Zone1 What does it mean to be Good/Evil?

[nomadic5]

I heard a pastor once say, you can't stop birds from flying over your head but that does not mean you have to let them nest on your head.

Thoughts are not evil but choosing to focus on bad thoughts which lead to bad actions are.

people who aren't raised with Christian values give in to their bad thoughts/ideas

normally they are called liberals

 

[nomadic5]

Yes, the concept of not letting bad thoughts fester in one's mind is a key. Feeding the bad thoughts while starving the good thoughts will yield bad outcomes. This is one reason that the good people are slowly starting to fight back against the woke is because they know that more and more bad influence upon their children will cause these bad thoughts to fester in their little minds and yield bad outcomes. My dad used say, "You are who you hang around."

I don't hang around anyone anymore. .. wonder what that says about me?

I like being with God and myself... I trust one, not the other... lol

no, wait... Truth be told, I don't trust either one... sigh... I trust to some extent but the old trust thing could definitely be better

 

[Cougarbear]

I don't hang around anyone anymore. .. wonder what that says about me?

I like being with God and myself... I trust one, not the other... lol

no, wait... Truth be told, I don't trust either one... sigh... I trust to some extent but the old trust thing could definitely be better

You are who you hang around. Perhaps on the TV or whatever way you get your information into your head.

 

[Woodznutz]

sounds great

although I do think that God wants us to have better thoughts toward... per your example, the needy whom a person may secretly despise but help just the same. People need to re-evaluate their feelings toward the homeless. Even if, worst case scenrio, the person is on drugs... Well, what got that person to wanting to escape through drugs in the first place? A lot of homeless people.. I venture to say 99% of them were abused as children... the ones I have known WERE and in an egregious way. What happens to you in life affects you... sometimes so deeply you don't even realize it on a conscious level.

When I see the homeless living in drug-induced squalor on the streets I get angry at the Democrats governing that city, not the homeless.

 

[Blues Man]

I heard a monologue on a radio talk show recently, where the host set forth his beliefs about thoughts and actions. It was prompted by a friend who was caring for a sickly, elderly parent. The friend admitted to wishing his mother would die - end her misery and his. The friend felt guilty about this wish/feeling.

But the host responded that there is no such thing as a thought-sin. We are judged properly by our actions. Indeed if people (mainly men) are to be judged by our thoughts, we are all going to hell. Evil thoughts pervade our consciousness. We MUST be judged by our acts and not our thoughts.

On the other side of it, good intentions and kind wishes are meaningless and of no value, if not accompanied by overt action. In fact, good acts coupled with evil thoughts are, on balance, virtuous. Good wishes coupled with inaction are worthless and of no value, morally or ethically.

And the same must be said about Christian "love." If I do many things to help the downtrodden or those in need, but in my heart I hold them in contempt, the thoughts don't matter. I am virtuous.

Ponder the case of the Good Samaritan. This is the parable, you will recall, that Christ used to illustrate Christian "love." The Good Samaritan had no emotional or even kindly feelings about the person by the road who had been robbed, beaten, and given up for dead. But the G.S. respected the basic humanity of the wretched soul and for that reason he did what he felt he needed to do. No "love" as most people would define it.

Judge yourself and others by what they DO; disregard what they think - to the extent you know that

Good and evil have been done to death.

Good cannot exist without evil. Evil cannot exist without good.

I would say do not judge at all. Judgement is a way to sort through options ( and not necessarily all options) and to make choices without thinking.

The only true measure of life is not to measure it at all, but rather to simply live it fully.

 

[Meriweather]

May need to think further. For example, light can, indeed, exist without darkness.

 

[shockedcanadian]

Evil is always the result of exploited, unchecked power. Good are those courageous souls who fight such power. Evil is winning, without question.