Where does evil come from?

[CurveLight]

Note to truth: Let's get back to serial killers. I am trying to understand this in a PSYCHOLOGICAL/SCIENTIFIC way. Can we put politics aside?

There can be a problem with brain chemistry that causes some human beings to act evilly.

Recent reports in science have found discrete locations in the brain that are used in intricate systems that serve as the human moral compass (1).Changes in the brain have long been known to change the behaviors of a man. In the famous example of Phineas Gage, an accident at his job caused an iron rod to pierce through Gage's skull. Gage was able to stand and speak a few moments later. His intelligence was intact, but it soon became clear that this once model young man had been changed by the incident. He now cursed, lied and behaved horribly to people around them. Gage's doctor, John Harlow, said that Gage was no longer Gage, and that the balance "between his intellectual faculty and his animal propensities" had been destroyed. Can this example of brain-injury be used to explain the 'animal propensities' of serial killers?
Serial Killers

There can be a problem with brain chemistry that causes some human beings to act evilly.

Recent reports in science have found discrete locations in the brain that are used in intricate systems that serve as the human moral compass (1).Changes in the brain have long been known to change the behaviors of a man. In the famous example of Phineas Gage, an accident at his job caused an iron rod to pierce through Gage's skull. Gage was able to stand and speak a few moments later. His intelligence was intact, but it soon became clear that this once model young man had been changed by the incident. He now cursed, lied and behaved horribly to people around them. Gage's doctor, John Harlow, said that Gage was no longer Gage, and that the balance "between his intellectual faculty and his animal propensities" had been destroyed. Can this example of brain-injury be used to explain the 'animal propensities' of serial killers?
Serial Killers

The Gage case has been greatly exaggerated.

It's an example. No more, no less. There are others.

Researcher Dominique LaPierre believes that the "prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain involved in long-term planning and judgment, does not function properly in psychopathic subjects." Paleopsychologists also believe that there is some sort of malfunction in the brain of serial killers, that somehow their primitive brain overrides the "higher" brain: reason and compassion take a backseat to lust, aggression, and appetite. A study by Pavlos Hatzitaskos and colleagues reports that a large portion of death-row inmates have had severe head injuries, and that approximately 70% of brain-injured patients develop aggressive tendencies.
What Makes Serial Killers Tick? - The Crime Library - Crime Library on truTV.com

They are still largely grasping at straws ignoring some anomalies while making other ones definitive in conjunction with the false assumption of tying correlation into causation.

The brain is a translation of our minds and evaluations of brain activites are largely grounded in materialism believing that since only the physical exists all answers may be found in trying to map the brain. The obvious is being missed: all our actions and words are third (possibly more) generation translations. We are not machines like cars where our parts can be dissambled, explored and completely explained.

 

[chanel]

Deleted.

 

[chanel]

Deleted.

 

[Barb]

Deleted.

Someday, if you're ever a mod, you'll be able to do that.

 

[Sky Dancer]

Interesting article that looks at evil in comparative religion:

The general pattern in Eastern religions is to consider evil as the effect of spiritual ignorance. The first noble truth proclaimed by the Buddha states that the only reality of human existence is the all-pervading reality of suffering. This perspective is valid for most of the Eastern religious thinkers that followed the period of the Upanishads. The only possibility of escaping suffering is to know the true nature of things and so to escape from the dominion of ignorance, karma and reincarnation.

In the dualistic religions, evil is coeternal with good. Matter and embodied existence are evil, and our ignorance keeps us from attaining perfection as angelic beings. According to Christianity, evil is neither created nor a natural or necessary element. It is a parasite state that perpetuates itself by misusing God’s good resources and by following a wrong direction. It is the illness of beings that are no longer in communion with God. Therefore, world religions contradict each other in explaining the meaning of evil.

Comparative Religion - The problem of evil in world religions

 

[CurveLight]

Interesting article that looks at evil in comparative religion:

The general pattern in Eastern religions is to consider evil as the effect of spiritual ignorance. The first noble truth proclaimed by the Buddha states that the only reality of human existence is the all-pervading reality of suffering. This perspective is valid for most of the Eastern religious thinkers that followed the period of the Upanishads. The only possibility of escaping suffering is to know the true nature of things and so to escape from the dominion of ignorance, karma and reincarnation.

