Is Evil just the absence of Good?

Alan McDougall wrote on May 15^th, 2016 at 11:23pm:

Is Evil just the absence of Good?

I believe in the duality of things, such as hate and love, peace and war, dark and light, positive and negative, and good and evil.

Evil can be more real than good, but only on a temporary basis, because evil creates everlasting bad karma or punishment from God   While Good leads to eternity with God of peace and love toward others, perfect altruism.

Good always ultimately leads to a knock on effect like dominoes falling to creating other good happenings.    While evil on the other hand perpetuates itself like a deadly virus.

Good always in the end triumphs over evil.     When the great heavyweight boxing champion the Brown Bomber, Joe Louis was asked who was going to win the WW2,?   He said wisely  "We will because God (Good) is on our side", and he was proven right in the end

They say the opposite of good is not evil but well-meant  ;)

Humor aside, I do think it is not so easy. The world is full of shades of grey and often, it is not so easy to determine what is evil.

Example: Someone wants to hit a person standing next to you. You are not involved and do not know anything about the situation. Do you help the victim? How? Is it ok to use violence to do that? How much violence? What if they find later that the person trying to hit the person next to you has been the victim of a theft earlier and wanted to get their possessions back?

It can get harder. Someone attacks you and your family. Is it ok to use extreme violence, even with intent to kill, to defend yourself? How about defending your children? Is killing someone justified under any circumstance? But is it not equally evil to let something evil happen when you can do something about it?

So - not so easy with the distinction. Btw, I do not mean to introduce the above questions as a discussion matter, I mean this as examples that evil and good are not so clear cut in my opinion.

Even if something is clearly good or evil - and of course there are such things - it is painfully evident that many, many times, Good does in fact NOT triumph over evil. Maybe it will in some spiritual sense eventually, one can only hope. I personally know a rather evil narcissist who lives wealthy, apparently happy and untroubled while his "victims" do not. Luckily I dont know a serious criminal, but I am told some live rather well while their victims do not.

As to winning when you invoke a deity, there have been plenty of instances where both sides of a conflict invoke their God. Not a good way to determine what is right in my mind.

Chrisagain wrote on May 18^th, 2016 at 10:25am:

They say the opposite of good is not evil but well-meant  ;) Humor aside, I do think it is not so easy. The world is full of shades of grey and often, it is not so easy to determine what is evil. Example: Someone wants to hit a person standing next to you. You are not involved and do not know anything about the situation. Do you help the victim? How? Is it ok to use violence to do that? How much violence? What if they find later that the person trying to hit the person next to you has been the victim of a theft earlier and wanted to get their possessions back? It can get harder. Someone attacks you and your family. Is it ok to use extreme violence, even with intent to kill, to defend yourself? How about defending your children? Is killing someone justified under any circumstance? But is it not equally evil to let something evil happen when you can do something about it? So - not so easy with the distinction. Btw, I do not mean to introduce the above questions as a discussion matter, I mean this as examples that evil and good are not so clear cut in my opinion. Even if something is clearly good or evil - and of course there are such things - it is painfully evident that many, many times, Good does in fact NOT triumph over evil. Maybe it will in some spiritual sense eventually, one can only hope. I personally know a rather evil narcissist who lives wealthy, apparently happy and untroubled while his "victims" do not. Luckily I dont know a serious criminal, but I am told some live rather well while their victims do not. As to winning when you invoke a deity, there have been plenty of instances where both sides of a conflict invoke their God. Not a good way to determine what is right in my mind.

Ultimately! good always triumphs over evil    A corrupt evil person always reaps what he/she sows this is a divine law if you like.

For example and please excuse me for using Adolf Hitler, he arranged for people to be separated from their loved ones, to experience fear and loss, to be poisoned,some shot and most having their bodies burned in the gas ovens and discarded like trash.

In his last few days in his bunker in Berlin, he was a pathetic old man at the early age of 56, suffering from Parkinson disease.     Now his retribution came in this life, not even in the next.   He shot himself (Those in the death camps were often shot)    He took poison cyanide (Those is the death camps were poisoned by gas)    His dead body was taking outside the bunker and burned to a cinder by his last faithful soldiers.

a) He cause desolation and suffered total failure and desolation!

b) He caused fear and suffered fear as the Red army approached closer and closer to his bunker!

c) He causes loss and suffered total loss of everything he cherished in life!

d) He caused disease and suffered from disease!

e) He had people shot and was shot dead himself!

f) He poisoned people and had to poison himself!

g) He had people's bodies burned and in turn his body was burned!

h) He killed people and had to kill himself!

He was evil period!

Alan