How do you define good and evil?
Do you think anything is objectively good or evil? If so what?
What do you think drives people to aim for what they believe is good and away from what they believe is evil?

I'm somewhat of a utilitarian as regards good and evil.  'Good' is that which increases or protects happiness, 'evil' is that which decreases or destroys it. 

 So, no - nothing is, in and of itself, good or evil.  These terms only exist (and can only exist) in their relation to human beings.  By example, say a village is devastated by a mudslide, and one hundred people are killed.  A normal impulse is to call this an incidence of 'natural evil' (an act in which humans have no part).  But suppose the mudslide also doubled the amount of arable land in the area, able to support far more people than before - more people are able to eat, raise families, and so on.  For the people under the mudslide, it was evil. For the new people moving into the area, it was good.

Since good and evil are so tied to happiness, it makes sense that we would aim for the good and shun the evil - everyone wants to be happy. 

Boru

(May 4, 2019 at 6:53 pm)Losty Wrote: What do you think drives people to aim for what they believe is good and away from what they believe is evil?

Fear.


I don't think i use the term evil. At least not seriously. Words like good and bad i use loosely without any clear definitions.

(May 4, 2019 at 6:53 pm)Losty Wrote: How do you define good and evil?
Do you think anything is objectively good or evil? If so what?
What do you think drives people to aim for what they believe is good and away from what they believe is evil?

Good in the culture is whatever we feel it should be. In the church many examples can be found what was once good is now evil and what was evil is now good, look at homosexuality the bible defines it as a sexual sin. and yet It went from a completely taboo subject or was blamed for AIDS, to don't ask don't tell, to every show movie or story of any kind has to now have a token gay rep in it. then again what was good like and your other thread a womans role in the church, has been twisted (by omission of 1/2 of the verses that also define a man's roll in the church.)

Self righteousness is what fuels men to rename or lable 'good and evil.' None of us see ourselves as evil people. even in 1940's germany under hitler germans did not wholesale say yeah, we're the bad guys in this conflict but so what this is what we are going to do unless you kill so many of us we have to stop. No they like us see all that we do through the lenses of self righteousness.. Self righteousness is more than a derogatory word, it means to use one's self as your own moral compass or guide. again kind like hitler and stalin did. as a result they built societies that killed literally tens of millions of people, because ther righteousness came from self. with no concern that they ever crossed a line.

Another example of self righteousness in society: let say in nazi germany they had a "superman/soldier" program where they breed blond hair blue eyed children to populate this new world.and every child not born with blonde hair or blue eye in this program was killed or aborted. why? because it was believed that the country needed the superior genetic code that came with blonde hair and blue eyes.

now imagine a society who's criteria is much less loose than the baby's physical features.. lets say in this new society babies can be killed for any reason whatsoever in any stage of pregnancy.

Now if Good and evil where static and linear, things what was wrong under hitler should be even more morally degraded when the rules of infanticide had been lifted in this new society. but in this society we judge hitler as evil, but self righteously judge ourselves good even though we have less rules on infanticide than hitler did, even when there is a measurable decline in morality. 

God's laws are static and if we are to judge them with our self righteousness as evil it is we who are evil, not the laws of God.

otherwise under God

"Good" is anything in the expressed will of God/His law being his will expressed.

"Evil" is willfully being outside or in rebellion against the will of God.

(May 6, 2019 at 11:21 am)Drich Wrote: Self righteousness is what fuels men to rename or lable 'good and evil.'  

Hallelujah  ... finally  .... now will you burn that bronze age goatherders book you keep pushing?

Quote:God's laws are static and if we are to judge them with our self righteousness as evil it is we who are evil, not the laws of God.

If God's laws are static, than you shouldn't be having a problem with infanticide.

Psalm 137:9 'Blessed shall be he who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock.'

Boru

Quote:"Good" is anything in the expressed will of God/His law being his will expressed.

"Evil" is willfully being outside or in rebellion against the will of God.

Theft is against God's law.  Is stealing medicine to save a dying child an evil act?

Boru

Unfortunately the universe does not care we exist, nor does evolution on this planet care if Martin Luther King or Stalin are successful.

I would however, still argue that the good part of our species is that we can, when we want to, display great compassion and empathy for our fellow humans.

"Good" to me is that which reduces harm to more and avoids harm to more. "Evil" is that which lacks empathy and compassion for others to the point of violence and cruelty to others.

(May 6, 2019 at 11:29 am)madog Wrote:

(May 6, 2019 at 11:21 am)Drich Wrote: Self righteousness is what fuels men to rename or lable 'good and evil.'  

Hallelujah  ... finally  .... now will you burn that bronze age goatherders book you keep pushing?

that is why you fail...

You assume all forms of right and wrong must change. there their can't be a set standard.

There is, however none of us where meant to uphold it. Rather we are to seek atonement rather than follow the point of 'morality.'

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(May 6, 2019 at 11:29 am)BrianSoddingBoru4 Wrote:

Quote:God's laws are static and if we are to judge them with our self righteousness as evil it is we who are evil, not the laws of God.

If God's laws are static, than you shouldn't be having a problem with infanticide.

Psalm 137:9 'Blessed shall be he who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock.'

Boru

You are getting bor-ing..

1) psalms is not a book of law, they are not commands they are not even a point of history. Psalms are just songs. The song you referenced is a song that captured slaves of israel would sing while they where enslaved by the philisteins or someone. They where singing of the day that theyw ould be strong as a nation again and could smash not only the generation that held them under whip and foot but the comming generation so their kids could also live in peace.

So there's that. aside from that

2) if this where a law, then again the law is only to show me my short commings and push me towards repentance.. If I where commanded to kill evil babies and could not, i would not have to kill them if I sught repentance for my weak stomach for such things..And, I would find righteousness in the sight of God through the atoenment Christ's offers and not my ablity to smash little retards against the rocks.

but after spending a weekend at universal I now have the taste for the blood wicked children and would have no problem slaying the evil and spoiled children of wealthy disconnected parents who their their kids run wild in public places.

I’m so glad you decided to grace my thread with your desires to murder children. I don’t actually believe in evil but if I did, (and if I believed held the things you say were actually real and not just trolling) you’d be on the list.