Is there such a thing as evil?

@secondson said
Your post too is a deflection. If the question is, "is there such a thing as evil", then the answer is either yes or no, and not all this hodgepodge deflectioning about definitions of something as simple a concept as evil.

Offering a definition of the word ~ which is what I did ~ is not a "deflection".

@kellyjay said
How do you know these are real examples of evil?

With reference to your reply to bunnyknight's post.

Do you not think slavery is "evil"? Do you not think human trafficking is "evil"?

@secondson said
Deflecting, over-complicating and relativizing what evil is.

Evil, relative to the supernatural, and discussions within the context of this spirituality forum, has to do with that which is morally reprehensible. What is evil is morally corrupt. What is evil is defined by and through its association to morality.

On the contrary; I'm simplifying it, not over-complicating. In all those examples, where is your "evil"? Can you even trace it to a source? Who would you blame for all that suffering?

@kellyjay said
Examples, but what is it? I can see examples of gravity in what it does, that does not tell me what gravity is. How do you know these are real examples of evil? What if they are just normal behavior among people dancing to their own DNA? Don't you need to know what it is to define it, I can like green over blue that doesn't make blue evil.

I'm not giving you examples of evil. It's your mind that wants to associate examples of action-reaction with some magical force named "evil", as if "evil" floats around like some virus.

Another example: Why am I not killing my neighbors, their kids and their pets? Because they haven't killed my family and my pets. So am I good or evil?

@galveston75 said
No that is mostly just being sinful. Yes you did it on purpose but it's not being evil to anyone. But the key word with sin and it getting into a danger zone so to say is when one practices or makes it a normal way of their life. This is where it gets to crossing the line that Jehovah will not forgive your sins.

So not all sins are necessarily evil?

@bunnyknight said
I'm not giving you examples of evil. It's your mind that wants to associate examples of action-reaction with some magical force named "evil", as if "evil" floats around like some virus.

Another example: Why am I not killing my neighbors, their kids and their pets? Because they haven't killed my family and my pets. So am I good or evil?

So you don't think it is anything but what we want it to be, things we don't like?

@kellyjay said
So you don't think it is anything but what we want it to be, things we don't like?

To assume "evil" is some external dark force is extremely dangerous; it deflects from getting to the true cause. It's like assuming cancer to be some external random force instead of a reaction to all the toxins we put in our food and environment.
So why does this belief continue? Because it benefits those in power.
Just follow the dots: Our society is good at producing sociopaths because it's out of sync with the laws-of-nature. Instead of weeding out the sociopaths, we reward them by allowing them to gain power. Since part of human nature is "power corrupts", these people claw their way to even more power and wealth until they control entire governments. Thus, virtually all man-made suffering can be traced to excessive wealth inequality. Just take a look at the enormous profits generated from endless wars and overpriced disease-care, which are causing unimaginable suffering and death.
And by-the-way that's why they killed Jesus. Jesus saw the "evil" of wealth inequality, fought against it, and became an instant enemy of the state.

@ghost-of-a-duke said
So not all sins are necessarily evil?

No. Here is another thought on sinning...

What Is Sin?
'The Bible’s answer Sin is any action, feeling, or thought that goes against God’s standards. It includes breaking God’s laws by doing what is wrong, or unrighteous, in God’s sight. (1 John 3:4; 5:​17) The Bible also describes sins of omission​—that is, failing to do what is right.​—James 4:​17."
These again are the type of sins that can be forgiven..

Now these example are sins that would be considered as what an evil person would have in their hearts.

WHEN HATRED ENCOMPASSES THE PERSON

"In the above cases the sins do not really express the desire or inward yearnings of the person, but there are others that have become so degraded that they relish their sins and pursue them with deliberateness and in full knowledge of their evilness. They have so merged their personalities with these evils that a separation of the person from the sins is difficult or impossible. They go to an extreme that leaves them in an unforgivable position before Jehovah: “Every kind of sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the spirit will not be forgiven.” Deliberate and continued sin against the enlightening spirit of Jehovah is not forgivable; defiance of the spirit’s manifest operation is not pardonable. When persons persist in wrongdoing after it has been completely exposed to them, when it becomes so ingrained as to be an inseparable part of their make-up, then hatred for the person that lovingly clings to it as well as the sin must be one’s feeling. How else can it be, when the person and the sin become inseparably and permanently merged?—Matt. 12:31.

