Why does evil exist?

[shoshi]

Why does god allow evil? because humans choose it.

 

[Kilroy2]

Because good exists and life is complicated. As the video suggest it boils down to choice. With choice many people will not always know what is good or what is evil. They may even believe that they have no choice. It is learned behavior and driven by environmental factors. The blank slate is shaped by events, circumstances, other people, and fate. The bandwagon plays and people want to join. At some point you decide how your going to live your life. The other person will decide how they are going to live their life. This will create agreement, disagreement or respect for others.

 

[Anathema]

Evil exists for a very important reason... to provide the Soul a choice.

We are here in this world for a singular purpose... to test our Souls and determine if they will take the harder road and live a Proper life, or if they will take the easy road of Impropriety and Immorality.

Those Souls which have proven themselves able to live Properly are allowed to move on to a better existence after death. Those which have proven themselves incapable of living Properly and unable to change are sent into eternal torment. Those Souls which are still deemed redeemable are chastised, punished, reminded of their purpose and returned to try again.

 

[onefour1]

Evil exists because it is the direct opposite of good. If God never told us, "thou shalt not kill", would we know that killing is evil? Without the law given to us by God, would we know what is right or wrong? Simply by giving us the law of what is good, the opposite then exists. By nature, there is opposition in all things. Once you define what is good, it then has its opposite. The principle of evil exists whenever goodness exists. Whether we choose to do good or evil is left up to us of our own free will. Without defining good, you would not have evil. Simply defining what is good has its opposite. God could never establish goodness without its opposite existing also. So, in principle, you cannot have goodness without its opposite also existing, at least in principle. Free will allows each of us to choose between good and evil. If everyone chose goodness over evil, there would be no evil in the world but the principle would still exist. God wants us all to know the difference between good and evil and wants us all to learn to choose the good over the evil. If man chooses good over evil of his own free will, then the man's character becomes good. He becomes a good being in and of himself. If a person is forced to become good, then is he/she really a good person in and of him/her self? No! For this reason are we given free will so that we can truly become good beings of our free will and choice. For this reason God places us in a temporary existence with free will to choose good or evil of our own personal desire. Free will is an eternal principle of heaven and earth. Evil only exists because it is the opposite of good and because some choose with their free will to follow evil instead of good. The only way to rid ourselves of the principle of evil is to destroy goodness itself. However, if mankind were to choose only good, then evil would have very little if any consequence even though the principle (opposite) still exists.

 

[alang1216]

Why does god allow evil? because humans choose it.

I think the concepts of good and evil are too simplistic to be of use. I don't know anyone who was completely good or evil. Hitler loved the German people and did what he did for them. To his victims he was evil but if he had won the war Germany would have benefited greatly and he probably be viewed as a savior. I'm in no way defending what he did, just using him to explore the extremes. MLK is viewed as a great liberator of Blacks, a good thing, but the Southern Whites of his day viewed him as a destroyer of their way of life.

This world is not black and white, it is a rainbow.

 

[Meriweather]

Evil exists because it is the direct opposite of good.

In another thread someone (I think it may have been Ding) noted that evil is the absence of good. If we think about this in relationship to darkness being the absence of light, then we know that if we bring light into darkness, the darkness vanishes. Can the same be said of evil? If we bring goodness into evil, is evil banished?

 

[toobfreak]

Why does evil exist?

Put simply: Because you cannot have good without evil. There is no left without a right.

 

[ClaireH]

If we think about this in relationship to darkness being the absence of light, then we know that if we bring light into darkness, the darkness vanishes. Can the same be said of evil? If we bring goodness into evil, is evil banished?

I really like this simile with light/dark...good/evil. Everything that supports life is following the light, whereas all that follows death/destruction/chaos follows the dark (evil). Life choices can be made this way, thinking before taking action about this distinction. Many issues, whether political, social, religious, etc. can be defined in terms of "Does that action support or oppose life?" I choose life always, as most do thankfully

 

[onefour1]

Evil exists because it is the direct opposite of good.

