why are there so many evil people in the world?

Allandavid said:

The topic is about the WORLD, not just one strange subset of humanity in which the inhabitants keep a gun in each pocket...

And, even in the US, violence and crime rates are lower than they have been in decades. Higher suicide rates aren’t necessarily because people are being more ‘evil’ towards one another...

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Suicide is the leading cause of death for Australians aged between 15 and 44 so we can't adopt a superior posture here.
While most people are not consciously evil they help perpetuate the social climate that allows evil to flourish and this is expressed in high levels of anxiety & depression.

Allandavid said:

Some people would like to think that the world is more ‘evil’, because it suits their narrative about the world ending.

Fact is, the world has never been better, overall, than it is at present, with regard to man’s relationship with his fellows...

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The stock market never looks better...just before it crashes.

G-d gave is what can be deemed both the greatest gift and a horrible curse: free will. He has shown us how to be righteous, but the choice between good and evil is a personal one.

Without free will all of G-d’s Commandments and teachings would not need to exist. In fact, our very existence would be unnecessary.

He gave us a goal: to be righteous. He gave us a mind and information to let us determine what is good and what is evil. It is up to us to choose our own path.

creslaw said:

Suicide is the leading cause of death for Australians aged between 15 and 44 so we can't adopt a superior posture here.
While most people are not consciously evil they help perpetuate the social climate that allows evil to flourish and this is expressed in high levels of anxiety & depression.

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We have collectively thrown our hands up and accepted evil as normal.

Allandavid said:

Some people would like to think that the world is more ‘evil’, because it suits their narrative about the world ending.

Fact is, the world has never been better, overall, than it is at present, with regard to man’s relationship with his fellows...

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It's that very relationship that portends the end, just as at the Tower of Babel. Unless God tears down the new 'tower' no flesh will survive.

stevil said:

I'm not familiar with the bible.

I personally don't judge people as being evil, do you?
I don't know what would qualify a person as being evil.

Do you term non believers as evil?
What about non law abiding?
What about immigrants?
What about selfish people?
What about wealthy people?
What about people that don't fit the norm?

I don't really know what you would classify as an evil person, nor how you would judge them? Do you get to judge them or is there an authority on that topic?

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You would not judge anyone as evil? If someone killed a baby in front of you, you would not call him evil?

OldWiseGuy said:

Only if you change the meaning of evil and call it good.

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This is nothing but an unsubstantiated claim. I can cite mountains of hard evidence that shows that things are better (and I begin in this post, below)

I will wager that your options are these:

1. Vague claims with no evidence (like your statement, above);
2. Anecdotes;
3. Appeals to a particular interpretation of the Biblical narrative that entails the world getting worse.

Now for some actual evidence. From Our World in Data:

According to the International Poverty Line, people are considered to be in ‘extreme poverty’ if they live on less than $1.90 per day, or the equivalent amount after converting currencies and adjusting for price differences between countries. This is the definition used by the World Bank and many other international institutions.

Clearly, $1.90 is a very low threshold, so extreme poverty is, well, extreme.

It is very important that fewer people live in such extreme misery, and thankfully that has happened. Today, about 10% of the world population lives in extreme poverty, while in 1990 the corresponding figure was about 37%. Two centuries ago almost everyone in the world lived in extreme poverty.

OldWiseGuy said:

We have collectively thrown our hands up and accepted evil as normal.

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And that's why I now have security screens on every door and window ... are you old enough to remember when we opened all the doors & windows at night in summer to let in the cooler air?

There are evil people in the world because this isn't Eden anymore. We all are inclined toward evil, so it's not as if we can say we are the exception. Until God remakes the heavens and the earth, it will continue to be a bloody battle of good against evil. The key is to be on the right side.

expos4ever said:

This is nothing but an unsubstantiated claim. I can cite mountains of hard evidence that shows that things are better (and I begin in this post, below)

I will wager that your options are these:

1. Vague claims with no evidence (like your statement, above);
2. Anecdotes;
3. Appeals to a particular interpretation of the Biblical narrative that entails the world getting worse.

Now for some actual evidence. From Our World in Data:

According to the International Poverty Line, people are considered to be in ‘extreme poverty’ if they live on less than $1.90 per day, or the equivalent amount after converting currencies and adjusting for price differences between countries. This is the definition used by the World Bank and many other international institutions.

Clearly, $1.90 is a very low threshold, so extreme poverty is, well, extreme.

