What is makes a person evil?

The whole concept of Heaven is ridiculous.

 

Yes!

It is Muhammad and I thought about what I said wrong after I went to bed last night.

Thanks for the correction.

There are 3 main Abrahamic religions. Abrahamic religions - New World Encyclopedia

 

Muhammad is the prophet, Allah is the God

 

Glad you got it straight.

IDK

I'm not really concerned with any of those religions but I do at least know about Judaism and Christianity.

 

On some level I can agree with this. The Bible defines God as Love, and Jesus spent his time on earth teaching us how to embody God's love. And I do think if one acts on love in the way Jesus taught (regardless of whether you're a practicing Christian or not) then you're a good person, and if you live outside of love and empathy for your fellow man then you likely have a capacity for evil

But if you're talking about being outside of God more in the born again sense, then I dont agree with that because that would essentially mean anyone who isnt a practicing Christian is evil

 

"What is makes a person evil?"

The genes that person gets from his/her parents, everything that person is exposed to throughout his/her life, plus others' interpretations of that person's behaviors/actions and their definitions of evil (which are based on the genes they got from their parents, and their life experiences) will create a label of evil, or not evil for that person.

 

I still say your intention that makes something the most evil.

 

I agree that intentions are what should be used when deciding for oneself whether someone is "evil". A lot of good people intend to not cause harm, but unintentionally do.

 

Yes, but Allah is essentially Yahweh of the Old Testament and God of the Christiian faith, all the same deity minus the trinity thing of Jesus I think. I don't believe it is intended to be like Hinduism where God(s) manifest into different beings. Although from my understanding, God of the Old Testament and New Testament have quite a different temperament.

From Aeri's link:

 

Do you believe in free will?

 

The good people that cause harm unintentionally are put into a situation where they are "backed into a corner" and feel absolutely vulnerable, and the only thing that comes to mind is to rely on thier survival instincts or street smarts to get out of a situation.

 

This is a really interesting talk, particuarly the story of Andrew which I believe begins somewhere around 12:50.

I think as the field of neuroscience advances there will be more and more evidence indicating what we think as evil is simply the result of some variation of a brain abnormality

 

Evil could be defined as using your privileged position or station in life to exert your will against those whom you disagree with. However, that's not really evil as much as it is the act of a petty control freak whose mind is not up to the task of handling the situation on a level playing field. So is it really evil, or is it simple cowardice masquerading as power? I think it's the latter . . .

 

Progress is likely to be very slow. As Amen mentioned in the video in regards to psychatrists lack of ability to examine their organ (the brain) of expertise, neuroscience has significant obstacles in terms of ethics and people's general stance on brain research.

There is still a significant debate amongst people in regards to the mind-brain connection, with a lot of evidence of correlations between brain regions and behaviors but few instances of slamdunk causative evidence. Examining the brain seems to so deeply penetrate the notion of who we are that I think many people still view it as somewhat taboo.

There is no obvious reason to me why we wouldn't want to explore the brain as much as possible but I think it's going to take something like substantial evidence that consciousness is an emergent phenomena of the brain (which is an overwhelming plausible explanation to me ) or to locate the structures which "receive" consciousness, if the dualist view is correct, before we begin to comprehensively explore how the brain shapes people's thoughts and behaviors.

Having the idea of mind rest in this sort of limbo state of science and philosophy with ethical considerations that could potentially be a detriment to organizations and researchers is going to make funding and thus our advancement in understanding the brain difficult.

 

I don't think evil has to exist in a religious context. Sure, it does, in EVERY faith and to varying degrees. But religion is a reflection of humanity presented in an "ideal" framework based on rules and support of the faith.

We don't often speak of evil in the animal kingdom, though the parallels are there. Most of the animals on the planet are apt to become the meal of another. It's a brutal existence filled with blatant killing, territorial enforcement and a constant need to be vigilant or on alert. When a spider dispatches a fly, there is no malice.

Christ saw the evil in people and basically saw it coming from those who take advantage of others. As opposed to helping them. In my opinion the evil we see in humanity is part of our evolution. Most of our evil takes place as we slip back toward our genetic, animal thinking. For most animals these responses are automatic, as if programmed.

We humans program ourselves and accept that some of our responses will not please others. Other people go further and specifically seek to torment others. There are only a few other primates that act like this. I'm speaking in broad terms to the subject of evil itself. The poll is asking for specifics that most of us would see as evil, so I was unable to select an answer.