In another thread someone (I think it may have been Ding) noted that evil is the absence of good. If we think about this in relationship to darkness being the absence of light, then we know that if we bring light into darkness, the darkness vanishes. Can the same be said of evil? If we bring goodness into evil, is evil banished?

To me, the darkness would be the absence of the knowledge of good and evil. Those who are without the knowledge of the gospel live in darkness. They are not necessarily consigned to sin and doing evil since they have free will, but they don't have a knowledge of what is good or what is evil to make a more informed decision. They may or may not live in sin depending upon what they do, but once they receive greater knowledge as to what is right and wrong and come to a truth of things as they really are and feel the spirit of God testify to their soul of these things, they become more enlightened and know what is right and wrong and better able to abide in light and truth.
If we didn't have a law defining to us what is right and wrong, would we know what is right or wrong? If there was no punishment for doing wrong, would we be afraid of doing wrong? Many of our civil laws can be traced back to the law of Moses or the law of the Gospel. Most of us grow up with a basic understanding and a portion of light and truth, but may not understand that the Gospel is a greater light and truth and will enlighten us more and more on things of an eternal nature. Whether we are in the light or not, we still have free will to choose good or evil. To those who have received the greater light and choose to do evil, a greater condemnation awaits them.

Doctrine and Covenants 82:3
3 For of him unto whom much is given much is required; and he who sins against the greater light shall receive the greater condemnation.

I don't think evil is defined without defining what is good. If evil is the absence of good, what would doing the opposite of evil be in that situation. What would refraining from lying, killing, committing fornication, adultery, homosexuality, etc be if there was an absence of good?

 

[anotherlife]

This thread could be a research study at a university with all these diverse answers.

So let me put in mine.

Evil exists because out of the finite number of combinations that a soul can be programmed in, not all are good.

In other words, the soul and everything is created by God, and creation is its structure. The further it drifts away from God, the less is the cohesion of its structure.

The less cohesive a structure is, the more it suffers. Evil is the hasting of the desintegration of the structure.

That hasting is the enemy. The desintegration is natural.

 

[ding]

Why does god allow evil? because humans choose it.

Maimonides responds...

MEN frequently think that the evils in the world are more numerous than the good things, that just isn't the case. He who thinks that he can have flesh and bones without being subject to any external influence, or any of the accidents of matter, unconsciously wishes to reconcile two opposites, viz., to be at the same time subject and not subject to change. If man were never subject to change there could be no generation: there would be one single being, but no individuals forming a species. It would be in vain to expect to see living beings formed of the blood of menstruous women and the semen virile, who will not die, will never feel pain, or will move perpetually, or will shine like the sun. Whatever is formed of any matter receives the most perfect form possible in that species of matter: in each individual case the defects are in accordance with the defects of that individual matter. The best and most perfect being that can be formed of the blood and the semen is the species of man, for as far as man's nature is known, he is living, reasonable, and mortal. It is therefore impossible that man should be free from this species of evil. You will, nevertheless, find that the evils of the above kind which befall man are very few and rare.

It must be admitted as a fact that it cannot be said of God that He directly creates evil, or He has the direct intention to produce evil; this is impossible His works are all perfectly good. He only produces existence, and all existence is good. God is perfect goodness, and that all that comes from Him is absolutely good. Consequently the true work of God is all good, since it is existence. ALL the great evils which men cause to each other because of certain intentions, desires, opinions, or religious principles, are likewise due to non-existence, because they originate in ignorance, which is absence of wisdom. The numerous evils to which individual persons are exposed are due to the defects existing in the persons themselves. We suffer from the evils which we, by our own free will, inflict on ourselves and ascribe them to God, who is far from being connected with them. Man himself is the author of this class of evils. The error of the ignorant goes so far as to say that God's power is insufficient, because He has given to this Universe the properties which they imagine cause these great evils.

 

[ding]

Why does god allow evil? because humans choose it.

The Catholic response....

