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Ev3l
Dec 8, 2005 7:41:57 GMT -5
Post by Cy Otauna on Dec 8, 2005 7:41:57 GMT -5
So what is the definition of evil?
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Ev3l
Dec 8, 2005 9:54:19 GMT -5
Post by Master Warious on Dec 8, 2005 9:54:19 GMT -5
e·vil Audio pronunciation of "Evil" adj. e·vil·er, e·vil·est
1. Morally bad or wrong; wicked: an evil tyrant. 2. Causing ruin, injury, or pain; harmful: the evil effects of a poor diet. 3. Characterized by or indicating future misfortune; ominous: evil omens. 4. Bad or blameworthy by report; infamous: an evil reputation. 5. Characterized by anger or spite; malicious: an evil temper.
n.
1. The quality of being morally bad or wrong; wickedness. 2. That which causes harm, misfortune, or destruction: a leader's power to do both good and evil. 3. An evil force, power, or personification. 4. Something that is a cause or source of suffering, injury, or destruction: the social evils of poverty and injustice.
adv. Archaic
In an evil manner.
[Middle English, from Old English yfel. See wap- in Indo-European Roots.]evil·ly adv. evil·ness n.
Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Evil
adj 1: morally bad or wrong; "evil purposes"; "an evil influence"; "evil deeds" [syn: wicked] [ant: good] 2: having the nature of vice [syn: depraved, vicious] 3: tending to cause great harm [syn: harmful, injurious] 4: having or exerting a malignant influence; "malevolent stars"; "a malefic force" [syn: malefic, malevolent, malign] n 1: morally objectionable behavior [syn: immorality, wickedness, iniquity] 2: that which causes harm or destruction or misfortune; "the evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones"- Shakespeare 3: the quality of being morally wrong in principle or practice; "attempts to explain the origin of evil in the world" [syn: evilness] [ant: good] Source: WordNet ® 2.0, © 2003 Princeton University
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Zephyr
Jedi Hobbit
May it be.
Posts: 26
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Ev3l
Dec 8, 2005 9:56:56 GMT -5
Post by Zephyr on Dec 8, 2005 9:56:56 GMT -5
Evil is the absence of good - therefore the absence of God.
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Ev3l
Dec 8, 2005 11:31:03 GMT -5
Post by Trinity on Dec 8, 2005 11:31:03 GMT -5
Satan is evil.
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Ev3l
Dec 8, 2005 22:34:55 GMT -5
Post by SilverSergyon13 on Dec 8, 2005 22:34:55 GMT -5
Hahahaha.....*dies of laughter*
Sorry....*laughs again*....Hehehehehehe....one minute please...*laughs once more*
Ok I'm good. Hehehe... I was just htinking about this conversation we had had a few minutes ago. Glad you posted this.
Evil is a thing decided upon by those against it. For example, one may consider satan to be evil. To us, we are good because we are not what we would call evil as according to our standards. However, to satan, he is good and we are evil. To him he is doing what is right...and we are wrong.
Cy, I must once again use my hannibal Lecter archetype, mostly because he is cool, psychotic, and a psychologist's paradise. I don't know how many of you are familiar with him or the book "The Silence of the Lambs", but his character is based on many real ones. Anyway, when he kills and "consumes" someone, he believes he is doing the world good or as he says "ridding the world of it's scum". This is his point of view. The one he eats is evil and he is good. However, in the eyes of another this may be totally "evil". They consider themselves good and hannibal as evil. In their standards his practices are completely irrational and demented. So who is good and who is evil from an unbiased view? Suppose you have none of the morals you currently posses and look down on these two characters who both see the opposing as evil and who both view themselves as good. You wouldn't be able to say who was good and who was evil, unless you joined a side. Of course you would say now "Hannibal is the evil one. He kills and eats people for crying out loud!". However in some cultures that perfectly normal. Some cultures would view a person against murder as absurd. Evil is all in the eye of the beholder. It's perception at its greatest.
This whole situation truly depends on where you stand. If you become part of what you now call "evil" you would not see yourself as so. Your practices would be morally right. Do you think the terrorists that struck on 9/11 thought they were evil? No, but us as North Americans, us as the victims...the attacked; we certainly all viewed the terrorists as evil.
The power of perception rules here.
