What IS evil?

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Ughubughughughughughghlug

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If Brightstar can shit up Deep Thots with a million half-baked threads I can make at least one.

What even is evil?

I don't mean what kinds of acts are evil, what defines an act as good or evil, but what evil is in and of itself. I am curious what you all think. CS Lewis described evil as being, essentially, goodness that has gone bad; it usually comes from some kind of impulse that has a basis in right behavior, even if that's as simple/unremarkable as just self-love that has gone bad by being taken to an extreme that fails to take into account the rest of the world. Lewis goes on to argue that you get greater evils from the greatest goods, which is why it is meaningful that Satan is a fallen angel and that pride is the greatest sin.

In my own system of thought, which is very compatible to that, I think of suffering in the world as coming from ignorance. There is a design to the world and we're allowed to make our own choices because that is necessary for us to grow into our role as moral agents. But, because people are not infinitely knowledgeable, wise or disciplined they cannot possibly fulfill their role perfectly. Usually the evils we focus on come from people that live like they're the only real human in the world, be it relatively benign like a selfish and self-obsessed person or very dangerous like a murderer, thief or rapist. But that kind of selfishness has a limited capacity to harm; what's more dangerous is when people try to go out and structure the whole world according to some grand vision, with the results usually being mass poverty and democide. In both cases the individual causes harm by stepping outside of their appropriate place in the hierarchy, either acting bestial (shirking its moral duties) or taking on greater moral agency/responsibilities than it is equipped to deal with (play God with society).

The problem for me, with this, is that it still leaves evil as just an unfavorable comparison to maximum state of good. And while it works out nicely in my head, I can't reconcile that with the very thick feeling of evil that's settled on the world, something that feels like an intruder, a pollution of the world, and one that comes from some kind of conscious source. I can easily believe in a Satan, but I don't know how to think of evil as a thing unto itself.
 
I think evil is about intent.
Killing an abusive husband/parent. Putting down an animal. Suicide. All of that requires technical murder but there's usually a thought process of trying to restrict pain.
Killing a random woman you've never met because of internal issues you never worked out from childhood. That's a bit more malicious.

Making a woman uncomfortable with a failed rizz, having a large age gap with a willing partner anytime before the 2010s or getting too forward during foreplay. Learning experience. Your life shouldn't be non void from this.
Raping someone for the sheer enjoyment of having power over them and knowing you're doing the worst possible action to someone for no other reason than you can. You no longer register as a person.

Making haphazard mistakes in life or having moments you regret that you thought were the best in the moment as a result of every other decision you've made in life. There's wiggle room there.
Literally treating your child as scapegoat or taking sadistic pleasure in the emotional torture of your spouse because you're bent over something that happened to you 30 years ago. Yeah no.

I know there's probably fifty philosophy majors that could ruminate or prove me wrong with infinite examples of moral grey areas but that's just my opinion.
I think there's probably examples of literally every taboo or sin I would not deem evil based on context. And there's seemingly small, innocuous actions people do every day that are far more evil than people are willing to entertain. Hurting others for no other reason than you're a gleeful piece of shit doesn't matter regardless of the severity.
 
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Wall texts on this (for me) are a waste of time, it's simpler than it sounds.

Under a specific & subjective morality code, something is considered evil or not by the one holding the view. What criteria they use is, as stated subjective, so there are unlimited possibilities.

What is evil for me, may not be to you.
Now the only thing left is for me to talk about what I personally consider evil, and you can do so from your own point of view.

Let me put a hypothetical example: to me being evil, its essence of what it is, could just mean to be malicious, i.e: someone willfully trying to ultimately cause pain in some way. How malicious do they have to be in order to qualify? That's also subjective if we want to get super technical, and trying to explain would be akin to explain when something starts being blue from cyan, or cyan from green.
 
There's the theological view that good is motivated by love of others, and evil is motivated by love of self -- prioritizing the self over others. Also while what people think is evil can vary by culture, I think there's some stuff that is always evil, like adultery and murder (killing in self-defense to save one's family is not murder).

(((I am NOT a jew))) said:
I think evil is about intent.
Click to expand...
same here
 
One more thing. I think evil is also about complication. I think evil people ultimately hate the idea of inherent, absolute genuine good as a concept. Obviously there are people who have awful things while believing they were morally superior throughout history.
But the most common evil I see now is the disdain for the idea of objective good.
It's why comics and videogames suck now. Postmodernism has made it to where the idea of believing in anything without irony is the greatest sin. Sure there's stuff written as propaganda with an obvious "This is RIGHT slant". But they still underneath it all have this underlying hatred for simplicity. That's why every franchise and it's heroes have to be immasculated, stripped, deconstructed, "reinterpreted" and defiled.
"Right is right" isn't a thing as much anymore. That's why you have thousands if not millions of people willing to defend every horrible action online now:
Child mutilation= well gender is a spectrum anyways
Obvious blatant pedophilia= Well these people are still humans, too
Censorship= Well we can't just let people be completely free as this might harm someone, somewhere down the line.
Immigration=Who cares if they rape our women. They're from a different world. Who are we to judge?

I truly do think that at the bottom of this plague that affects society it's not about brownie points or progress or diversity or anything like that.
At the bottom it's purely about people actively hating the idea of standards and earnest, idealistic thinking.

TL;DR: Way too many people read Watchmen and got the wrong message. Even Alan Moore.
 
