Good or evil are not defined by religion, the individual is their own definition. If you treat others as you would wish to be treated, then you can't go far wrong. Some look to their religion, others need only look to their own sense of common human decency. I will admit that I find it easier to deal with a religious mindset, than I do the non religious.
"Good and Evil"
- Thread starter look3467
- Start date
"Good" and "Evil" are relative notions. In fact, they are the very essence of relativity. There can be no absolute good and no absolute evil. Evaluating something or someone as good or evil depends entirely on your own moral criteria, your circumstances and your relationship and attitude to the subject or person described. In most cases when you are doing something you believe to be a good deed, there always will be people for whom what you do will be bad. And vice versa. So, in my opinion, the only thing that you can do, is be true to what you believe to be good. And leave the soundness of your principles to the test of time.
Vereya .... you said it so well... in so few words.... what I was trying all day yesterday to impart...
Well done! I'm gonna put up a greeny for you on that one!!! Thank you.
Well done! I'm gonna put up a greeny for you on that one!!! Thank you.
That is very well put; for a secular definition.
Coming from a relative point of reference good and evil can be extreme left or extreme right sided.
How far to the evil side or to the good side is relative to the fulcrum (Pivotal) point.
The point in question is the conscience (Ability to know good from evil) a result of evolution or is it because a God seeded it in us from the get go?
I am OK with either answer because my point of view covers all answers.
I feel that I am at an advantage over all views because I hold all views to be within the scope of Gods salvation for all mankind.
I understand by His word that He condemns no one, and saves every soul that ever lived.
So, as for all unbelievers, I have complete compassion, for if they knew God as I do, they would be blessed with all the comforts He affords, while yet alive in this world.
If I can convince you all that I am no different than you all by reason of the secular definition mentioned above, than we are all comrades.
If comrades, than brothers and sisters.
If my God saves all brothers and sisters, then who is my enemy? I would have none!
Peace>>>AJ:love9:
I wouldn't say foolish, Gilbert, because your opinion is just as equal to any other opinion given.
Foolish is just as relative as good and evil is.
What is foolish to one is wonderful to another.
So, where do we meet? Can we find common ground where we all can stand on and still love each other?
Peace>>>AJ:love9:
Look 3467
You are making the generalized assumption that those who do not have a professed religion cannot love others.
Is this what you actually believe?
The common ground already exists - the division has been created by the religious who seem to like to collect people into groups....not those who would love with or without professed faith.
I have a deep and abiding faith - but I find it unnecessary to spout it on a public forum or to gather others to my thoughts on this extremely private matter.
Whether religious or not - we all have humanity - and in such a state, we possess the capacity for both good and evil.
You are making the generalized assumption that those who do not have a professed religion cannot love others.
Is this what you actually believe?
The common ground already exists - the division has been created by the religious who seem to like to collect people into groups....not those who would love with or without professed faith.
I have a deep and abiding faith - but I find it unnecessary to spout it on a public forum or to gather others to my thoughts on this extremely private matter.
Whether religious or not - we all have humanity - and in such a state, we possess the capacity for both good and evil.
Certainly not! That would be foolish of me to say that.
But because love is a universal trait in mankind, and if exercised with understanding, it would be the common ground.
That has been the ageless struggle Curiosity, since the first human being came into being.
Looking at the history of humanity you will find that mankind’s quest for some spiritual god is evident by all the wars it has created.
Not that the spiritual god has done so, but that mankind has done so.
Recognizing who and what this spiritual entity desires is the key to having peace on earth.
Otherwise the battle between good and evil continues.
So you don’t think that statements for or against what is been discussed is not a statement of your faith?
That is exactly what I said! But if we go a step further from humanity and tap the spiritual nature of humanity, we would find a nature that is different than humanity.
But many don’t want to go there because mankind has tarnished the divine as corrupt.
Because of mankind’s actions, when claiming to be godly, are evil, would that be grounds for rejecting the presence of a God?