Such incorrigible ones reverse the injunction, “Hate the evil, and love the good,” becoming those “who hate the good, and love the evil.” No intercession is to be made for them. “Pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me; for I will not hear thee,” says Jehovah. God himself will be “repaying to his face the one who hates him by obliterating him. He will not hesitate toward the one who hates him. He will repay him to his face.” Some reach a point when even strong discipline will not pry loose the evil that has become a part of them. It is no longer possible to destroy the evil and preserve the persons. Both must be destroyed together, since there is no separating them. The evil works truly express and reflect an incorrigibly evil heart. Such persons personify evil, just as God does love. To such Jesus said: “You are from your father the Devil and you wish to do the desires of your father.” In Matthew chapter 23 he scathingly denounced them and asked: “Serpents, offspring of vipers, how are you to flee from the judgment of Gehenna?”—Amos 5:15; Mic. 3:2; Jer. 7:16, AS; Deut. 7:10; John 8:44; Matt. 23:33. Watchtower 7/15

@bunnyknight said
To assume "evil" is some external dark force is extremely dangerous; it deflects from getting to the true cause. It's like assuming cancer to be some external random force instead of a reaction to all the toxins we put in our food and environment.
So why does this belief continue? Because it benefits those in power.
Just follow the dots: Our society is good at prod ...[text shortened]... us saw the "evil" of wealth inequality, fought against it, and became an instant enemy of the state.

Seriously, wealth inequality? Do evil things not happen between one wealthy person and another equally wealthy? Do they only occur between one poor person and another poor person? Is it seen that once someone reaches a certain level of wealth that, at that point, all evil stops coming from that person, because they have achieved wealth equalty? Wealth has nothing to do with it; the love of money is the root of evil, not money, this means the rich and poor can be either good or evil people; their level of wealth is not a factor, it is all their hearts.

The love of money is idolatry, placing something above God and man. Jesus did not come here to cause us to live in perfect wealth equality. He came to save our souls from eternal damnation due to the wickedness of the human heart, the evil we do to one another, and God. He came here because God loves us and wants to restore our fellowship with Him, not improve our bank accounts, or income levels.

@kellyjay said
Jesus did not come here to cause us to live in perfect wealth equality.

Does this belief give you carte blanche to vote for people who will cut your taxes, tear up environmental protections, and whose policies will exacerbate wealth inequality?

@galveston75 said
What Is Sin?
'The Bible’s answer Sin is any action, feeling, or thought that goes against God’s standards. It includes breaking God’s laws by doing what is wrong, or unrighteous, in God’s sight. (1 John 3:4; 5:​17) The Bible also describes sins of omission​—that is, failing to do what is right.​—James 4:​17."
These again are the type of sins that can be forgiven.

Is permitting your child to have a life-saving blood transfusion a sin using the definition you have provided?

@ghost-of-a-duke said
So not all sins are necessarily evil?

The word sin in the Bible is translated from the Greek word ἁμαρτία, which is an archery term meaning missing the mark or falling short [1]. So if you're late for work it counts as a sin, but can hardly be labeled as evil.

[1] https://biblehub.com/greek/266.htm

@divegeester said
Is permitting your child to have a life-saving blood transfusion a sin using the definition you have provided?

Mr Jehovah’s Witness...Galveston75

@bunnyknight said
To assume "evil" is some external dark force is extremely dangerous; it deflects from getting to the true cause. It's like assuming cancer to be some external random force instead of a reaction to all the toxins we put in our food and environment.
So why does this belief continue? Because it benefits those in power.
Just follow the dots: Our society is good at prod ...[text shortened]... us saw the "evil" of wealth inequality, fought against it, and became an instant enemy of the state.

One other point.

We should be taking care of each other not exploiting them, that said, one having more than another in and of itself is wrong why? How we treat each other would be of great importance; our wealth isn't a measure of piety on any scale for goodness, righteousness, or wickedness or evil.

@bunnyknight said
To assume "evil" is some external dark force is extremely dangerous; it deflects from getting to the true cause. It's like assuming cancer to be some external random force instead of a reaction to all the toxins we put in our food and environment.
So why does this belief continue? Because it benefits those in power.
Just follow the dots: Our society is good at prod ...[text shortened]... us saw the "evil" of wealth inequality, fought against it, and became an instant enemy of the state.

There are a number of difficulties with this. The first is that sociopathy is not a standardized term with a clear meaning. I'll take it to mean what psychologists call Dark Triad traits. The Dark Triad is narcissism, psychopathy and machiavellianism. Someone with Dark Triad traits would be attracted to power, but having achieved power, it would not corrupt them, they are already corrupt.

I simply don't believe that old adage about power corrupting. What is actually happening is that Dark Triad personalities tend to divide the world into patrons and pawns. The pawns see the dark side, the patrons do not. As they gain more and more power their patrons turn into pawns. This is the dynamic, non-psychopaths can't be turned into psychopaths by acquiring power.

Wealth inequality tends to create problems at the bottom. The low status males become more violent.

Regarding your statement about Jesus fighting wealth inequality, it sounds to me as if you are projecting your ideas about wealth distribution onto him. There is the statement from Mark 10:25 "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.", but this is not a statement against wealth inequality per se. In the context of the passage it is associated with placing too much emphasis on material possessions.

So, I'd be interested to see what Biblical authority you have for your statement that Jesus "saw the evil of wealth inequality, fought against it, and became an instant enemy of the state.". In the biblical narrative, Pilate who was the Prefect of Judea and represented the State was not especially concerned and would have released him. His enemies were the Sadducees for essentially ideological reasons:

14 After two days was the feast of the passover, and of unleavened bread: and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death. 2 But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar of the people.

Mark 14:1-2 AKJV