"Evil is a make-believe concept we've invented to deal with the complexities of fellow humans."

[drjean]

Millennial Couple Bikes Through ISIS Territory to Prove ‘Humans Are Kind’ and Gets Killed

https://www.pluralist.com/posts/182...tory-to-prove-humans-are-kind-and-gets-killed

This is wrong in so many ways.

Jay Austin and Lauren Geoghegan, who were both in their late 20s, last year quit their office jobs in Washington, DC, to embark on the journey. Austin, a vegan who worked for the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Geoghegan, a vegetarian who worked in the Georgetown University admissions office, decided that they're were wasting their lives working.



"I’ve grown tired of spending the best hours of my day in front of a glowing rectangle, of coloring the best years of my life in swaths of grey and beige,” Austin wrote on his blog before he quit. “I’ve missed too many sunsets while my back was turned. Too many thunderstorms went unwatched, too many gentle breezes unnoticed.”
​

Only in their 20s and dissatisfied with life? GOD gives that satisfaction, faith in GOD gives grounded hope.

“You read the papers and you’re led to believe that the world is a big, scary place," Austin wrote.


“People, the narrative goes, are not to be trusted. People are bad. People are evil."

“I don’t buy it," he continued. "Evil is a make-believe concept we’ve invented to deal with the complexities of fellow humans holding values and beliefs and perspectives different than our own... By and large, humans are kind. Self-interested sometimes, myopic sometimes, but kind. Generous and wonderful and kind.”



However, Austin and Geoghegan's dream trip came to a tragic and gruesome end when they got to Tajikistan, a country with a known terrorist presence. They were riding their bikes through the country on July 29 when a car rammed them, according to CBS News. Five men got out of the car and stabbed the couple to death along with two other cyclists, one from Switzerland and the other from the Netherlands.



Two days later, ISIS released a video showing the same men sitting in front of the black ISIS flag. They looked at the camera and vowed to kill "disbelievers," according to The New York Times.
​

The world IS an evil place without Christ. Ignoring the truth, making up your own truth, won't change that. People. Need. Jesus.

​

 

[John Bowen]

Millennial Couple Bikes Through ISIS Territory to Prove ‘Humans Are Kind’ and Gets Killed

https://www.pluralist.com/posts/182...tory-to-prove-humans-are-kind-and-gets-killed

This is wrong in so many ways.

Jay Austin and Lauren Geoghegan, who were both in their late 20s, last year quit their office jobs in Washington, DC, to embark on the journey. Austin, a vegan who worked for the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Geoghegan, a vegetarian who worked in the Georgetown University admissions office, decided that they're were wasting their lives working.



"I’ve grown tired of spending the best hours of my day in front of a glowing rectangle, of coloring the best years of my life in swaths of grey and beige,” Austin wrote on his blog before he quit. “I’ve missed too many sunsets while my back was turned. Too many thunderstorms went unwatched, too many gentle breezes unnoticed.”
​

Only in their 20s and dissatisfied with life? GOD gives that satisfaction, faith in GOD gives grounded hope.

“You read the papers and you’re led to believe that the world is a big, scary place," Austin wrote.


“People, the narrative goes, are not to be trusted. People are bad. People are evil."

“I don’t buy it," he continued. "Evil is a make-believe concept we’ve invented to deal with the complexities of fellow humans holding values and beliefs and perspectives different than our own... By and large, humans are kind. Self-interested sometimes, myopic sometimes, but kind. Generous and wonderful and kind.”



However, Austin and Geoghegan's dream trip came to a tragic and gruesome end when they got to Tajikistan, a country with a known terrorist presence. They were riding their bikes through the country on July 29 when a car rammed them, according to CBS News. Five men got out of the car and stabbed the couple to death along with two other cyclists, one from Switzerland and the other from the Netherlands.



Two days later, ISIS released a video showing the same men sitting in front of the black ISIS flag. They looked at the camera and vowed to kill "disbelievers," according to The New York Times.
​

The world IS an evil place without Christ. Ignoring the truth, making up your own truth, won't change that. People. Need. Jesus.

​

 

[SkyWriting]

Millennial Couple Bikes Through ISIS Territory to Prove ‘Humans Are Kind’ and Gets Killed

https://www.pluralist.com/posts/182...tory-to-prove-humans-are-kind-and-gets-killed

This is wrong in so many ways.

Jay Austin and Lauren Geoghegan, who were both in their late 20s, last year quit their office jobs in Washington, DC, to embark on the journey. Austin, a vegan who worked for the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Geoghegan, a vegetarian who worked in the Georgetown University admissions office, decided that they're were wasting their lives working.



"I’ve grown tired of spending the best hours of my day in front of a glowing rectangle, of coloring the best years of my life in swaths of grey and beige,” Austin wrote on his blog before he quit. “I’ve missed too many sunsets while my back was turned. Too many thunderstorms went unwatched, too many gentle breezes unnoticed.”
​

Only in their 20s and dissatisfied with life? GOD gives that satisfaction, faith in GOD gives grounded hope.

“You read the papers and you’re led to believe that the world is a big, scary place," Austin wrote.