I think evil was something the US founders were acutely aware of. Granted, most of them were Christian of one sort or another. Ben Franklin had an interesting take on faith:
"I believe in one God, Creator of the Universe. That He governs it by His Providence. That he ought to be worshipped. That the most acceptable Service we render to him, is doing Good to his other Children. That the Soul of Man is immortal, and will be treated with Justice in another Life respecting its Conduct in this ... As for Jesus of Nazareth ... I think the system of Morals and Religion as he left them to us, the best the World ever saw ... but I have ... some Doubts to his Divinity; though' it is a Question I do not dogmatism upon, having never studied it, and think it is needless to busy myself with it now, where I expect soon an Opportunity of knowing the Truth with less Trouble."

Humor notwithstanding, Franklin's opinion ran against the grain since he wasn't married to any particular dogma. There were places in society where he was not welcome (it got so bad he went to France and fathered several bastard children). What the founders wanted to do was deal with the evils that a government could possibly manage. Which is why we have gained recognition of rights. But Philadelphia, and later Washington, got it wrong on the issue of slavery.

Slavery was an obvious, pure evil in their midst. They yielded to it claiming the fragility of the union of colonies into states. It was an effort to buy time and prevent the outlying states from allying with France or Britain. It's an unfortunate part of the history of the nation, but it's likely the nation would not exist today if they had lost so many states back then. It was a deal with the devil (if you believe in one). About 80 years later the civil war made the ultimate decision on the matter.

Thankfully there were enough abolitionists at various levels of government by then who added the other provisions and rights that gave freed slaves a firm position as Americans, their children as well (a promise that's being abused by the "anchor baby" phenomenon, regardless of race). Of course the evil in the hearts of the slavers and their clients (lords of the lash and lords of the looms) didn't evaporate as the union Drove ole Dixie Down. Which is why we had decades of turmoil, strife and murder.

What we didn't have though was black people being sold as slaves. What we had was black Americans. I can only wonder at what point actual redemption can be had for the nation. So many other nations have the same stain, and for much longer than the US. But somehow, even though black people are still being sold into slavery to this day, it's only discussed in the US. So many discussions from overseas seem to be efforts to put the bill for slavery exclusively on the Americans.

Another evil that has come about under the watch of humanity are corporations. Especially in nations where a corporation is allowed to be a non-person entity. Nearly all of them are as predatory as the wildest creatures in nature.

 

As per Aurobindo, 'Evil is but ignorance, misapplication and ill-health."

As per eastern philosophy, it is one's desires in the form of cravings and aversions that are considered diabolical, especially when they transcend virtuous or proper behavior and conduct for the sake of transitory pleasures .

It can be as trivial as ignoring one's plan for daily exercise or meditation in the early morning in favor of sleep, or as serious as ignoring proper conduct by indulging in rape or paedophilia in favour of one's cravings of lust, or as significant as indulging in crimes of murder or mass shootings due to one's aversions.

Proper understanding and application of duties in life transcends one's likes and dislikes for sense-stimuli, and is considered to be a source of happiness. Not knowing one's duties due to lack of wisdom is considered ignorance productive of evil. Knowing one's duties but not applying them in time and space is what is termed misapplication. Poor health results in ignorance or misapplication of duties.

 

I don't know if you've read any of my mentions about David Eagleman but his series "the brain" is excellent and the important message he has is than in relation to what neuroscience is showing us, the legal system needs to radically change. It was a PBS series. There are so many fascinating stories within it. It's where I came across the theory that the reason for the Charles Whitman shooting was due to a brain tumor. The whole series is about how our conscious self is the tiniest part of us.. Sorry if I already have said this to you! I think it's a very important documentary series and should have a bigger impact in how we view ourselves and each other and society than it has.

 

What if some average Joe thinks he's doing good but is actually practicing evil? Is he evil or not?

 

Not even remotely. I believe that everything - including thoughts - are events that arise conditionally as effects of everything in existence that precede, and in turn become part of causes for new effects.

Edit:
BTW, this is just my belief. It appears that we (at least I) have consciousness...APPEARS. How can we even evaluate an alleged consciousness with something that we haven't proven to be a consciousness? Anyway, there seems to be a lot of experiencing going on, and even with the bad, it's an OK ride.

 

Crack and Meth..