What is Evil? And does evil exist?

[geoff]

Buvillian- You make some pretty good points. But these morals are born in us, maybe not to steal or whatnot but what about murder? Where do we get a conscience if not from God? Where does are fear come from if not from God? How about the feeling of love? Or answer me this scenario, for a moment imagine that you are walking on a dirt path in Africa. You come across a young African boy. He is malnurished, thin as bones, scarred, bruised and beaten and crying. What is it in you that makes you feel compassion on this young boy? Why is it that when you walk by him you stop and something in your heart aches. You can not simply walk by and ignore him. You almost come to tears just seeing the pain in this boy's eyes. Did you learn to feel these things or were you told to feel them? The logical answer is no. These emotions you experience are natural, they are as much a part of you as your central nervous system. So then, was this an evolution or some mutation in a gene that caused you to have these feelings? Once again no. So then how did we get these feelings, someone made us with them, thats how.

[StreetHazard]

Buvillian- You make some pretty good points. But these morals are born in us, maybe not to steal or whatnot but what about murder? Where do we get a conscience if not from God? Where does are fear come from if not from God? How about the feeling of love? Or answer me this scenario, for a moment imagine that you are walking on a dirt path in Africa. You come across a young African boy. He is malnurished, thin as bones, scarred, bruised and beaten and crying. What is it in you that makes you feel compassion on this young boy? Why is it that when you walk by him you stop and something in your heart aches. You can not simply walk by and ignore him. You almost come to tears just seeing the pain in this boy's eyes. Did you learn to feel these things or were you told to feel them? The logical answer is no. These emotions you experience are natural, they are as much a part of you as your central nervous system. So then, was this an evolution or some mutation in a gene that caused you to have these feelings? Once again no. So then how did we get these feelings, someone made us with them, thats how.

ummm.....heh! "compassion" is either a weakness or an asset depending upon your perspective.

for example if I only had a small amount of food and water left from my own travels and I passed that small boy in the road? Would I give everything I have to him, at the possible consequence of my own life in the future? And that desire would be there only as an instinct to protect my own species, like many animals try to do in the wild by sharing and traveling in packs and herds.

tough call....tough call.

"sorry little fella, but your on your own"

But since you so eagerly want to shoehorn this thread into your beliefs, what about (Genesis 22:1-18), the story of Abraham being motivated by "GAWD" to kill his only child.

"Take your son, your only son – yes, Isaac, whom you love so much – and go to the land of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will point out to you." and held a knife to his throat with a full intention of gutting him like a fish.

Where does that fit into your theory about the kindness and benevolence of your sacred deity? Since you are so obviously choosing to feign your altruism by the very nature of your belief.

[BallerDave04]

But since you so eagerly want to shoehorn this thread into your beliefs, what about (Genesis 22:1-18), the story of Abraham being motivated by "GAWD" to kill his only child.

"Take your son, your only son – yes, Isaac, whom you love so much – and go to the land of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will point out to you." and held a knife to his throat with a full intention of gutting him like a fish.

Where does that fit into your theory about the kindness and benevolence of your sacred deity? Since you are so obviously choosing to feign your altruism by the very nature of your belief.

When God told Abraham to sacrifice his son Abraham was willing to do it but knew that God would provide a sacrifice in Isaac's place. Before Abraham even took Isaac up on the mountain he told his servants, "WE shall return." He knew that God was not going to take the promise that He gave to Abraham. There is a lesson built into this story...God ALWAYS fulfills His promises.

You should really know what you are talking about before using Bible references.

KTHAXBI.

[StreetHazard]

When God told Abraham to sacrifice his son Abraham was willing to do it but knew that God would provide a sacrifice in Isaac's place. Before Abraham even took Isaac up on the mountain he told his servants, "WE shall return." He knew that God was not going to take the promise that He gave to Abraham. There is a lesson built into this story...God ALWAYS fulfills His promises.

You should really know what you are talking about before using Bible references.

KTHAXBI.

ohhh so your interpretation actually validates the moral of this story does it? So god told him to kill his own son as some divine hilarious fucking joke according to you?

...It reeks of bullshit that you are obviously used to and cannot smell. Save your preaching for bible study to convince yourself.

[BallerDave04]

ohhh so your interpretation actually validates the moral of this story does it? So god told him to kill his own son as some divine hilarious fucking joke according to you?

...It reeks of bullshit that you are obviously used to and cannot smell. Save your preaching for bible study to convince yourself.

Sorry, but that's what it's about. You are wrong, end of story.

[bu villain]

Buvillian- You make some pretty good points. But these morals are born in us, maybe not to steal or whatnot but what about murder? Where do we get a conscience if not from God? Where does are fear come from if not from God? How about the feeling of love? Or answer me this scenario, for a moment imagine that you are walking on a dirt path in Africa. You come across a young African boy. He is malnurished, thin as bones, scarred, bruised and beaten and crying. What is it in you that makes you feel compassion on this young boy? Why is it that when you walk by him you stop and something in your heart aches. You can not simply walk by and ignore him. You almost come to tears just seeing the pain in this boy's eyes. Did you learn to feel these things or were you told to feel them? The logical answer is no. These emotions you experience are natural, they are as much a part of you as your central nervous system. So then, was this an evolution or some mutation in a gene that caused you to have these feelings? Once again no. So then how did we get these feelings, someone made us with them, thats how.

Interesting scenario because I have lived it myself when I went to Africa a few years ago. I don't think everyone feels that way when they see such a scenario. Just because something feels wrong to you does not mean it feels wrong to everyone. If we all had the same morals, we would not allow things like genocide to occur. Even within a society morals can vary greatly.

I'm not going to try to answer every question about emotion because I don't know all the answers. That's why my answer is "I don't know" where as your answer is "I know".

[EJ25RUN]

Evil is ignorance and hatred toward others.