“People, the narrative goes, are not to be trusted. People are bad. People are evil."

“I don’t buy it," he continued. "Evil is a make-believe concept we’ve invented to deal with the complexities of fellow humans holding values and beliefs and perspectives different than our own... By and large, humans are kind. Self-interested sometimes, myopic sometimes, but kind. Generous and wonderful and kind.”



However, Austin and Geoghegan's dream trip came to a tragic and gruesome end when they got to Tajikistan, a country with a known terrorist presence. They were riding their bikes through the country on July 29 when a car rammed them, according to CBS News. Five men got out of the car and stabbed the couple to death along with two other cyclists, one from Switzerland and the other from the Netherlands.



Two days later, ISIS released a video showing the same men sitting in front of the black ISIS flag. They looked at the camera and vowed to kill "disbelievers," according to The New York Times.
​

The world IS an evil place without Christ. Ignoring the truth, making up your own truth, won't change that. People. Need. Jesus.

​

If you mean without love, yes.

But every person has direct access to God's Holy Spirit.
Don't beat yourself up for not preaching all day long.
Billions of people don't know about Jesus, and they manage.

 

[John Bowen]

Evil = energy veil thinking that we are separated from God ."Be ye wise as serpents harmless as doves " you cant be wise as serpent unless you know there are serpents. What Jesus called the prince of this world why did Jesus call him that because a prince thinks he is entitled to rule.Lucifer, Satan , the devil what ever you want to call them I call them fallen beings think that God made a mistake by giving man free will.They are out to prove God wrong by getting humans to sin miss use God's energy which separates us even more from God which creates a energy veil so we don't know we are always connected to God through Christ.

 

[A_Thinker]

Evil exists in the world.

There is enough evil in the world ... to destroy the world. Thanks be to God that He limits the effects of evil ... and has a plan to eliminate it from the lives of humanity.

 

[RaymondG]

I wouldnt dismiss this notion all together.... We are told not to judge for a reason. It was the listening to the serpent that cause us to view things that was not shameful, as shameful.

We've all witness one taking great offense to words or actions we thought were funny, or not offensive at all. To us these were not evil statements, yet to the one who took offense, they were....

To the pure, all things are pure....

 

[abysmul]

Proverbs 14:15 The simple believes everything, but the prudent gives thought to his steps.

Proverbs 27:12 The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it.

1 Corinthians 14:20 Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.

 

[Johnny4ChristJesus]

If you mean without love, yes.

But every person has direct access to God's Holy Spirit.
Don't beat yourself up for not preaching all day long.
Billions of people don't know about Jesus, and they manage.

Spoken like a true unbeliever.

 

[Johnny4ChristJesus]

I wouldnt dismiss this notion all together.... We are told not to judge for a reason. It was the listening to the serpent that cause us to view things that was not shameful, as shameful.

We've all witness one taking great offense to words or actions we thought were funny, or not offensive at all. To us these were not evil statements, yet to the one who took offense, they were....

To the pure, all things are pure....

Listening to the serpent didnt "cause us to view things that were not shameful as shameful". Listening to the serpent made them sin against God. Sin has consequences that include guilt, shame, etc.

"to the pure, all things are pure." Paul penned those last words and Paul was offended and clearly didn't consider everything pure, except that which he was talking about in that letter. A few evidences: Calling Peter a hypocrite in front of everyone. Demanding the officials tell them to leave the prison. Blasting the unbelieving Jews (which he did from time to time) as well as attacking the group of "believers" that he called the "circumcision".

Jesus warned to judge with righteous judgement and said we would be judged based on how we judge. A lukewarm person won't judge much at all, because they don't care. Jesus promises to spit them out of his mouth. In fact, every writer warned about the false among the true, including many comments quoting Jesus. In the midst of all that, how can you believe that God didn't want us to discern/judge? Paul even said we will judge the angels in 1 Cor 6, while questioning why we couldn't judge matters between ourselves rather than letting the world judge our matters.

Maybe the reason some can cut jokes about stuff others take seriously, is because those who are cracking the jokes don't take it seriously. Not taking God seriously could be a fatal mistake.

 

[Johnny4ChristJesus]

Evil exists in the world.

There is enough evil in the world ... to destroy the world. Thanks be to God that He limits the effects of evil ... and has a plan to eliminate it from the lives of humanity.

I love that! And, one of two things has to happen. Either we lose our free will or we willfully and with God's help change, so we become one as Jesus and the Father are one, like Jesus prayed in John 17. When we become perfectly aligned with God, we are perfectly aligned with others who are perfectly aligned with God and there will be no more sorrow, suffering or tears. Yay, God!

 

[SkyWriting]

Spoken like a true unbeliever.

I'm a realist.
If I thought unbelievers were stabbing killers, we'd all be dead.
But even the least Christian government God has created is
orderly and has some civility.
So, how does that happen without the Holy Spirits guidance?


If I follow that non-Christians are evil, then I must
also insist that non-Christians are under Holy Spirit
Guidance keeping them civil toward each other.

