Evil

[elman]

On a practical level, the larguest contributers to "evil"{term used "loosely" as "practical evil"} are REVEALED RELIGION and, "ABSOLUTISM" in general[whether religiously,politically, or otherwise}.

In Reason:
Irrev.Bill

No someone encouraging others to love their neighbor are not the largest contributers to evil.

 

[elman]

I think one big improvement would be

Instead of talking endlessly about what we should do
and even the letters of Paul admit to the utter failure, in fact even reverse effect of human nature when told what to do, it often just gets worse

We should take human nature more seriously and evaluate the effects of the way we live on our sanity, not to put too fine a point on it.

The US has a massive prison population, drugs problem, and seems more prone to killing sprees than most places.

Instead of just saying it is wrong -

Find out why and do something about it.

Paul wrote the great chapter on love so you must have misuderstood him. He seem to think we could chose to be loving. Yes we should work on prevention but we will never cure the why that is because someone chose to do the wrong thing even when they knew it was the wrong thing to do.

 

[very_irreverand_Bill]

No someone encouraging others to love their neighbor are not the largest contributers to evil.

Apparently you've forgotten about Yahwehs cruel commands to torture and kill so-called "sinners" scattered through the bible{O.T. especially}-even if those "sinners" have actually committed a sin only tha isn't even directly harmful to themsleves or anyone else in the practical sense{ie: moral bias withut good reason}.
....and His commands scattered throughout to genocide,rape,infnaticide,war crime and so on. Take the story of the midianites for example; has them ALL slaughtered, including babies and children, but the "women children" kept alive to be forced into marriage with their enemy captors whom killed their loved ones brutally.
Or how he kills men,women,children himself on various occasins, often torturously, often killing innocent children for the sins of their parents.

Or how Jesus himself even calls his followers to obey the jot and tittle{letter; defiling the modern evangelical "spirit of the law, not letter" rhetoric baloney}of the {rather brutal and iunfair,injust and cruel}law of Moses and Yahweh{or Moses pretending that his bigorties and stupidities and cruelties were from a god invented by Abraham that Moses remolded into his own despotic image}; or how Jesus says he came to not bring peace, but a sword of division and strife{intentionally came to cause people to brake their unities, to cause family break-down over theology, to cause uneeded strife and war and harm and bigotry}; or how Jesus talks of unfounded absolutes and how anyone that follows not his unfounded theolgy and it's unfounded and hypocritical absolutes will burn in hell forever and ever regardless of how just,kind,and ethical they were in life; or how he brought in the ida of thought crime/sin and how it is equally damnable to actual actions{so, to have a lustful thought is equal to actually having adulterus sex with someone other than your wife or spouse which is equal to having an angry thought which is equal to murder,etc}-and that a good way to prevent or stop onself from continuing to sin is to mutilate,dismsmber,sever, or gouge out any part of the body that leads one to sin{and contrary to popular apologetics, there is NOTHING to suggest he was merely speaking metaphorically}.
I could go on, but you get the picture...

... a few good teachings about love and kindness, ones which could be found in other religions, and even amngst those whom did'nt have gods at all; ones that have NOTHING inherently to do with ones THEOLOGY, scattered rather miminally{in comparisons to the more atrocious and cruel and hypocritical filfth that fills at least half or more of the bible- AND THE QURAN AND TANAKH FOR THAT MATTER} throughout the ABSOLUTIST so-called and ignorantly proclaimed holy book{or the other various such "words of god" books}- does not cover the cruelty and horror and inhumanity and hypocrisy withing them which have been the inspiration for the cruelty,oppression,repression, persecution, war and suffering and carnage that has plagued the world for thousands of years in the names of these absolutist one wayist revealed religions.

So,please spare me the baloney!
The Bible and uran and Tankakh should have parental advisory stickers n the because the filth in them and the filth they inspire far outdoes anything that the adherent sof these religions claim is found within liberal/leftist, comunist, atheist, satanic, ungodly, heretical unsaved world and things like heavy metal or horro movie sor violent video games!!!!

There is NO excuse for these lies and this filth!

In Reason:
Irrev.Bill

 

[ManOfTheAmish]

Evil is corruption that is a extension of civilization in man's constructs. Satan religiously being the starter of the corrupted anomaly that started amongst man from his fall or descent.

All corruption stems from one point that is a anomaly amongst itself.

 

[elman]

Apparently you've forgotten about Yahwehs cruel commands to torture and kill so-called "sinners" scattered through the bible{O.T. especially}-even if those "sinners" have actually committed a sin only tha isn't even directly harmful to themsleves or anyone else in the practical sense{ie: moral bias withut good reason}.
....and His commands scattered throughout to genocide,rape,infnaticide,war crime and so on. Take the story of the midianites for example; has them ALL slaughtered, including babies and children, but the "women children" kept alive to be forced into marriage with their enemy captors whom killed their loved ones brutally.
Or how he kills men,women,children himself on various occasins, often torturously, often killing innocent children for the sins of their parents.

