Good & Evil

morningstar2651 · Feb 27, 2005

How do you define what is Good?
How do you define what is Evil?

Some theories about good and evil

There is Good and there is Evil, they are the only two choices. If something is not Good, then it is Evil. If something is not Evil, then it is good.
- (~G -> E) & (~E -> G)
There are varying degrees of good and evil on a line.
- Pure Evil--Evil--Almost Evil--Neutral--Almost Good--Good--Pure Good.
There are varying degrees of good and evil on a circle. There is a thin line between Pure Good and Pure Evil -- the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.
- Pure Evil--Evil--Almost Evil--Neutral--Almost Good--Good--Pure Good--Pure Evil--Evil--ad infinitum.
Due to the many variables used to determine whether something is good or evil, the graph of such a thing exists on a multi-dimensional space beyond human comprehension.
Perhaps good and evil can be represented as a wave...with good either being at an extreme point or the center with the two extremes being different kinds of evil

Isis-Astoroth · Feb 27, 2005

From a general Christian perspective, good and evil may exist. My opinion, however, is that good and evil is all relative. You cannot have good and evil because their meanings are different to each person, and what constitutes good and what consitutes bad can change from person to person, culture to culture, even continent to continent. Good and evil only exists in the minds of humans.

Jwal · Feb 27, 2005

morningstar2651 said:
There is Good and there is Evil, they are the only two choices. If something is not Good, then it is Evil. If something is not Evil, then it is good.

(~G -> E) & (~E -> G)

So is it good to have orange juice with breakfast as opposed to tomato juice, or evil?

No, I think this proposition is incorrect.

kedaman · Feb 27, 2005

how about this
ET <=> "x Tx ^ T~x
GT <=> $x ~Tx v ~T~x

morningstar2651 · Feb 27, 2005

kedaman said:
how about this
ET <=> "x Tx ^ T~x
GT <=> $x ~Tx v ~T~x

Buh?

Shane Roach · Feb 27, 2005

I think you can identify a lot of things that are mutually exclusive, i.e. killing someone for gain vs. helping people. Using these sorts of broad strokes you can paint a very compelling picture of good and evil that disproves the idea that there is a circular relationship with extremes of good and evil right next to each other opposite moderation.

I believe the value of moderation is in applying where the line is that we define as intolerable wickedness, and how we go about enforcing that line in society.

morningstar2651 · Feb 27, 2005

But being good to an extreme causes pride & intolerance of those that are not good.

ChristianCenturion · Feb 27, 2005

Isis-Astoroth said:
From a general Christian perspective, good and evil may exist. My opinion, however, is that good and evil is all relative. You cannot have good and evil because their meanings are different to each person, and what constitutes good and what consitutes bad can change from person to person, culture to culture, even continent to continent. Good and evil only exists in the minds of humans.

What you describe is what I would think to be moral relativism with people being the foundation - which you just pointed out that that foundation shifts.

I believe morality is relative, but not based on peoples' perspective... based on God's (of course).

ChristianCenturion · Feb 27, 2005

morningstar2651 said:
But being good to an extreme causes pride & intolerance of those that are not good.

Sometimes, that can be true. That is why Christians give all the glory and honor of any good thing credited to God.

morningstar2651 · Feb 27, 2005

Then who do they contribute their sins to? The crusades were carried out in the name of God...weren't they evil?

Shane Roach · Feb 27, 2005

morningstar2651 said:
But being good to an extreme causes pride & intolerance of those that are not good.

More or less by definition a good person is not overly proud or intollerant. Having said that, a person or group of people that are evil to a certain level will be resisted by those who are good.

Often it is a matter of definitions.

ChristianCenturion · Feb 27, 2005

morningstar2651 said:
Then who do they contribute their sins to? The crusades were carried out in the name of God...weren't they evil?

To take the judging of others out of this, let me state that sins that I commit are my doing.
As far as the crusades, I'm sure that some would say they were evil; however, I would not be inclined to say that everything involved with the crusades was evil. That would be too wide a brush either way for my taste.