"...But why did God not create a world so perfect that no evil could exist in it? With infinite power God could always create something better. But with infinite wisdom and goodness God freely willed to create a world "in a state of journeying" towards its ultimate perfection. In God's plan this process of becoming involves the appearance of certain beings and the disappearance of others, the existence of the more perfect alongside the less perfect, both constructive and destructive forces of nature. With physical good there exists also physical evil as long as creation has not reached perfection.

For almighty God. . ., because he is supremely good, would never allow any evil whatsoever to exist in his works if he were not so all-powerful and good as to cause good to emerge from evil itself.

In time we can discover that God in his almighty providence can bring a good from the consequences of an evil, even a moral evil, caused by his creatures: "It was not you", said Joseph to his brothers, "who sent me here, but God. . . You meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive." From the greatest moral evil ever committed - the rejection and murder of God's only Son, caused by the sins of all men - God, by his grace that "abounded all the more", brought the greatest of goods: the glorification of Christ and our redemption. But for all that, evil never becomes a good.

We know that in everything God works for good for those who love him. The constant witness of the saints confirms this truth..."

Catechism of the Catholic Church

 

[Likkmee]

God has a lil different style of SAT test.100% is win. 99% is an F

 

[Hollie]

As definitions of good / evil, right / wrong vary with time and cultures, it suggests that the various gods need to unionize so we mere humans can have a consistent policy.

 

[ding]

As definitions of good / evil, right / wrong vary with time and cultures, it suggests that the various gods need to unionize so we mere humans can have a consistent policy.

And yet you follow a moral code. Go figure.

 

[BreezeWood]

God has a lil different style of SAT test.100% is win. 99% is an F

.
further on, once tainted a lifetime may not be enough for the return to purity though if accomplished will be a master of the universe - and judged by those already that have accomplished the feat and may they be who have triumphed in good.

 

[ding]

God has a lil different style of SAT test.100% is win. 99% is an F

.
further on, once tainted a lifetime may not be enough for the return to purity though if accomplished will be a master of the universe - and judged by those already that have accomplished the feat and may they be who have triumphed in good.

Sounds like you believe you will become a god.

 

[BreezeWood]

God has a lil different style of SAT test.100% is win. 99% is an F

.
further on, once tainted a lifetime may not be enough for the return to purity though if accomplished will be a master of the universe - and judged by those already that have accomplished the feat and may they be who have triumphed in good.

Sounds like you believe you will become a god.

.

Sounds like you believe you will become a god.

.
sure, that's the idea - triumph over evil would be (is) a minimum requisite for such an occurrence if not what are all residents of the Everlasting ... gods of one sort or another.

other than the known religious itinerant of the 1st century there may have been no more since that time or most likely a few but certainly not anyone that voted for tramp.

 

[ding]

God has a lil different style of SAT test.100% is win. 99% is an F

.
further on, once tainted a lifetime may not be enough for the return to purity though if accomplished will be a master of the universe - and judged by those already that have accomplished the feat and may they be who have triumphed in good.

Sounds like you believe you will become a god.

.

Sounds like you believe you will become a god.

.
sure, that's the idea - triumph over evil would be (is) a minimum requisite for such an occurrence if not what are all residents of the Everlasting ... gods of one sort or another.

other than the known religious itinerant of the 1st century there may have been no more since that time or most likely a few but certainly not anyone that voted for tramp.

It's good to have goals.

 

[Ringtone]

Why does god allow evil? because humans choose it.

I think the concepts of good and evil are too simplistic to be of use. I don't know anyone who was completely good or evil. Hitler loved the German people and did what he did for them. To his victims he was evil but if he had won the war Germany would have benefited greatly and he probably be viewed as a savior. I'm in no way defending what he did, just using him to explore the extremes. MLK is viewed as a great liberator of Blacks, a good thing, but the Southern Whites of his day viewed him as a destroyer of their way of life.

This world is not black and white, it is a rainbow.

So there's no moral absolute except the absolute that there's no moral absolute?! You unwittingly made an inherently contradictory, indeed, self-negating assertion, essentially proving that the opposite, i.e., that the positive, is true. Relativism is rank irrationality. The essence of evil—the essence of all sin— is irrationality.