(January 30, 2010 at 9:30 am)EvidenceVsFaith Wrote: How then is it to be 'used correctly' I wonder? Assuming you also concede that of course that too (it being 'used correctly') is itself a subjective matter. That's another messy bucket to get into...I fear I may have generalised a bit when I said cause and effect.
The point I'm trying to make is when a person has intentionally committed an act (murder) that is harmful to themselves and others, note the phrase, committed with intent, the action is morally negative and therefore can be defined as "evil".
Now, if an innocent accidentally killed another, the action couldn't be classed by any rational mind, i.e. someone not thinking out of guilt or grief, as an evil one. They maybe held liable or accountable if the death was a result of their own incompetence, but it would be unjust to say that person deliberately took another's life.
Agreed, this is all subjective trivia, but if the reins aren't pulled in on the word "evil" then it will eventually become an obsolete and outdated definition. I personally feel the word has a strong meaning and therefore should be reserved for heinous acts.
(January 31, 2010 at 12:52 am)tackattack Wrote: I also attribute that atheists frequesntly misuse the word attributing evil to the idea of God. I've seen Eiloweeny and CP use the arguement of that Evil entity in the sky at times. I think more frequently than some would like to admit, theists become diillusioned to the "Evil acts" rampant in the Bible and simply can't reconcile a Good God with an Evil one. Or even non theists researching the Bible simply choose not to believe in something they percieve as "Evil".And Christians who assert that "God is Good, because he is God" are not misusing words attributed to another?
To be fair, most atheists who actually understand what these words mean, are not referring to the God in Bible as "evil", they are however attributing the term to describe his actions, which quite frankly speak for themselves.
When people say 'God is an evil tyrant', quintessentially what they mean by the Bible's own omission, the God of the Jews has wrought intentional acts of destruction and death onto mankind that is on par with a power hungry dictator. It's not to say that "God is evil", (like saying "Sam is evil") that is absurd and fallacious (an entity cannot be a morally negative act/thought), but rather he is more capable of performing evil deeds than good ones, that makes God, as far as the holy texts are considered, a deity who commits evil atrocities.