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Ev3l
Dec 9, 2005 13:04:07 GMT -5
Post by Master Warious on Dec 9, 2005 13:04:07 GMT -5
...Hmmm...Does that mean the reason why people call me evil is because they have sided against me? *ponders* I posted the dictionary definition. I'd rather go by that. As a whole and not nit picking like everyone else does. *rolles eyes*
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Ev3l
Dec 9, 2005 16:03:16 GMT -5
Post by SilverSergyon13 on Dec 9, 2005 16:03:16 GMT -5
Morally wrong by whose standards? Yours or the one you consider evil?
People may call you evil because they believe the acts you commit are morally wrong. You could turn right around and call them evil for not committing the acts you think are right. It could really go either way.
Just remember, humans wrote the dictionary. Humans do not often definte their terms clear enough.
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Ev3l
Dec 10, 2005 9:49:33 GMT -5
Post by Cy Otauna on Dec 10, 2005 9:49:33 GMT -5
Yeah, I wanted to discuss this further, Silver. ;D You brought up really interesting stuff.
That's the thing; humans did not write the alliances that are Good and Evil--from a certain point of view that I have proof, to myself of course because such things are hard to prove to other points of views--that are God and Satan, to name the leadership. I believe that moral standards are thus; so Hannibal believes he is all well and good as he roasts brains. But does the fellow who'se brains he is roasting think so? I think he's in some pain, and at the least is really terrified. Evil, or at least bad, causes badness around it, causes other people pain and damage. Good only causes more good, no problems, no matter what the point of view. There is the teaching to be kind to your enemies, no matter how hard that is.
Yeah, fiction evil is cool. Darth Maul is cool and 3v1l. But there are REAL alliances of good or evil out there, and at least the rewards of Good are rather nicer.
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Ev3l
Dec 12, 2005 19:28:54 GMT -5
Post by Master Warious on Dec 12, 2005 19:28:54 GMT -5
*pouts* no one answered my question...I want a honest answer if that's wnat your worried about.
Don't get al huffy about my first post. Sheesh.
When people ask me a question that centers a round one word I get the dictionary...or in this instance, Dictionary.com
Besides...Humans wrote the dictionary and what they KNEW to be truth..but you've already placed your opinion on truth so arguing that here is pouintless. It is best left to it's appropriate thread.
Furthermore...Humans are stupid and I am not human. Riddle that one out.
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Ev3l
Dec 12, 2005 20:06:22 GMT -5
Post by SilverSergyon13 on Dec 12, 2005 20:06:22 GMT -5
I think this post was started as more of a discussion, not so much for just definition posts. Trust me, I mean no offense to you...Warious? I think that's who you are I may be wrong. I use the dictionary very very often, but I do find it incorrect quite often as well.
Cy and myself were having a very thought provoking conversation about this topic a couple of days ago. I found it interesting and I too would like to see it discussed. *shrugs* I dunno...perhaps Cy and I will have to finish the discussion in school at another time.
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Ev3l
Dec 12, 2005 22:09:17 GMT -5
Post by Trinity on Dec 12, 2005 22:09:17 GMT -5
Well, if you REALLY think about it, who is truly good? Only God is (which is actually stated in the Bible, I just gotta find it). As humans, we can never be completely good no matter how good of a person we think we are. But then, who is evil? Yeah, sure, Satan is evil. He knows EXACTLY where he is going when the time of judgment comes, so that would lead me to believe that he isn't sitting there, thinking he isn't evil. But when it comes to people.... you can't pass judgment on who is evil, because evil, in my opinion, can only be truly defined by God.
But then, when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, they were given the knowledge of good and evil. So I would maybe define evil as sin. Sure, it isn't man-eating Hannibal Lecter evil, but it still is evil. Especially when we know what we are doing is wrong, but we go ahead and do it anyway.
And please, by all means, continue this discussion! As long as it stays friendly and flame free (which it totally has), I'm fine with it.
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Ev3l
Dec 13, 2005 8:09:50 GMT -5
Post by Cy Otauna on Dec 13, 2005 8:09:50 GMT -5
*pouts* no one answered my question...I want a honest answer if that's wnat your worried about. Humans are stupid and I am not human. Riddle that one out. I don't know that answer, Warious. Depends on who calls you evil. There's evil, and then there's bad. I think like Trinity said rather, humans can be good or bad...but it's their affiliation decides Good or Evil...whether you believe in it or not. Humans are flawed...but can Hannibal Lector be forgiven? Warious, I am trusting that you really are human...unless you mean by human mortal.
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Ev3l
Dec 13, 2005 8:50:06 GMT -5
Post by SilverSergyon13 on Dec 13, 2005 8:50:06 GMT -5
LOL, I like how Hannibal's name keeps coming up. *hugs Silence of the Lambs book* Me loves it.