In the dualistic religions, evil is coeternal with good. Matter and embodied existence are evil, and our ignorance keeps us from attaining perfection as angelic beings. According to Christianity, evil is neither created nor a natural or necessary element. It is a parasite state that perpetuates itself by misusing God’s good resources and by following a wrong direction. It is the illness of beings that are no longer in communion with God. Therefore, world religions contradict each other in explaining the meaning of evil.

Comparative Religion - The problem of evil in world religions

The article is wrong about Christianity because mainstream dogma states evil was created by the Original Sin. Evil is also a natural element since we are "born" into sin. I don't agree with that bullshit but it's a core theological position for most Christian groups.

Buddhism and Christianity both state evil is sourced from following the wrong direction. They differ in how to map out the right direction.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

OK lets talk about Dick Cheney and GW Bush

And where is your compassion for them?

My compassion for them is still intact.

I have compassion for their pain and suffering and dont wish either of them pain. I do wish them to be in prison for their actions that caussed the deaths of thousands of Americans alone.

Cheney had a energy meeting that NO Americans were allowed to know about. We were not even allowed to know WHO he talked to. It turns out he met with all the top energy CEOs and handed them the paper to write our energy program. Cheney is not stupid, he knew full well the policies would result in miners deaths. It did. He is culpable for the 11 dead oil riggers. Those men tried to warn theoir company of tgeh dangers and ended up dead anyway because their was no recourse for them. By hiring inspectors whpo would fuck and suck the lobbiest of the oil industry instead of policing them they further insured the deaths of workers.

Cheney is a big serial killer and beats out Manson in his death toll.

Talk about MENTALLY ILL. You are one sick puppy. You think if you just repeat your lies often enough they become truth.

 

[chanel]

Deleted.

Someday, if you're ever a mod, you'll be able to do that.

Ha ha. I was letting my frustration with truthmattersnot get the best of me.

Thankfully some more intelligent posters rescued the thread.

I'm interested in the brain chemistry discussion, because then there might be some hope for pharmacology to treat sociopathy. But as of now, I believe drugs have been ineffective.

 

[Liberty]

evil is the premeditated choice to be a dick.

 

[Douger]

Satan is the root of all evil.

Nah. Religion is the root of all evil.
Murka is home to every current religion on Earth.
Smell the oi......I mean, sulfur ?

 

[uscitizen]

By the government, for the government and to the people.

 

[rikules]

What drives a person to commit unspeakable acts of evil and depravity? We turned to forensic psychologist Stephen Diamond, author of the Evil Deeds blog on Psychology Today for the answer:

Typically it does involve some kind of trauma during childhood. Some kind of deprivation, some kind of neglect, some kind of abandonment. What we refer to psychoanalytically as severe narcissistic wounding, where the child’s basic needs for recognition of who they are and acceptance of who they are - and for love – are not met.

Where Does Evil Come From? : Discovery News

This guy doesn't believe there is a biological component. I've read some brain research that suggests there is. However, I do believe bonding, personality development, empathy, and whatnot are formed within the first three years of life.

Are ignorant, immature, self indulgent, parents creating monsters?

yes
you are

 

[CurveLight]

And where is your compassion for them?

My compassion for them is still intact.

I have compassion for their pain and suffering and dont wish either of them pain. I do wish them to be in prison for their actions that caussed the deaths of thousands of Americans alone.

Cheney had a energy meeting that NO Americans were allowed to know about. We were not even allowed to know WHO he talked to. It turns out he met with all the top energy CEOs and handed them the paper to write our energy program. Cheney is not stupid, he knew full well the policies would result in miners deaths. It did. He is culpable for the 11 dead oil riggers. Those men tried to warn theoir company of tgeh dangers and ended up dead anyway because their was no recourse for them. By hiring inspectors whpo would fuck and suck the lobbiest of the oil industry instead of policing them they further insured the deaths of workers.

Cheney is a big serial killer and beats out Manson in his death toll.

Talk about MENTALLY ILL. You are one sick puppy. You think if you just repeat your lies often enough they become truth.

True. Cheney is not a serial killer. He is a mass murderer:

"A person, especially a political or military leader, who is responsible for the deaths of many individuals.*…"
mass murderer: Definition from Answers.com

 

[chanel]

What drives a person to commit unspeakable acts of evil and depravity? We turned to forensic psychologist Stephen Diamond, author of the Evil Deeds blog on Psychology Today for the answer:

Typically it does involve some kind of trauma during childhood. Some kind of deprivation, some kind of neglect, some kind of abandonment. What we refer to psychoanalytically as severe narcissistic wounding, where the child’s basic needs for recognition of who they are and acceptance of who they are - and for love – are not met.

