemy. Or the act of a mother bettering her own life and therefore good.

 

[jwoodie]

Moral Relativism?

 

[Oldguy]

What is "evil"? Before we can tell if it exists or not, we need to know what would characterize evil if it does exist.

Is evil using influence to build alliances for the purpose of invading other nations that have - as nations - done nothing to the invading nation?

Is evil deliberately enriching war industries to reduce public monies available for medical research and education?

Is evil giving bloodless entities the same constitutional rights as the natural born citizens whose blood protects bloodless entities as well as the avaricious politicians and malfeasant judges screwing natural born citizens?

When we know what evil is, maybe then we can determine whether or not it exists.

In the Biblical sense, both the Hebrew and Greek words translated as "evil" simply means something of bad effect.

That definition is good enough for this thread, isn't it? Or, do we look for a deeper meaning?

 

[Oldguy]

Of course there is evil within this world. I have faced it.

So have I, but it's not just external. The most dangerous evil is that which we harbor inside ourselves.

But to your question of an eruption here? I say no, it is the eruption of 24/7 nationwide news which once didn't exist. If something half way across the country happened, other than major events such as this, we never heard about it. Today we hear of just about every event that ever happens.

I think you're right. Human nature is still human nature. We just hear about more of it.

 

[yidnar]

i really think evil is a negative force that exists in the spiritual form or maybe it is a negative energy that can effect behavior .

 

[auditor0007]

the reason I put this thread in the clean debate zone is to debate the subject of Evil ..is Evil a force that exists ?? is it mental or spiritual or idiological ?? are we going through a wave of evil in the US with all of the mass shootings and terror attacks ect..???please refrain from blaming the left or the right or a certain group of people !!! I want to debate the force of evil itself !! NOT BLAME THE RACE,POLTICAL IDIOLOGY ,OR RELIGION OF THE PERPERTRATORS OF EVIL ACTS !! IS EVIL A FORCE THAT ACTUALY EXIST ??

There are some really sick people out there. Are they evil or just mental nut jobs, I don't know. The reason we seem to be seeing more of these things is twofold, imo. First, we are exposed to anything and everything that happens anywhere within the US, almost instantly due to the Internet and advanced communications. Forty years ago, you didn't hear half of the stuff the happened unless it happened in your community. The second is that we have a lot more people than we did forty or fifty years ago, so there are more crazies out there and more crimes are committed.

If you look at overall crime rates, they are the same or lower than they were forty years ago.

 

[Intense]

Thread Cleaned. Let's try to stay on Topic. If Something else comes to mind, try starting a thread on it.

 

[Intense]

the reason I put this thread in the clean debate zone is to debate the subject of Evil ..is Evil a force that exists ?? is it mental or spiritual or idiological ?? are we going through a wave of evil in the US with all of the mass shootings and terror attacks ect..???please refrain from blaming the left or the right or a certain group of people !!! I want to debate the force of evil itself !! NOT BLAME THE RACE,POLTICAL IDIOLOGY ,OR RELIGION OF THE PERPERTRATORS OF EVIL ACTS !! IS EVIL A FORCE THAT ACTUALY EXIST ??

Personally I believe that both good and evil exist. It is with our limited perspectives that we get into trouble with them. Cause and effect, a result oriented condition made manifest through thought, word, action, and even inaction. You would think we would learn from it, in some ways we do. In other ways we compound and over complicate the effect. What do the Major Religions teach? Love God (by whatever Name you call him) with all the strength of your being. God first in All things. Love Each Other, as We love Our Own Selves. Measure twice, cut once. Value for Value, Honest Scale, fair compensation, whether coming or going. As a Christian, Salvation is at the Root of Faith in God. The concern for each is Our own and that of those around us. If you root in Scripture, at some point in time, you know we are all related. We Each matter. We Each are a part of something bigger than Ourselves. What place does Evil have in the Light? What feeds it? What defeats it?

 

[PaulS1950]

Let me put it this way; we, humans, don't like to think of ourselves as being bad or even doing things that cause discomfort to others. If there is "evil" out there that makes us do things that we wouldn't normally do then it isn't our fault. The "evil" made me do it. I don't have to take responsibility for the damage I do because it was done through me , not I doing it. I can be forgiven for temporarily allowing the evil to overcome me. The obvious thing that arises from that view is that we can't be responsible for the good we do either. It comes from the "external good" working through us and not I doing it.

The problem with the idea of good and evil is that it takes away from what we are. We are thinking beings that choose to behave as we do. We are responsible for our actions, whether they are pleasing or not. only when we accept that will we hold ourselves and others responsible for the actions that we and others perform. Only then can we take pride in being better than we were or growing in wisdom. Of course that means that we have to be culpable when we do something wrong. We have to make the attempt to set it right and then we have to forgive ourselves for the wrong-doing and admit that we are only human.
Too many people would rather "blame it on the devil" than accept that mankind is capable of both the ugliest of violence and the beauty of love.
Evil is only in the mind of man. Good is only in the mind of man. We are human and that means we make mistakes. We sometimes use the worst tools at our disposal and it causes tremendous pain and suffering. Sometimes madness takes our ability to reason away and we act like animals. When our actions are beyond the scope of what we would like to be (in a good or bad way) we would rather give the credit or blame to something else. It removes the pressure to conform to an unrealistic expectation.
We have laws to punish those who do things that injure others. We do that so that we can say that we live by the law and those that don't can be removed from society. We don't have laws that can punish us for not being better than the rest of society but we do reward that kind of action in individuals or groups. So the "bad" people get punished and the "good" people get rewarded and we feel good about ourselves.
There are not many people in our prisons that admit to doing anything wrong - but they have been convicted of crimes against other people. How can they believe they did nothing wrong?