I'll post again on this topic when I'm not studying for math. I definitely do want to continue this discussion on here, but I rather do like discussing things in real life also.
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Ev3l
Dec 13, 2005 9:26:07 GMT -5
Post by Master Warious on Dec 13, 2005 9:26:07 GMT -5
Well the people who call me evil sure aren't my friends, that's for sure.
um...I'm not all genetically human is what I mean.
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Ev3l
Dec 15, 2005 3:21:25 GMT -5
Post by Tiana, eh? on Dec 15, 2005 3:21:25 GMT -5
(grins) I won't comment. We're all human, even if aliens, as much as we wish otherwise. Unless you have solid proof of genetic modifications, even I'LL admit there's a... er... perfectly normal human girl behind this user name. Not mentally normal, and definately doesn't ACT normal, but DNA wise, I have two human parents. Spiritually, I have a definately not human father. No arguement further on here, we're all, unfortunately, humans. And as you were using the arguement as "humans are stupid and I am not human", you're trying to imply you're not stupid? Snrk. No offence meant by the comment, it's just it was rather off topic.
But I will say immediately right now... I would've posted the dictionary definition had Warious not. (shrug) Dictionaries might have been written by humans, but it's as much a solid foundation as anything else.
In fact, I bounce in again with my own dictionary definition. From rhymezone.com.
Evil is that which causes, in the long run, wrong. Evil is what spawns people to mass murder, to think thoughts in the depths of their mind and daydream about taking their blade to someone's throat. Evil is what brings the government to opress where they should be aiding. Evil is sin, yes, even if those are milder evils. We're all evil in a sense... we've all hurt people, and hurting people is evil.
There are moral standards, even if in some cultures there aren't to the same degree. Everyone's forgivable for their evils. No one's totally evil... well... maybe Satan. Heh. And no one's totally good, bar God.
Evil is characterized by anger. Evil hurts people. Anakin is evil. But even Vader was able to come back to the light in the end, no matter how evil he had become.
Evil manipulates, and it draws people into its tempting maw. Evil deceives, making you think it's right to rid the world of all Jews, and that only blond and blue eyed people should remain. Evil is the easy path that leads to hurting someone inevitably in the end for your own gain.
Evil is, well, evil. Anakin is evil. (snickers)
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Ev3l
Dec 26, 2005 19:09:28 GMT -5
Post by Jandalf on Toast on Dec 26, 2005 19:09:28 GMT -5
Many good points raised here...
From what I've learned (as I can't really put personal claim to being there myself when it happened), evil has not always existed. Perfection has always been present; here I'm talking about the entirety of existence, and not just our wee little globe. God is perfect, and is perfection; he's always been there and always will be. Satan only came about to be Satan when he fell from perfection. He knows perfectly well he's evil, and his own depravity secures him at the polar opposite of what God is. The human race was tossed in afterwards along with the rest of creation, and here in this life we fall somewhere in between the two sides.
I'm not going to go and say that Satan's stupid...obviously, the thought that he could overthrow God was foolish in the first place, but as far as intelligence goes, Satan has the entirety of the human race thrashed. If it wasn't for God and his mercy, this world would have been completely possessed by Satan millennia ago. I think it's one of his favourite tricks, the twisting of a creation and work of art into a conduit of power for manipulation.
I believe that while there are different levels of evil (as we are not as evil as Satan), any level of it ranks as sin, and the definition of sin is a sort of universally constant tag.
Anyways...to summarise: evil is less than perfect, and I believe anything less than perfection is evil, because it is less than what God intended.
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Ev3l
Dec 27, 2005 10:57:14 GMT -5
Post by Master Warious on Dec 27, 2005 10:57:14 GMT -5
A University professor at a well known institution of higher learning challenged his students with this question. "Did God create everything that exists?" A student bravely replied, "Yes he did!" "God created everything?" The professor asked. Yes sir, he certainly did," the student replied. The professor answered, "If God created everything; then God created evil. And, since evil exists, and according to the principal that our works define who we are, then we can assume God is evil." The student became quiet and did not answer the professor's hypothetical definition. The professor, quite pleased with himself, boasted to the students that he had proven once more that faith in God was a myth.
