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Whence Cometh Evil?

Evil is conceptual, since it's a perception of action, not a indication of intentionality. Intent is an interpretation implied, not where depravity derived— intention & evil rarely coincide.

Evil is subjective, considering certain deeds are perceived more/less malevolent than others. Value is, after all, in the eye of the beholder.

Evil is contextual, for desperate times call for desperate measures. Even evil is contingent upon circumstance & is incoherent unless incidentally imbued.

Evil is pervasive, resemblant of fear, in that it's a forest in which the trees hide. It can sustain itself upon itself & is often it's own progenitor.

I can't imagine evil being anything other than hierarchical dominance. It's a social construct, a compilation of consequence, & is as inherit as aspiration.

You are evil; I am evil. It lies within us, is us, liable to gush forth, obliged, like lifeblood, at any provocation.

nyrdybyrd 4 Aug 15
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I've an opening for social media (an atheism forum on MeetMe, my first-ever internet adventure & former home, has recently closed 🙁) & am considering agnostic dot for the position. Anywho, I'z tryna figure out where to begin & thunked you fine folk, kind enough to comment upon 𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ 𝐸𝑣𝑖𝑙, a marvelous place to start.

I'm sorry I didn't respond, it was selfish of me.. the only legitimate excuse I can offer is that, in my contributiing here, I was spreading my wings & it soon became evident I'd encroached beyond my capacity. So, as I mean to say 😊, please pardon my oversight & accept my acknowledgement of such as formal apology.

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The capacity for evil lies within every human - once the normalising constraints of society are removed, and a trigger event arises, evil can occur. I have stood beside children as young as six and seen them kill with complete disregard for the life they were taking - war devalues and degrades the humanity of all involved ... does that make the actions evil, or justified by circumstance?

An excellent question & one I don't have fully answered.. I'd say classified as evil, only justifiable by those giving permittance.

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I hardly ever use the word because of its supernatural implications. Profoundly immoral, a perversion, corruption, depravity, villainy, nefariousness, atrocity, malevolence all work without the baggage and each carries individual meaning without the generality of wickedness.

gearl Level 8 Aug 15, 2019

Yes, I rarely utilize the word as well, did so here as an artistic endeavor: wrote after witnessing a conversation between two friends & in obvious homage to Epicurus.

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Evil is manifest when someone experiences distress, pain, loss. Period

Okay, in this way, may one do evil unto themselves?

@nyrdybyrd absolutely......Suicide from despair, self-mutilation, depression that wastes your life,drug/alcohol abuse all stem from self-hatred! Annd many times sucks the life from those around you as well.

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Religious and moral concept current policy of immigration is a moral evil no roots in religion

bobwjr Level 10 Aug 15, 2019

I would agree, the current policy of immigration is a moral/ethical evil.

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Evil is a religious construct....it isn’t an entity and can only be used as an adjective, not a noun, evil intent ..for instance. There is good and there is bad which is the antonym of good.....we can all clearly understand the difference between the two without complicating it by talking of evil.

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I met a man, he was infamous for his crimes in UK. He had abducted several children and young people, tortured them, sexually abused them and killed them. The court transcripts alone made horrorific reading. He taped them begging for their Mums. He was a middle aged man when I met him. He asked about our studies (I was a student nurse) and very much loved the effect he had on us. He is dead now. He brought nothing good to humanity and did a great deal of harm to generations. He harmed me as until that point, I had believed that all people could be rehabilitated. I do not generalĺy accept notions of inherrent evil, however that man was nothing good. His eyes looked like the deadeye of a computer generated person.
I worked in forensic psychiatry for 9 years. Many of the people I supported would have faced the death penalty in USA. Some acted in response to psychotic experiences, some as a result of deep devastating depression but only 3 (the above guy included) had that same utter and complete lack of humanity.

I totally agree that some are not really human, just wearing the skin.

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