Where Does Evil Come From? : Discovery News

This guy doesn't believe there is a biological component. I've read some brain research that suggests there is. However, I do believe bonding, personality development, empathy, and whatnot are formed within the first three years of life.

Are ignorant, immature, self indulgent, parents creating monsters?

yes
you are

Um. No family. Don't ever talk about my kids. Who the hell do you think you are?

 

[uscitizen]

Satan exists. Pretending otherwise helps no one BUT Satan.

Faith is strengthened by ignorance.

Faith requires knowledge and understanding. One must continually learn and grow in their faith no matter what that faith is in. Failure to learn failure to acquire more knowledge will see faith wither and die. Faith does not exist in a vacuum and ignorance is a hindrance to faith.

Umm you might want to study the definition of faith a bit there.

 

[uscitizen]

I just saw a preacher on TV saying that the debbil is in heaven being kept prisioner by Michael along with the other revolting angels in heaven.

the party of personal responsibility blames all on the debbil. Even Obama.

 

[jswiftproposal]

Evil is hurting someone's ability to have what they want (ex. murder would prevent someone from living... duh). Therefore the true root of evil is life, because we are in a constant struggle to better ourselves, and inadvertently or on purpose we will hurt others. This does not mean that life is evil, it just means that life is a coherent bond of beauty and corruption, pure and tainted, evil and good.
If a man is starving in the streets and he sees a food cart and steals an apple, has he committed evil or prevented it? For he does not want to die and he has stopped that, yet in the meantime he has stolen someone else's livelihood. If a mother cougar needs to feed her children, she hunts and kills a deer. She has killed another, something ugly and "evil". Yet she has saves another and brought about beauty.

 

[midcan5]

Consider only how quickly America was led to evil when fear after 911 gave Cheney / Bush the power to attack a sovereign nation killing thousands. Once Upon a Time...: Trapped in the Wrong Paradigm: Three Handy Rules


"We first kill people with our minds, before we kill them with weapons. Whatever the conflict, the enemy is always the destroyer. We're on God's side; they're barbaric. We're good, they're evil. War gives us a feeling of moral clarity that we lack at other times." Sam Keen

Philip Zimbardo shows how people become monsters ... or heroes | Video on TED.com


Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy: Inside a school for suicide bombers | Video on TED.com


[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Evil-Ordinary-Genocide-Killing/dp/0195189493/ref=pd_cp_b_2]Amazon.com: Becoming Evil: How Ordinary People Commit Genocide and…[/ame]



"Start with an empty canvas
Sketch in broad outline the forms of
men, women, and children.

Dip into the unconsciousness well of your own
disowned darkness
with a wide brush and
stain the strangers with the sinister hue
of the shadow.

Trace onto the face of the enemy the greed,
hatred, carelessness you dare not claim as
your own.

Obscure the sweet individuality of each face.

Erase all hints of the myriad loves, hopes,
fears that play through the kaleidoscope of
every infinite heart.

Twist the smile until it forms the downward
arc of cruelty.

Strip flesh from bone until only the
abstract skeleton of death remains.

Exaggerate each feature until man is
metamorphasized into beast, vermin, insect.

Fill in the background with malignant
figures from ancient nightmares – devils,
demons, myrmidons of evil.

When your icon of the enemy is complete
you will be able to kill without guilt,
slaughter without shame.

The thing you destroy will have become
merely an enemy of God, an impediment
to the sacred dialectic of history."

Sam Keen

"Evil has been widely discussed among philosophers of religion in recent years, and much of the literature produced has (in my opinion at least) genuinely advanced the discussion. Readers, then, might expect that a book on evil will comment on at least some of this literature. If so, they will be disappointed with Kekes's work. One will search here in vain for even a mention of such contemporary luminaries as Plantinga, van Inwagen, Swinburne, or Rowe; Marilyn Adams and John Hick are mentioned in a single endnote, but their views are completely ignored. It would be somewhat unfair to criticize Kekes for failing to discuss these authors, since their focus is on a dimension of the problem of evil (namely, the compatibility of evil with the existence of God) in which Kekes, given his secular presuppositions, understandably has little if any interest. Still, readers should be aware that they should not expect Kekes to be addressing the issues involving evil that have elicited the greatest discussion over the last generation." John Kekes - The Roots of Evil - Reviewed by Thomas P. Flint, University of Notre Dame - Philosophical Reviews - University of Notre Dame