 

[SkyWriting]

I love that! And, one of two things has to happen. Either we lose our free will or we willfully and with God's help change, so we become one as Jesus and the Father are one, like Jesus prayed in John 17. When we become perfectly aligned with God, we are perfectly aligned with others who are perfectly aligned with God and there will be no more sorrow, suffering or tears. Yay, God!

Yet, we do see defects in church organizations.
Like in yesterday's news.

 

[Johnny4ChristJesus]

I'm a realist.
If I thought unbelievers were stabbing killers, we'd all be dead.
But even the least Christian government God has created is
orderly and has some civility.
So, how does that happen without the Holy Spirits guidance?


If I follow that non-Christians are evil, then I must
also insist that non-Christians are under Holy Spirit
Guidance keeping them civil toward each other.

God is Sovereign. That means that God has to allow "bad things" to happen as well as "good things." God can also intervene to limit the consequences of evil.

However, there are plenty of times when humans got together and were civil toward each other while working toward a purpose that was not "of God"--take the tower of babel for instance or adam/eve eating of the tree or Israel choosing to follow other gods time after time. When people have a means of power to control others, they can often get their "civil" support. In Scripture, the anti-christ is someone who appears to be very charismatic and seems to be able to attract people in a civil way toward himself and they are focused against God..... And the list goes on.

 

[RaymondG]

God is Sovereign. That means that God has to allow "bad things" to happen as well as "good things." God can also intervene to limit the consequences of evil.

God is one. He not only allow, but it is him who creates it.

"I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things"

After creation God said it was good. Now am I supposed to say otherwise? Maybe, maybe not.

 

[Babe Ruth]

Evil is real..but I think it can be hard to discern @ times..

 

[SkyWriting]

God is Sovereign. That means that God has to allow "bad things" to happen as well as "good things." God can also intervene to limit the consequences of evil.

However, there are plenty of times when humans got together and were civil toward each other while working toward a purpose that was not "of God"--take the tower of babel for instance or adam/eve eating of the tree or Israel choosing to follow other gods time after time. When people have a means of power to control others, they can often get their "civil" support. In Scripture, the anti-christ is someone who appears to be very charismatic and seems to be able to attract people in a civil way toward himself and they are focused against God..... And the list goes on.

So there are times when people act badly.
I've seen that happen myself.
But the evidence that non-Christians are all evil is missing.

 

[Johnny4ChristJesus]

Yet, we do see defects in church organizations.
Like in yesterday's news.

Revelation 2 & 3, the wheat and the tares, the wise and foolish virgins, the builders, the Sower and the seed, etc--Jesus has told us that not everyone in the "church organizations" is going to be saved; so why would you be surprised?

 

[Johnny4ChristJesus]

So there are times when people act badly.
I've seen that happen myself.
But the evidence that non-Christians are all evil is missing.

From God's perspective, according to what the Scriptures say--even Jesus very words--who is good?

Acting in a way that the Scriptures deem badly is also done by professing Christians. The better we are at walking in the Spirit and not in the flesh, the better we will be at not behaving in a way that the Scriptures deem to be acting badly.

But, apart from the intervention of God, ALL would be evil--including you and I--even if we think we are generally "good" moral people who care about other people.

 

[Johnny4ChristJesus]

God is one. He not only allow, but it is him who creates it.

"I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things"

After creation God said it was good. Now am I supposed to say otherwise? Maybe, maybe not.

Great point. Fantastic Scripture! That was before the fall when God said "it was good" (Gen 1), right? Then, in light of what you shared above, consider what God said in Gen 3:22.

Then, in Genesis 6:5-7, 11-13, God said something different with regard to where man had deteriorated to, except Noah (Gen 6:8, 7:1).

Consider also what God says in Job in Job 2:3 to satan: "you moved Me against him, to destroy him without cause." God takes responsibility for everything that happens. Not just what we consider good. He isn't a pass-the-buck God. He takes responsibility and for good cause--He is Sovereign.

In the New Testament, Jesus shares that satan asked to sift Peter like wheat. Why would he have to ask, if God didn't have to allow him to do whatever he did? Satan can't act apart from God allowing it. God's ways and thoughts and purposes are higher than ours!

 

[SkyWriting]

From God's perspective, according to what the Scriptures say--even Jesus very words--who is good?

Acting in a way that the Scriptures deem badly is also done by professing Christians. The better we are at walking in the Spirit and not in the flesh, the better we will be at not behaving in a way that the Scriptures deem to be acting badly.

But, apart from the intervention of God, ALL would be evil--including you and I--even if we think we are generally "good" moral people who care about other people.

The Holy Spirit has put the scripture on our hearts:

Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you.

• “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” (Romans 8:16)

• “I tell you the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit …” (Romans 9:1)

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” (Romans 8:14)

“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” (Matthew 4:1)

“… they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia … They tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them.” (Acts 16:6-7)

“And because ye are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father” (Gal. 4:6).

John the Baptist performed no miracles (Jn. 10:41), and yet he was “filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb” (Lk. 1:15). (Not Scripture)

“the Spirit also helpeth our infirmity: for we know not how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” (Rom. 8:26).