An interesting (though not conclusive) thought experiment addresses ‘necessary evil’ by attempting to demonstrate that it isn’t actually necessary:
A god creates a world with 1000 people. 500 of them will always behave in a manner which this god accepts as good, and 500 will always behave in a manner this god accepts as evil. In pretty short order, the god realizes that this isn’t going to work out, as the evil people keep fucking things up. To straighten things up, the god removes an evil person every day and replaces them with a good person. In just 500 days, the god is left with a world in which there is no evil. None. No murder, no theft, no rapine, no cheating - just a world of good people who will always choose to be good.
Boru
A god creates a world with 1000 people. 500 of them will always behave in a manner which this god accepts as good, and 500 will always behave in a manner this god accepts as evil. In pretty short order, the god realizes that this isn’t going to work out, as the evil people keep fucking things up. To straighten things up, the god removes an evil person every day and replaces them with a good person. In just 500 days, the god is left with a world in which there is no evil. None. No murder, no theft, no rapine, no cheating - just a world of good people who will always choose to be good.
Boru
‘I can’t be having with this.’ - Esmeralda Weatherwax
