Does evil exist?

[creekster]

Originally Posted by Archaea

With regard to the nature of evil, it should be observed that evil is of three kinds -- physical, moral, and metaphysical. Physical evil includes all that causes harm to man, whether by bodily injury, by thwarting his natural desires, or by preventing the full development of his powers, either in the order of nature directly, or through the various social conditions under which mankind naturally exists. Physical evils directly due to nature are sickness, accident, death, etc. Poverty, oppression, and some forms of disease are instances of evil arising from imperfect social organization. Mental suffering, such as anxiety, disappointment, and remorse, and the limitation of intelligence which prevents humans beings from attaining to the full comprehension of their environment, are congenital forms of evil each vary in character and degree according to natural disposition and social circumstances.

I find this defintion to be not particualry useful, to be honest. Anythign that thwarts man's natural desires is evil? So self-control is evil? I guess this requires another definiton to know what "natural desires" means.

JL; Are you trying to ask about evil in terms of willful conduct by man, or are you talking about somethign broader? If the former, I think one could say that evil is a willful act inconsistent with god's will, which means many neglgient acts might be evil. This would also not speak to degrees of evil, of course.

[JohnnyLingo]

Originally Posted by creekster

JL; Are you trying to ask about evil in terms of willful conduct by man, or are you talking about somethign broader? If the former, I think one could say that evil is a willful act inconsistent with god's will, which means many neglgient acts might be evil. This would also not speak to degrees of evil, of course.

I'm looking for comments about the willful conduct of man. As I mentioned earlier, moral relativism is all the rage today. In a world where nothing is evil, I wonder what the opinions of people on the board are.

[Archaea]

Originally Posted by JohnnyLingo

I'm looking for comments about the willful conduct of man. As I mentioned earlier, moral relativism is all the rage today. In a world where nothing is evil, I wonder what the opinions of people on the board are.

Moral relativism can be misperceived.

For example, context matters.

You as card carrying Mormon would presumably be against murder, correct? Yet, Nephi, effectively "murders" Laban. Context.

In a flat world, people look for absolute rules. The only absolute rule with which I'm familiar is "Don't sin against the Holy Ghost."

[creekster]

Originally Posted by Archaea

Moral relativism can be misperceived.

For example, context matters.

You as card carrying Mormon would presumably be against murder, correct? Yet, Nephi, effectively "murders" Laban. Context.

In a flat world, people look for absolute rules. The only absolute rule with which I'm familiar is "Don't sin against the Holy Ghost."

This is why I proposed making the rule act consistently with the will of God, as what he wants us to do can change at times. Of course with such a definition one might ask if all sin is evil? If so, what is the difference?

[minn_stat]

Originally Posted by JohnnyLingo

Requiem in another thread got me thinking. Do you believe evil exists?

I know moral relativism is the way to go in today's world.

In today's world, Hitler and bin Laden are often about the only people identified with evil. This is very convenient, 'cause they are nothing like you and I, and therefore, we aren't evil. So we must be good, so we can pat ourselves on the back and go about life without worrying much about whether or not our actions are evil.

This way of thinking, while a broad simplification, is pretty prevalent in American culture today, even among many people who profess belief in God.

In teaching our children about evil and morality, my wife and I often choose an approach that doesn't directly include God. We talk about how living creatures are constantly sending signals about their needs and wants. A moral, good person, we tell our kids, listens and responds to those signals emanating from others. It is immoral and evil to ignore those signals or to receive them and not respond. While very simple, we feel it contains some basic truths that are valuable. Obviously, one can come up with all sorts of questions regarding this, such as what is the proper response, how do we deal with multiple demands on our time, etc., but we feel it is teaching our children to validate the reality of others.

It also reminds me that I act immorally at times, and that it is easy to slip into evil patterns due to my natural tendencies towards greed, self-absorbtion, lust, etc.

[creekster]

Originally Posted by minn_stat

It also reminds me that I act immorally at times, and that it is easy to slip into evil patterns due to my natural tendencies towards greed, self-absorbtion, lust, etc.

This is the natural man speaking, n'est-ce pas?

[Brian]

Originally Posted by JohnnyLingo

I don't know why you bother pretending you're some idiot savant on CB. You have a lot to offer.

I'm not sure what you're asking. Are you implying that since God governs all things that there can't be any evil?

since i pretend to be a cougar fan on CB, I have no choice but to be stupid (c:

i think it's more than that. DC88 says that the light of christ, the god element, not only governs all, it is *in* everything. that's an interesting road to tread, especially in the context of the garden of eden and god telling adam and eve to not get caught in trying to figure out what is good and what is evil.