Do you believe in good and evil?

[Minimalist]

...who demand that all people in all historical periods act like perfectly civilized 21st century Americans.

The USA is a society in decline suffering from rampant fornication, materialism, celebrity idolization, and Earth worship. We are hardly a model civilization.

I'll take it over a fucking theocracy any day of the week.

[Cyberman]

Maybe someone should turn off their TV - that shits fantasy.....?

You just brought back a memory:





(I'm gutted that I can't find the original titles to go with this classic version of the song though.)

[*Deidre*]

Perhaps it's because I was lost in Christianity for so long that I correlate 'evil' with something spiritual. Something that happens outside of our control, ''an 'evil force,' made her/him do it.''
So, for me, I tend to not believe in the idea of evil, anymore. Rather, I think we all have the propensity to DO good deeds, or bad deeds. There is no evil vs. good. It's really more good vs. bad choices. No one can 'be' evil, you either do or don't do good or bad actions. We're all capable of going in either direction if we choose.

That's how I tend to see it, anyway.

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Wow, I looked at the poll...there's 5 people (out of not too many votes so far) who voted ''absolutely?''

Interesting.

[Neo-Scholastic]

I'll try to be more clear for the ironically challenged.

My point was to highlight the absurdity and cultural chauvinism of the phrase "perfectly civilized 21st Century Americans" that Blackrook used in his post.

[The Grand Nudger]

Pretty sure he was being snarky.....you were snarking his snark?

[Whateverist]

Sounds like Chad has jumped the snark.

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...who demand that all people in all historical periods act like perfectly civilized 21st century Americans.

The USA is a society in decline suffering from rampant fornication, materialism, celebrity idolization, and Earth worship. We are hardly a model civilization.

Not my fault. I've slowed down a lot in the fornicating department .. but still liking it as much or more.

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I'd say evil, like cold, is the absence of something rather than something distinctive in itself.

I don't know Whatevs. I'm twirling a pencil. "Good" is absent (in fact, pretty much everything is absent).....so, does that mean that twirling a pencil is evil?

I wasn't thinking that evil was the absence of good. I actually answered "not at all" to both. I think "good" can accurately describe some acts even though I don't think "goodness" exists as a 'force'. Basically pretty much any human intention which is motivated by concern or empathy for another can be described as "good". But good isn't anything in itself either.

I always laugh when movies like the James Bond variety try to set up a unambiguously evil bad guy. Their motivations never make sense. they always come off as disturbed individuals. They're not so much acting for the sake of evil as they are greedy or cruel and usually crazy. Even Tolkien is guilty of this and his Sauron is entirely devoid of humanity and so unrecognizable as a person.

In real life, people like Pol Pot or Stalin or Hitler or Cheney are just people who use others in expedient ways which ignores their humanity. There don't seem to be any evil intentions as such, just intentions which are untempered by human feeling and empathy.

[genkaus]

So what I'm asking is, do you believe the concepts of good and evil to be universal truths, or just ideas that can vary from culture to culture or society to society?

Both. The concepts of good and evil vary from culture to culture and society to society - but most cultures and societies regard their concepts as universal truths. You need to define your terms more rigorously for a better answer.

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The Hebrews were practically saintly compared to the people who lived around them, who engaged in human sacrifices, wild sex orgies, rampant homosexuality and pedophilia, and all the other evils that caused God to destroy Sodom and Gamorrah.

"Allegedly". Don't confess to your god's purported crimes so easily.

I know that is not an explanation that will satisfy atheists, who demand that all people in all historical periods act like perfectly civilized 21st century Americans.

No - we demand that people who claim to have absolute perfect morality from god act like perfectly civilized 21st century humans - no matter which historical period they come from.

After all, we are so far superior to the Hebrews, since all we do is send drones to kill people at long range so we don't have to do the killing up close and personal, getting our hands dirty.

I don't know - that sounds very Yahweh-like.

Therefore, we have the right to sit in judgment over the Hebrews, and condemn them, even though they were fighting the same kind of craziness we are currently fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Really? Are there "human sacrifices, wild sex orgies, rampant homosexuality" in Iraq or Afghanistan?

[RobbyPants]

You're quite right about the Hebrews being a product of their times. BUT GOD was right there with them egging them on, aiding and abetting the killing and often stepping in to do the smiting himself. Not to mention "giving" his chosen people land that belonged to other people.

No, God is a product of their times, too, and it shows.

[ShaMan]

The terms "good" and "evil" are words that we use in an attempt to bring understanding to the need for balance. They are not actual 'things' or 'powers' but rather the manifest duality of the nature of the universe and all things.

[Elskidor]

Good and evil makes for a great story, but sadly it is not so black and white.