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Evil is the knowledge of good and choosing not to do it. An act committed in ignorance is forgivable, true evil is when the commission of the act occurs even though, or in spite of, the perpetrator's knowledge of right and wrong.
 
A property of humans. Some people kill or rape to get that dollop of dopamine. Whatever makes their pleasure centers light up. Doesn't benefit their survival, or anyone else's for that matter. It only hurts and traumatizes those involved. The perpetrator becomes more repulsive and falls deeper into degeneracy, and the world becomes more enraged and focused on eliminating them.
 
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Evil is an action that a person cannot rationalize its benefits compared to the cost it involves. This makes it highly subjective to the person - For example, if someone you know commits a crime, you are far more likely to justify it. Ditto some actions weren't seen as evil in the past are nowadays seen as horrific, like physical punishment for children.

We can have rough agreement on some actions that are evil, but things like politics and culture can make some actions be justifiable as long as they are in service of your group.
 
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Good and Evil are completely subjective. What's good to me can be viewed as evil to another, and vice versa. Also, biology plays a larger role in defining "morality" than people want to admit.

I personally think blacks should be allowed to have tribal wars with their neighbors. It's undeniably a biological imperative for them to do so. Put a group of blacks together and one block dons red, the other block dons blue, and the endless turf war begins. No law or threat of punishment has been shown to curb their biological need for small tribal conflict.

European genetic expression does not include the need for endless wars with their literal next door neighbors. Europeans have the biological imperative to create rules and structures for an orderly and safe society.

Who am I to deem blacks murdering each other in the street as good or evil? It's honestly more cruel to hold them to the same biological imperatives of a completely alien race.

Now, as a good steward of the negroe, I would restrict them from using firearms for their tribal warfare. I would allow gang wars to be fought in the streets with spears, clubs, etc. They would also be allowed to rape the losing tribes women, if so desired, as that is also an African biological imperative for their genetic propagation.

As long as they are in my home, they will play by my rules, and they will be grateful for it. The negroe understands power, and he knows he has none when faced against the White Devil.

"The strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must."

Rationalism is inadequate to discern moral truth, and behind that, there is only power and self-interest.

Thinking you can define good & evil is the disease of Western civilization and why we are on the brink of extinction. We've decided we know better then Nature, and Nature is letting us know just how naive we are.
 
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evil is described in detail in the bible, it is a set of combination of harmful actions, evil is not just an abstract concept but is something deeply connected to human actions, spiritual forces, and the overarching narrative of God's plan to bring redemption to the world.

Bright star is eternal
 
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Evil in essence is just nothingness, just like death brings nothingness, it might not seem like much from me just saying that, but there is always something lost because of an evil action.

To be, or not to be, that is the question.
Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep,
To sleep, perchance to Dream;
For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come,
But also a temptation,
Demonic even.
 
I think evil is not simply an action, it’s is a thing in and of itself. It has existence. You look at many of the terrible things going on and it’s like something nasty and malevolent has crawled into the world and is exerting its influence through peoples actions. People worship it, they dance around it like a flame. Trooning out kids, that is evil, the concept is evil, the ideology is evil and it’s pushed through actions that are evil.
What’s evil? It is the thing that pushes us towards the absence of God. Perhaps it is a necessity, one we must work against tirelessly?
 
One does not grow as quickly without resistance to work against, friends. This is the umbrella which most "evil" acts would fall under. Evil (basically) does not exist.

There's been a couple references made to the closest approximation I'd give the concept - the idea of moving away from or denying what most reference as God. Living in separation from the divine inherently denies that same divinity in yourself. It's a more intimate part of who (any of) you are than skin or eye or hair color.
To try an offering of perspective: most of you, I'd wager, are at least somewhat familiar with the clear misery and extreme torment most intent on "becoming" the opposite sex drown themselves within. They are denying themselves in a very clear and evident way to any neutral observer. They have missed the mark. They are in sin.

Now, dear reader: does that make them evil to you? Those who cause such undue suffering? Who deny themselves to the point where they begin denying others of their own traits as well? Who constantly seek to tear down what makes others feel fulfilled or invade and corrupt their spaces? Who revel in causing others to fall into their own patterns of missing the mark and watch their cycle of pain repeat?

I certainly won't tell anyone what to think or how to feel about it. I would only suggest an exercise: try to see through all of those actions and words causing such calamity at what is still there underneath. See that hurt or scared little boy or girl getting preyed upon by another? See that lost and confused lad who receives constant suggestions that because he likes playing with dolls then he must obviously be something he is not? See the absolute loathing that 20-something woman has for herself because she is in love with her self-hatred impressed upon her by her "mentors"? Do you see where she was led astray and down that path? Those vital moments where someone offering even just a slim ray of light into her life would have altered either example's entire life path? See the potentials missed?

This is why evil simply does not exist. When the detritus is cleared away from a giant monster one has created out of themselves, there is still that divine spark. That precious innocence gone awry. One need not excuse another's actions or agree to whatever insanity the other has created, of course - but it also doesn't require any of its flames to be stoked.
We are all of the divine, friends. Nothing exists outside of All That Is/God/Spirit/etc. Ultimately, forgiveness is more powerful than anything perceived as evil. I realize that's much easier discussed than put into practice for most. When one realizes they are capable, however, then all the evils of this world are simply not so. They are merely opportunities to learn.
 
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