Or how Jesus himself even calls his followers to obey the jot and tittle{letter; defiling the modern evangelical "spirit of the law, not letter" rhetoric baloney}of the {rather brutal and iunfair,injust and cruel}law of Moses and Yahweh{or Moses pretending that his bigorties and stupidities and cruelties were from a god invented by Abraham that Moses remolded into his own despotic image}; or how Jesus says he came to not bring peace, but a sword of division and strife{intentionally came to cause people to brake their unities, to cause family break-down over theology, to cause uneeded strife and war and harm and bigotry}; or how Jesus talks of unfounded absolutes and how anyone that follows not his unfounded theolgy and it's unfounded and hypocritical absolutes will burn in hell forever and ever regardless of how just,kind,and ethical they were in life; or how he brought in the ida of thought crime/sin and how it is equally damnable to actual actions{so, to have a lustful thought is equal to actually having adulterus sex with someone other than your wife or spouse which is equal to having an angry thought which is equal to murder,etc}-and that a good way to prevent or stop onself from continuing to sin is to mutilate,dismsmber,sever, or gouge out any part of the body that leads one to sin{and contrary to popular apologetics, there is NOTHING to suggest he was merely speaking metaphorically}.
I could go on, but you get the picture...

... a few good teachings about love and kindness, ones which could be found in other religions, and even amngst those whom did'nt have gods at all; ones that have NOTHING inherently to do with ones THEOLOGY, scattered rather miminally{in comparisons to the more atrocious and cruel and hypocritical filfth that fills at least half or more of the bible- AND THE QURAN AND TANAKH FOR THAT MATTER} throughout the ABSOLUTIST so-called and ignorantly proclaimed holy book{or the other various such "words of god" books}- does not cover the cruelty and horror and inhumanity and hypocrisy withing them which have been the inspiration for the cruelty,oppression,repression, persecution, war and suffering and carnage that has plagued the world for thousands of years in the names of these absolutist one wayist revealed religions.

So,please spare me the baloney!
The Bible and uran and Tankakh should have parental advisory stickers n the because the filth in them and the filth they inspire far outdoes anything that the adherent sof these religions claim is found within liberal/leftist, comunist, atheist, satanic, ungodly, heretical unsaved world and things like heavy metal or horro movie sor violent video games!!!!

There is NO excuse for these lies and this filth!

In Reason:
Irrev.Bill

OK The Bible is not inerrant. Now what is wrong with the teaching of Jesus to love your neighbor and how has it been the most evil thing to ever come up?

 

[MorkandMindy]

Paul wrote the great chapter on love so you must have misuderstood him. He seem to think we could chose to be loving. Yes we should work on prevention but we will never cure the why that is because someone chose to do the wrong thing even when they knew it was the wrong thing to do.

even the letters of Paul admit to the utter failure, in fact even reverse effect of human nature when told what to do, it often just gets worse

We should take human nature more seriously and evaluate the effects of the way we live on our sanity, not to put too fine a point on it.

Hi Elman, good to see you again

I'm sort of putting this idea up for peer review, it goes like this:

Environment does affect people, loners may be more prone to do mass killings and alienated people may be generally more prone to do crime and antisocial activities.

I would like to suggest it isn't just that the person has a problem with others and becomes a loner, but that being socially cut off is part of the problem.

The remarkable level of violence in the US may be not so much from people failing to read or believe the Bible and its commands, but have a non religious cause.

In the US people drive places and as a result don't meet the same people regularly as generally happens in less mobile places like this village I'm in over in England. Meeting the same people often being known and accepted.

 

[elman]

even the letters of Paul admit to the utter failure, in fact even reverse effect of human nature when told what to do, it often just gets worse

We should take human nature more seriously and evaluate the effects of the way we live on our sanity, not to put too fine a point on it.

Hi Elman, good to see you again

I'm sort of putting this idea up for peer review, it goes like this:

Environment does affect people, loners may be more prone to do mass killings and alienated people may be generally more prone to do crime and antisocial activities.

I would like to suggest it isn't just that the person has a problem with others and becomes a loner, but that being socially cut off is part of the problem.

The remarkable level of violence in the US may be not so much from people failing to read or believe the Bible and its commands, but have a non religious cause.

In the US people drive places and as a result don't meet the same people regularly as generally happens in less mobile places like this village I'm in over in England. Meeting the same people often being known and accepted.

It is probably true there are many causes but I find it very difficult to assign a large portion of the cause of evil on people who follow the teaching to love your neighbor. I think it is instinctlvly born in us to not kill people as this shooter did. In order to do that one must go against nature.

 

[MorkandMindy]

It is probably true there are many causes but I find it very difficult to assign a large portion of the cause of evil on people who follow the teaching to love your neighbor. I think it is instinctlvly born in us to not kill people as this shooter did. In order to do that one must go against nature.

Yes. I'm looking at it not from knowledge but from will and ability, I don't think the knowledge is lacking.

That killing is bad is instinct certainly with humans killing animals is generally not considered fun in the way so many carnivores enjoy it.

I would say the difference between the law abiding and non law abiding is not down to knowledge but understanding of specific situations, alienation, powerlessness and being cut off from other supportive humans, hence the going it alone.

My own experience is the only way to cope with the evil life throws, if it is seriously nasty evil, is through the sympathy and compassion shown by others.