ChristianCenturion · Feb 27, 2005

Shane Roach said:
More or less by definition a good person is not overly proud or intollerant. Having said that, a person or group of people that are evil to a certain level will be resisted by those who are good.

Often it is a matter of definitions.

Something which came to mind with that statement:
Matthew 12:30
He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.
Luke 11:23
He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters.
~~~
Balanced with
~~~
Mark 9:40
for whoever is not against us is for us.
Luke 9:50
Do not stop him, Jesus said, for whoever is not against you is for you.

morningstar2651 · Feb 27, 2005

Does that mean that sometimes evil actions are good and good actions are evil?

ChristianCenturion · Feb 27, 2005

morningstar2651 said:
Does that mean that sometimes evil actions are good and good actions are evil?

An interesting question. One would wonder how your 'evil' was first determined as evil and so forth...
But this brings to mind the story of Joseph; are you familiar with that Bible account?
His brothers sold him into slavery (meant as evil), yet God was in control and was carrying out His will by allowing it and it ended being good.

die2live · Feb 27, 2005

I think that God is good and Satan is evil. Those are two absolutes. But Satan was not always evil. There was a time when he served God. That shows evilness is a choice.
What about us? Isaiah 64:6 says that all our righteous acts are like filthy rags and Roman 3:10 and 3:12 says that there is no one who is good. Yet in the beginning, God looked at all He had created and said, "It is good." (Genesis 1:31) We also chose to allow our sin nature to take over us when disobey God and we continue to chose to be evil until we ask God to make us good again.
To sum up, we are either evil or good. We may do things that are good in our eyes, and I believe God will reward us here on earth for them. But ultimately, even our most righteous acts are like dirty rags. The only way for us to be good is to ask God to make us that way.

Evee · Feb 27, 2005

Isis-Astoroth said:
From a general Christian perspective, good and evil may exist. My opinion, however, is that good and evil is all relative. You cannot have good and evil because their meanings are different to each person, and what constitutes good and what consitutes bad can change from person to person, culture to culture, even continent to continent. Good and evil only exists in the minds of humans.

What would you call Hitler out of curiosity?

morningstar2651 · Feb 28, 2005

What would you call Hitler out of curiosity?

You might be surprised how debatable this is.

Many people know of the atrocities of WW2.

WW2 unified the USA in it's "war effort". The nation achieved an economic prosperity that continued after the war ended. Hitler re-built Germany from the ashes of WW1 and began expanding.

War is the best controller of overpopulation.

It is also said that war is the mother of invention. The roads in Germany had been designed for rapid troop movement -- their infrastructure was the inspiration for America's inter-state highway system. Perhaps even the horrific experiments performed on prisoners in the death camps have some medical use. Psychologists study the minds of workers in the death camps to see why they followed orders.

That having been said -- Hitler was a nutcase and got what was coming to him.

Zippythepinhead · Feb 28, 2005

morningstar2651 said:
How do you define what is Good?

How do you define what is Evil?

Some theories about good and evil

There is Good and there is Evil, they are the only two choices. If something is not Good, then it is Evil. If something is not Evil, then it is good.

(~G -> E) & (~E -> G)

There are varying degrees of good and evil on a line.

Pure Evil--Evil--Almost Evil--Neutral--Almost Good--Good--Pure Good.

There are varying degrees of good and evil on a circle. There is a thin line between Pure Good and Pure Evil -- the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.

Pure Evil--Evil--Almost Evil--Neutral--Almost Good--Good--Pure Good--Pure Evil--Evil--ad infinitum.

Due to the many variables used to determine whether something is good or evil, the graph of such a thing exists on a multi-dimensional space beyond human comprehension.

Perhaps good and evil can be represented as a wave...with good either being at an extreme point or the center with the two extremes being different kinds of evil

Good and Evil are two opposing forces that are eternal in nature and will continue to be in conflict throughout eternity. Good must always eventually triumph over evil in the end of each conflict cycle.

morningstar2651 · Feb 28, 2005

Are both always in conflict? Is there never a truce between good and evil?

Isn't it evil for a good person to be violent towards an evil person? How does good triumph over evil?

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Good & Evil

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