It is very important that fewer people live in such extreme misery, and thankfully that has happened. Today, about 10% of the world population lives in extreme poverty, while in 1990 the corresponding figure was about 37%. Two centuries ago almost everyone in the world lived in extreme poverty.

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The "bill" for these improvements will be huge, and has yet to be paid.

Today we have poverty of the spirit, which has led to all sorts of evil.

creslaw said:

And that's why I now have security screens on every door and window ... are you old enough to remember when we opened all the doors & windows at night in summer to let in the cooler air?

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I remember when a rape was so shameful it appeared at the bottom of page four in a 'one column inch' report.

OldWiseGuy said:

The "bill" for these improvements will be huge, and has yet to be paid.

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This is another vague statement. Can you provide any evidence that there is some sort of "unpaid bill" associated with the long term decrease in world poverty? What unpaid bill is there associated with the fact that the last 70 years are among been the most peaceful in recorded human history?

expos4ever said:

This is nothing but an unsubstantiated claim. I can cite mountains of hard evidence that shows that things are better (and I begin in this post, below)

I will wager that your options are these:

1. Vague claims with no evidence (like your statement, above);
2. Anecdotes;
3. Appeals to a particular interpretation of the Biblical narrative that entails the world getting worse.

Now for some actual evidence. From Our World in Data:

According to the International Poverty Line, people are considered to be in ‘extreme poverty’ if they live on less than $1.90 per day, or the equivalent amount after converting currencies and adjusting for price differences between countries. This is the definition used by the World Bank and many other international institutions.

Clearly, $1.90 is a very low threshold, so extreme poverty is, well, extreme.

It is very important that fewer people live in such extreme misery, and thankfully that has happened. Today, about 10% of the world population lives in extreme poverty, while in 1990 the corresponding figure was about 37%. Two centuries ago almost everyone in the world lived in extreme poverty.

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Sinc this is a Christian Forum you can expect posters to define evil according to Jesus' teaching which is disobedience to God's laws. Social approval of abortion, euthanasia, homosexuality, etc, along with the increasing animosity towards expression of Christian faith in the public place, are evil and help to produce the social climate in which many people are suffering. Quoting statistics about crime & poverty are poor indicators of the real suffering, especially psychological suffering, experienced by people in their everyday lives.

expos4ever said:

This is another vague statement. Can you provide any evidence that there is some sort of "unpaid bill" associated with the long term decrease in world poverty? What unpaid bill is there associated with the fact that the last 70 years are among been the most peaceful in recorded human history?

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Some believe that 'climate change' is one item on that bill.

Consider that many in the Bahamas (and many other places in recent years) have lost everything they have built, perhaps over several generations. They were living in a "fool's paradise" for many years until that storm hit.

Also, when the forbearance by many of the sins of many others breaks down (love waxing cold) we will have hell to pay.

renniks said:

You would not judge anyone as evil? If someone killed a baby in front of you, you would not call him evil?

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Why just a baby? Killing anyone, regardless of age,
would be wrong, no? So, setting aside that appeal to
emotion, the act is the problem, not the person. If we
call people "evil", then that's an issue to be taken up
with their manufacturer, i.e., God, who created those
"evil" people.

.

expos4ever said:

I can cite mountains of hard evidence that shows that things are better (and I begin in this post, below)

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Can you cite hard evidence that things will remain so? A time of peace and prosperity is historically just the lull before the next storm. Also these storms will have different features than those of the past, but will be equally ruinous.

RayJeena said:

Why just a baby? Killing anyone, regardless of age,
would be wrong, no? So, setting aside that appeal to
emotion, the act is the problem, not the person. If we
call people "evil", then that's an issue to be taken up
with their manufacturer, i.e., God, who created those
"evil" people.

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It would depend why we killed them. If I kill someone to protect my child, is that evil? A baby is innocent, and has not capability of deserving death.
And in Christianity, God didn't create people evil, he only allowed for free choices.

OldWiseGuy said:

Today we have poverty of the spirit, which has led to all sorts of evil.

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How do you know the "poverty of the spirit" is worse now than it was in earlier times?

If what you are implying is true, how come we see:

- dramatic reductions in violence among humans;
- reductions in poverty;
- increasing life expectancies;
- increasing literacy;
- improving women's rights;
- etc.

There is hard evidence for such claims. You appear to offer mere claims for your position (at least so far).

prosperity4all said:

why are there so many evil people in the world?

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There are no "evil" people per se. There are however people operating with different degrees of ignorance/delusion, greed, and aversions, all of which give rise to unskillful behavior.