Peace>>>AJ:love9:
Do you really believe so? All the wars fought by mankind are a quest for money, power, resources, and still more money and power. I don't see anything spiritual about it.
Yes, money and power are all human lusts. But the god that drives them to those desires is the god of this world.
Therefore, god against god has been the norm in my opinion over the ages.
You see the battle is between the god of this world and the God of heaven.
The God of heaven places us in the midst of the god of this world and the battle begins.
Hence the arguments of mankind against the God of Heaven.
Take the God of Heaven out of the equation, and all one has is the god of this world.
If that is the case, then the God of heaven says, have at it! Let the god of this world deal with you without my help.
No person alive can get away from the God of Heaven, sooner or later, each individual has to deal with Him now, or at the death bed.
Frankly, I prefer to deal with Him now and save myself allot of misery, for I know from where my help comes.
Peace>>>AJ:love9:
Good and Evil
It's very easy to think about good and evil and if good can exist without evil. Just think about it like this: The numbers 1 and 2. Take good to be #1 and bad to be #2. So now 2 can never exist without 1 but 1 can always exist without 2.
It's very easy to think about good and evil and if good can exist without evil. Just think about it like this: The numbers 1 and 2. Take good to be #1 and bad to be #2. So now 2 can never exist without 1 but 1 can always exist without 2.
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<img>look3467.......
I wonder if there is such a thing as evil. We say there is good and evil. There is envy and love, and we say that envy is evil and love is good. Why do we divide life, calling this good and that bad, thereby creating the conflict of the opposites? Not that there is not envy, hate, brutality in the human mind and heart, an absence of compassion, love, but why do we divide life into the thing called good and the thing called evil? Is there not actually only one thing, a mind that is inattentive? Surely, when there is complete attention, that is, when the mind is totally aware, alert, watchful, there is no such thing as evil or good; there is only an awakened state. Goodness is not a quality, not a virtue, it is a state of love. When there is love, there is neither good nor bad, there is only love. When you really love somebody, you are not thinking of good or bad, your whole being is filled with that love. It is only when there is the cessation of complete attention, of love, that there comes the conflict between what I am and what I should be. Then that which I am is evil, and that which I should be is the so-called good.Watch your own mind and you will see that the moment the mind ceases to think in terms of becoming something, there is a cessation of action which is not stagnation; it is a state of total attention, which is goodness.
I wonder if there is such a thing as evil. We say there is good and evil. There is envy and love, and we say that envy is evil and love is good. Why do we divide life, calling this good and that bad, thereby creating the conflict of the opposites? Not that there is not envy, hate, brutality in the human mind and heart, an absence of compassion, love, but why do we divide life into the thing called good and the thing called evil? Is there not actually only one thing, a mind that is inattentive? Surely, when there is complete attention, that is, when the mind is totally aware, alert, watchful, there is no such thing as evil or good; there is only an awakened state. Goodness is not a quality, not a virtue, it is a state of love. When there is love, there is neither good nor bad, there is only love. When you really love somebody, you are not thinking of good or bad, your whole being is filled with that love. It is only when there is the cessation of complete attention, of love, that there comes the conflict between what I am and what I should be. Then that which I am is evil, and that which I should be is the so-called good.Watch your own mind and you will see that the moment the mind ceases to think in terms of becoming something, there is a cessation of action which is not stagnation; it is a state of total attention, which is goodness.
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Perhaps good and evil are comfortable pigeon holes so we can take sides and denounce one another. That way an act can be labeled quickly along the lines of our acceptance and dislikes.
God being good, always existed #1. Evil is a product of an earthly nature #2.
Before any good can be excercised, it must be tested in an environement not good (Meaning opposite of good not evil), where evil can be created by the participant by choice.
If we look at Adam as the spirit of God, and Eve as the body of flesh; married, both become one flesh.
A living soul subject to an environment created for testing.
Given that as a natural, then the natural must be overcome by something other than the natural so that good may come out of it.
If we excercise Godliness in the natural, then we can overcome the natural desires producing good fruit.
Peace>>>AJ