I maintain a very unpopular viewpoint: that evil does not exist in any true or pure sense. Each person can always name some action, such as the murder of children, that I do want to call evil. But what about those that commit such crimes? Are they evil?
Case in point: My sister was raped and murdered at 15 years of age. The crime was horrific and brutal; with the man even saying, on the stand, that he couldn't remember if he had raped her before or after the strangulation. Now, hopefully, each of you has just shuddered, felt ill, or began to think of a response to me about horrible content. This act was committed on multiple girls by a serial killer. The sadness and horror that many families including mine were forced to endure cannot be said to have a positive aspect, do not take that away from my post. It was terrible, truly, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. However, as everyone condemns the killer as evil, other facts must be brought to light. He has a fair amount of intelligence. He had a plan for his future. He had a family and a group of friends. In all aspects but one he was a normal person, and that one aspect has completely decided how he will be viewed until he is forgotten. My question is simply this: Can evil have a definition as applied to a person (my example), an entity (satan), a force (chaos), etc.. The problem I have is this: to be truly evil, the subject must have no redeeming characteristics. These are concepts that an article I'm writing will contain, but I thought I'd get any willing opinions that any of you would like to share. (These are much condensed of course, I doubt any of you want to read the pages I've researched and written on each trait.) Evil is generally and most often held to be such concepts as random, chaotic, violent, sadistic, occasionally masochistic, etc.. 1) As satan is considered an entity and can plan and have a cohesive and consistent worldview, he cannot be overwhelmingly evil. As chaos cannot hold form or shape, an entity must not be true evil and hold shape, without dismissing chaos as an evil concept. 2) Sadistic is definitely a trait that is considered evil, yet does this mean that no sadistic person or entity can be good? The majority of clergy in the middle ages from christianity and islam were either masochistic or sadistic, there are reams of evidence attesting to this, yet can it be said that they had no positive qualities? The sadism was often done in the concept of god being good and promoting that idea, were they evil at the same point that they pushed religion into every corner of the world? 3) Violence is another term that is considered evil, but the simple fact is that the world is violent. Every animal and many plants exist only by destroying another living thing. Also there is the very basic and sad reality that war is a natural population controller, this is seen in animals as well when carnivores face a scarcity of prey. If the death of others or simple violent tendencies are evil concepts, one must complain to whatever creator they believe in. 4) The most difficult concept to defend is rape. Sadly, this truly does have a historical necessity attached to it. In times past, among generally isolated communities with a scarcity of resources such as desert and icy regions, rape during raids and war was the only method of spreading genes without overpopulation leading to starvation. In the current and more advanced world that we call home this has no business being done, but nonetheless is a violent trait that is still in existence. Can an action that once had a necessary purpose for the survival of entire tribes and races be evil? MAKE NO MISTAKE HERE: it is certainly detestable and I hold a rapist to be a truly ugly creature. But can an action like slavery or rape be once good or acceptable, and then become evil? There are many other examples but these seem to make the most people angry. The others are primarily definitions drawn from religious texts and historical attitudes. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/minds-eye?hl=en.
