Recognizing Evil

[Adam's Apple]

Grappling with Evil Begins with Noting its Existence
By Lori Borgman, The Indianapolis Star
April 23, 2007

There is a word we fancy ourselves too sophisticated to use today. We're too evolved, too progressive, too educated, too intellectual, too therapeutic. It is a word some find offensive, insensitive and controversial. That word is --evil.

for full article:
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070423/COLUMNISTS16/704230305/1047/COLUMNISTS16

 

[actsnoblemartin]

I think this is important

 

[Diuretic]

I think it's a load of old bollocks.

 

[Avatar4321]

I think it's a load of old bollocks.

You don't believe in evil?

 

[Diuretic]

You don't believe in evil?

No I don't believe in evil. Here I was hoping someone would ask

Seriously though, no I don't. I have a range of thoughts about these things but "evil" isn't something I give credence to. I will describe something as "evil" but that's almost in a sort of vernacular. But I contest the existence of "evil" and I'm happy to discuss my thoughts (sans insults, smears, jeers and sweeping generalisations).

 

[Avatar4321]

No I don't believe in evil. Here I was hoping someone would ask

Seriously though, no I don't. I have a range of thoughts about these things but "evil" isn't something I give credence to. I will describe something as "evil" but that's almost in a sort of vernacular. But I contest the existence of "evil" and I'm happy to discuss my thoughts (sans insults, smears, jeers and sweeping generalisations).

So someone could mass murder your entire neighborhood and you wouldnt at all think that was evil?

 

[Diuretic]

So someone could mass murder your entire neighborhood and you wouldnt at all think that was evil?

No.

 

[no1tovote4]

So someone could mass murder your entire neighborhood and you wouldnt at all think that was evil?

Personally, I would consider the act evil, not necessarily the person. They may have some mitigating circumstances whereby they could not understand their own action. However that doesn't change the reality of the result and loss of innocent life can always be considered an evil.

 

[Shattered]

Call them anything you like, so long as they still get nuked themselves in cases of murder...

 

[MissileMan]

Grappling with Evil Begins with Noting its Existence
By Lori Borgman, The Indianapolis Star
April 23, 2007

There is a word we fancy ourselves too sophisticated to use today. We're too evolved, too progressive, too educated, too intellectual, too therapeutic. It is a word some find offensive, insensitive and controversial. That word is --evil.

for full article:
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070423/COLUMNISTS16/704230305/1047/COLUMNISTS16

Evil is an adjective, not an entity. You can't grapple with "evil" any more than you can grapple with "purple".

 

[Adam's Apple]

Evil is an adjective, not an entity. You can't grapple with "evil" any more than you can grapple with "purple".

You need to consult your dictionary for further enlightenment, and, yes, you can grapple with evil. Law enforcement has been doing it for centuries.

 

[Adam's Apple]

As U.S. Loses Sight of Beauty, Depravity Festers
By Rod Dreher, The Dallas Morning News
April 29, 2007

Now we are afraid to call anything good or evil and no longer have the confidence to assert that standards exist. When people ask if a movie, book, album or play was good or bad, what they're really asking is, "Was it entertaining?" In a culture with an insatiable craving for sensation, boredom becomes the root of all evil.

Thus our moral imagination declines into decadence. A decadent society is one that has lost its hold on standards and denies that they exist. A society in the early stages of decadence loses its sensitivity to beauty and to the good. As it slips further into decadence, it loses its ability to recognize how far it has fallen.

for full article:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcon...-dreher_29edi.ART.State.Edition1.42f9108.html

 

[MissileMan]

You need to consult your dictionary for further enlightenment, and, yes, you can grapple with evil. Law enforcement has been doing it for centuries.

I didn't say that evil isn't a noun, I said it's not an entity, as in an embodiment of bad. It's not some mystic force that can be fought with another force, mystic or otherwise. Law enforcement has been grappling with evil people, not evil itself. Time to step into the 21st century and put away superstition. People doing evil things is not the work of the Debil...life's not a comic book.

 

[mattskramer]

You need to consult your dictionary for further enlightenment, and, yes, you can grapple with evil. Law enforcement has been doing it for centuries.

Law enforcement, by definition, grapple with trying to enforce the laws. They arrest and punish people who break the law.

 

[mattskramer]

I didn't say that evil isn't a noun, I said it's not an entity, as in an embodiment of bad. It's not some mystic force that can be fought with another force, mystic or otherwise. Law enforcement has been grappling with evil people, not evil itself. Time to step into the 21st century and put away superstition. People doing evil things is not the work of the Debil...life's not a comic book.

 

[Diuretic]

You need to consult your dictionary for further enlightenment, and, yes, you can grapple with evil. Law enforcement has been doing it for centuries.

No it hasn't. Law enforcement exists to enforce secular laws. If you believe in evil then you need to acknowledge it's a religious concept and that the real fighters of evil (assuming it exists within a religious concept) are those who follow religion and in particular, in centrally organised religions, people such as Torquemada are fighters of evil as defined by the church.

 

[Diuretic]

As U.S. Loses Sight of Beauty, Depravity Festers
By Rod Dreher, The Dallas Morning News
April 29, 2007

Now we are afraid to call anything good or evil and no longer have the confidence to assert that standards exist. When people ask if a movie, book, album or play was good or bad, what they're really asking is, "Was it entertaining?" In a culture with an insatiable craving for sensation, boredom becomes the root of all evil.

Thus our moral imagination declines into decadence. A decadent society is one that has lost its hold on standards and denies that they exist. A society in the early stages of decadence loses its sensitivity to beauty and to the good. As it slips further into decadence, it loses its ability to recognize how far it has fallen.

for full article:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcon...-dreher_29edi.ART.State.Edition1.42f9108.html

I'll read it again more closely later but a quick scan doesn't convince me of the fight against evil.

 

[hjmick]

I'm convinced I will recognize evil when I encounter it. I'm certain it looks like my ex-wife.

 

[Diuretic]

Okay I re-read it. He doesn't like violent films any more. Well here's a clue. Don't watch them.

Next.

 

[Chips Rafferty]

Okay I re-read it. He doesn't like violent films any more. Well here's a clue. Don't watch them.

Next.

Ya know, I never hear the word mentioned unless I'm talking with Jesus freaks or American politicians...sorry, bit of tautology there.

For instance, every one of these invasions/incursions occurred against the “evil” and/or “atheistic” (insert name of germane nationality here) that were/are “threatening American interests” i.e. rapacious homicidal capitalism, or “the free world,” i.e. America’s rapacious capitalist pals.

The latter can also make the list, quick smart, if they are Easy Beats and there is a buck in it.

Go ahead and hate your neighbor, go ahead and cheat a friend
Do it in the name of heaven, justify it in the end
There won't be any trumpets blowing, come the judgment day
On the bloody morning after - one tin soldier rides away.

(O-o-w, look at all the pretty red squares!!)