Does Evil exist?

[sin_is_fun]

Man is a selfish animal.So whatever harms his selfinterest he calls it as evil.But in practice nobody can live a life which doesnt harm others.

I think evil is our perception of an act.A person who does evil,does the act in his self interest.To attain that self interest he harms others.But this is practically done by everybody.The harmed person labels the selfish person as evil monger.But is being selfish evil?

Can we define evil?Or is it just a perception of the harmed person?

[angelic_spirit]

Right now i believe it is our perception of things. It depends if you are on the path of love and light.

To be God seeking, you will strive to make choices that will not harm others, even if it means you don't gain in the process.

Here is a quote from the Urantia Book that speaks about such things.

1. TRUE AND FALSE LIBERTY

p613:3 54:1.1 Of all the perplexing problems growing out of the Lucifer rebellion, none has occasioned more difficulty than the failure of immature evolutionary mortals to distinguish between true and false liberty.
p613:4 54:1.2 True liberty is the quest of the ages and the reward of evolutionary progress. False liberty is the subtle deception of the error of time and the evil of space. Enduring liberty is predicated on the reality of justice—intelligence, maturity, fraternity, and equity.
p613:5 54:1.3 Liberty is a self-destroying technique of cosmic existence when its motivation is unintelligent, unconditioned, and uncontrolled. True liberty is progressively related to reality and is ever regardful of social equity, cosmic fairness, universe fraternity, and divine obligations.
p613:6 54:1.4 Liberty is suicidal when divorced from material justice, intellectual fairness, social forbearance, moral duty, and spiritual values. Liberty is nonexistent apart from cosmic reality, and all personality reality is proportional to its divinity relationships.
p613:7 54:1.5 Unbridled self-will and unregulated self-expression equal unmitigated selfishness, the acme of ungodliness. Liberty without the associated and ever-increasing conquest of self is a figment of egoistic mortal imagination. Self-motivated liberty is a conceptual illusion, a cruel deception. License masquerading in the garments of liberty is the forerunner of abject bondage.
p614:1 54:1.6 True liberty is the associate of genuine self-respect; false liberty is the consort of self-admiration. True liberty is the fruit of self-control; false liberty, the assumption of self-assertion. Self-control leads to altruistic service; self-admiration tends towards the exploitation of others for the selfish aggrandizement of such a mistaken individual as is willing to sacrifice righteous attainment for the sake of possessing unjust power over his fellow beings.

The more you seek to love as God loves, the less you will run into a problem like that.
The same for the world.


Blessings

Angelic_Spirit

[Nirvana-Eld]

To answer the question "Does evil exist?" I believe that this question must be adressed first. "Do morals exist?" If not then evil is whatever makes us unhappy. But since our society and most philosophers and religions alike agree that there are morals that all must live by to coexist peacefully. So evil in my opinion comes from man and man alone. The morals and standards that we have developed and constructed for ourselves set the guidelines for what is evil.

You raised an excellent question though on the subject of selfishness.
So what is evil? Evil in the dictionary (American Heritage) is A something that is morally wrong (as we already know) and B. is causing ruin injury or pain: harmful. When one's self intrest is contrary to another's it is not necisarily evil but when one's self interest is harmful and causes pain, injury, or ruin to another then it is evil.

Thanks for the great topic!

[sin_is_fun]

To answer the question "Does evil exist?" I believe that this question must be adressed first. "Do morals exist?"

morals exist????what are morals?Is it different from what is written in the law book?

You raised an excellent question though on the subject of selfishness.
So what is evil? Evil in the dictionary (American Heritage) is A something that is morally wrong (as we already know) and B. is causing ruin injury or pain: harmful. When one's self intrest is contrary to another's it is not necisarily evil but when one's self interest is harmful and causes pain, injury, or ruin to another then it is evil.

Thanks for the great topic!

we have to define moral here.Who is the authority who decides what is moral and immoral?If moral is similiar to law then its fine.

and next you said causing injury or pain is evil.So according to this definition a football player causes injury to another football player by playing a game.Is this evil?

A proper definition of evil is needed.I couldnt find any clearcut definition of evil anywhere.

[Dilettante]

Moral evil is only one kind of evil. Tornadoes, tsunamis, earthquakes, floods, droughts, famines, and other natural disasters cause pain, sorrow, death and suffering without requiring a reference to morality.

[sin_is_fun]

Moral evil is only one kind of evil. Tornadoes, tsunamis, earthquakes, floods, droughts, famines, and other natural disasters cause pain, sorrow, death and suffering without requiring a reference to morality.

I dont think we can call tsunami and flood as 'evil'.They are not living entities.How can they be called as evil?

[Sender]

Moral evil is only one kind of evil. Tornadoes, tsunamis, earthquakes, floods, droughts, famines, and other natural disasters cause pain, sorrow, death and suffering without requiring a reference to morality.

I dont think we can call tsunami and flood as 'evil'.They are not living entities.How can they be called as evil?

Is evil infinite?

[Dilettante]

sin_is_fun wrote:

I dont think we can call tsunami and flood as 'evil'.They are not living entities.How can they be called as evil?

"Evil" does not necessarily imply a living agent. Anything which causes bad things to happen to innocent people qualifies as evil. I don't know about you, but I would not like a tsunami or a flood in my town. If a meteorite destroyed your house and all your possessions, killing some of your family members in the process, would you classify that as "good", "evil", or merely "bummer"?

[sin_is_fun]

"Evil" does not necessarily imply a living agent. Anything which causes bad things to happen to innocent people qualifies as evil. I don't know about you, but I would not like a tsunami or a flood in my town. If a meteorite destroyed your house and all your possessions, killing some of your family members in the process, would you classify that as "good", "evil", or merely "bummer"?

I have never seen anybody calling a metorite or flood as 'evil'.They are natural happenings.We can call them in any name we want,but it wont make much of a difference to them.

I am yet to hear somebody call tsunami as 'evil' and flood as 'sadist' and so on.People classify them as 'good' and 'bad'.For example 'rain is good' and ';rainfall above 15 inches is bad' and so on.But they dont call it as evil or magnanimous.Those adjectives are more apt for humans.

[Sender]

To answer the question "Does evil exist?" I believe that this question must be adressed first. "Do morals exist?" If not then evil is whatever makes us unhappy. But since our society and most philosophers and religions alike agree that there are morals that all must live by to coexist peacefully. So evil in my opinion comes from man and man alone. The morals and standards that we have developed and constructed for ourselves set the guidelines for what is evil.

So man is inheirantly evil, thank goodness for guidelines?

You raised an excellent question though on the subject of selfishness.
So what is evil? Evil in the dictionary (American Heritage) is A something that is morally wrong (as we already know) and B. is causing ruin injury or pain: harmful. When one's self intrest is contrary to another's it is not necisarily evil but when one's self interest is harmful and causes pain, injury, or ruin to another then it is evil.

Does evil have limits?