Being evil - what does it really mean ?

a reply to: Aliensun

But how do we define what is a higher order being ?

We are omnivores, we eat meat to survive, in order to get meat, we must kill, does this make us evil for destroying life in order to preserve our own life ?

Ultimately we are animals, we may be more intelligent than most other animals but we are still an animal and all animals have different behaviour but most behaviour is instinctual or natural, how do we determine what is instinctual/natural behaviour and what is not ?

Take for instance the Rattle Snake, it will defend itself when feeling threatened and has the potential to kill, in self defence (from the perspective of the snake) is it evil for defending with its venom ? Or is it simply doing what nature intended ?

Another but different example is the Wandering Spider, this will not only defend itself when threatened, but will actively go on the attack to kill off any potential predator ? Could we consider this evil too ? It's different from the Rattle Snake as the Snake will only strike as a last resort when it has run out of options, but the spider, he will attack regardless in a pre emptive assault. Is the spider evil because it actively seeks confrontation with anything that comes near it ?

Yes we accept it as just nature being nature but then how can we draw a line where lesser intelligent animals are not evil and just doing what nature demands, while the more intelligent animals are considered evil ? Is a spider not intelligent for spinning the web it spins ? How do we define intelligence ? If a human lacks the intelligence to know right from wrong, if they commit what we consider an evil act ? Are they still evil if they don't know the difference ? Humans have been doing what we consider evil acts since the dawn of humans, so are we evil or just doing what is in our nature ?

It's incredibly perplexing as there is no definitive answer, but I appreciate all the answers given so far, it's really interesting to see how everyone treats the perception of evil differently

a reply to: Discotech

When Evil interferes with anothers' right to freely choose, with the implicit intention to inflict pain, mentally or physically, or to cause destruction in a manner uncomely to the majority of people, may be considered evil on a sliding scale and depending on whom you are interfering with. example age barriers; tollerance etc.

a reply to: LucidWarrior

I would have to disagree with what you think to be "correctly" associating with evil. This reality is relative and so to say that what you believe to be evil, is what I believe to be evil, is ignorant and proves the point I was trying to make. Please don't take that negatively though, because I mean it very matter-of-factly, not as some indictment.

Now where we DO agree is that we are all one, however because of our severe lack of mental and emotional perception (even these terms are limited in their expression of our revelation), the self has manifested as "all that is I" for us. This process, like a child crawling before walking, is necessary and must be explored in order to understand "all that is". To know "I" is to know "all" because we came from the same source - our meeting is inevitable along this process.

Now before anyone takes my words out of context, obviously I abhor the idea of murdering anyone, but it is not evil. I will not engage myself in hate, because I refuse to be hate. I will state what I am and what I am not - and fail at this a lot - and understand the process to exist so that I may be who I am, in reference to what I am not. At some point, I hope humanity can decide that it no longer needs this rampant depravity in order to experience that this isn't who it is.

Our grievous mistake in judging what is "good" and what is "bad" is again, disassociation. The world is the way it is because we've created it so. We need to take responsibility, stop labeling things, and see all as a part of who we are or who we are not. Once we accept this responsibility, it becomes much easier to DO something about it, instead of standing on our high horses labeling people as "good" and "bad". If someone is "bad", that's not their fault, it's my fault - it's our fault.

There is great truth in "be the change you want to see in the world" but no one wants to do anything except exclaim that their ideals or morals are better than someone else's. To go even further, there are no such things as morals or ideals outside of our conception about them. There is only who we are and who we are not, what we are and what we are not - individually and collectively. This understanding permeates to the core of all humanity and thus we birth ideas of who we should be and what we could be; thus "good", "bad", "right", and "wrong". Let's stop thinking about it and BE IT.

Let's be who we are, not what we could be or should be

in my uncertified nonexpert opinion... evil is a varying mixture of unreasoning hunger and ecstatic cruelty. the desire to possess and control, coupled with an addiction to inflicting suffering.

Evil = A total and unwavering service to self.

Last night this question had me go down an imaginative journey and came out more enlightened then when I started.

Murder and thievery we all consider is evil. And no its just bad. Weather you kill for personal gain or two soldiers killing one another. Killing is killing. Same for stealing. Weather for survival or personal gain. Stealing is stealing.

I came into this op ignorant of the idea of evil. As I began my journey I started at the base. Religion. Heaven and Hell, and the story of Lucifer and God. Which lead me to betrayal.

Your a kid laying in your warm bed and your casually woken up by your mother or father. Then the unspeakable happens...actions a parent shouldn't place on their child...

Your laid up in bed sick and your mother or father is taking care of your every need. Behind close doors when no one's looking. Said parent poisons the food or drink to keep you sick...

I haven't found an act more evil then the betrayal of family and loved ones. Everything else is just human nature. We can't forget above all we are animals some more sick then others but still animals.

Have care for one another but most importantly. Have love for those that are closest to you.