Another student raised his hand and said, "May I ask you a question, professor?" Of course", replied the professor. The student stood up and asked, "Professor, does cold exist?" "What kind of question is this? Of course it exists. Have you never been cold?" The other students snickered at the young man's question. The young man replied, "In fact sir, cold does not exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is in reality the absence of heat. Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-273C) is the total absence of heat; and all matter becomes inert and incapable of reaction at that temperature. Cold does not exist. We have created this word to describe how we feel if we have no heat." The student continued, "Professor, does darkness exist?" The professor responded, "Of course it does." The student replied, "Once again you are wrong sir, darkness does not exist either. Darkness is in reality the absence of light. Light we can study, but ot darkness. In fact, we can use Newton's prism to break white light into many colors and study the various wavelengths of each color. You cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Isn't this correct? Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present." Finally the young man asked the professor, "Sir, does evil exist?" Now uncertain, the professor responded, "Of course, as I have already said. We see it everyday. It is in the daily examples of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil. To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist, sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat, or the darkness that comes when there is no light." The professor sat down. The young man's name -- Albert Einstein
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Ev3l
Dec 27, 2005 11:09:43 GMT -5
Post by SilverSergyon13 on Dec 27, 2005 11:09:43 GMT -5
"You realize today that professor would be arrested?"
Hehehehe...sorry, had to stick a recent X-Files quote in there somewhere.
I don't really know what to say about that story. I doubt it really happened. That doesn't mean it isn't a good story though. Einstein was very smart, I'll give him that, but he wasn't what we all read he was in text books. Einstein was a nasty and crude person and his wife actually helped him create many of his thoeries that exist today, yet he never gave her any of the credit. We had a discussion about this in physics class one day and I did a bit of research on it.
What happens, say, when you have a fanatic Christian who believes very much in God and believes it is his duty to kill and to be "Evil" by our standards. He has God in his heart, but perhaps he has a mental disorder that causes him to do this "Evil". What would you say to this situation? It's his mental disability causing him to do these things, not the absence of God or the devil. He has no perception of what is right or wrong. Just because one is considered "Evil" does not mean that a god (And I say this because many people are not Christian, but still believe in a good power and an evil one) is not present in their life.
There are too many loop holes with evil. The simple fact of saying "Evil is the absence of God" is what I believe to be a simplifier. Who wants to think about it when they can just believe that....but does it really mean anything? If someone told me that I would reply with "Then anyone who is not Christian is evil, every animal who does not believe in God is evil, Every action done while one is not thinking of god is evil, and every thought that does not have some relic of God in it is evil." All these things fit in with the saying "Evil is the absence of God", but are all of them correct? I would be one to answer no.
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Ev3l
Dec 27, 2005 17:00:25 GMT -5
Post by Trinity on Dec 27, 2005 17:00:25 GMT -5
I LOVE this. I hope the professor's mouth was hanging open by the end...
And wouldn't it be in God's power to keep the person with mental disabilities from killing all those people? I don't know, and I will admit that is a difficult situation to discuss, simply because man cannot fathom the works of God.
And I will be the first Christian to say that, yes, I am evil. We all are, because none of us is God! I'm in no way saying that Christians are pure saints who never do anything wrong or "evil". But I think it is logical to say that evil is the absence of God. If you think about it, the whole reason the world falls apart after the rapture is because God is pulled out of the world through the taking up of His people and Satan is allowed free reign for a certain amount of time before he is cast into the pit. God is in us, and we are to be the light of the world. Pull the light (God) out, and all that's left is darkness. So, I'm going to put myself out there in saying that without God and His influence on this world, it would be consumed with evil and darkness.
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Ev3l
Dec 27, 2005 23:36:26 GMT -5
Post by SilverSergyon13 on Dec 27, 2005 23:36:26 GMT -5
The mental illness would be what causes the man to kill. Surely Satan didn't give the man (Or woman) the mental illness. Disease exists. Period. It existed back in the time of the dinosaurs. Was there God then? Did the ancient reptillian beings go to church? One being killed another back then. Things considered taboo today were accepted back then.
It isn't easy to discuss, you are right. However, I would rather not take an easy route of saying evil is simply this. I need to comprehend, to study, to come to a realization. Evil is not something easily comprehended. How can we with so many different definitions?! It seems as if no one truly knows what evil is, so maybe it doesn't actually exist? Could it be that "evil" is just a word we use to describe a feeling or action percieved differently to each individual? It may be a word to describe something we can't describe. A feeling, something not meant to be grasped by our specie.
I don't know, but then again I don't think anyone does. I believe evil is all due to perception and to beliefs. Christians will automatically believe something very different from a person of a different religious background. Take away the concrete religious definition of evil that every religion seems to offer and you don't have much of a definition. Does evil only exist in religion?
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