Thread: Good And Evil

as an atheist, i must add my 2 pennies.

good is what helps others. evil is what hurts others. There is no divine intervention. What one human does to another is caused by the human themselves, and not caused by some outside source.

To say that the Satan can actually create worldly things (like evil) would mean his is a god too!! Only gods can create things, which is the cornerstone of the Christian faith. \"God created EVERYTHING, and it was good\" (Genesis). Therefore, God invented evil. Why? He likes to see us suffer. I would also argue that much of religion is evil.

So, satan cant be the cause of evil because he is not a god, and cannot create anything. But none of this matters to me. I dont believe in fairytales......

Originally Posted by Hard

as an atheist, i must add my 2 pennies.

good is what helps others. evil is what hurts others. There is no divine intervention. What one human does to another is caused by the human themselves, and not caused by some outside source.

To say that the Satan can actually create worldly things (like evil) would mean his is a god too!! Only gods can create things, which is the cornerstone of the Christian faith. \"God created EVERYTHING, and it was good\" (Genesis). Therefore, God invented evil. Why? He likes to see us suffer. I would also argue that much of religion is evil.

So, satan cant be the cause of evil because he is not a god, and cannot create anything. But none of this matters to me. I dont believe in fairytales......
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whoo ... Thats a pritty wierd clame.

Actaully, satan is a god. Its in the Bible.

Anyhow, so the war in Iraq is "good" because it is "helping" people? I see a flaw in your logic

I don't think people's actions can be blamed on any supernatural beings... if you do something good, you can't point to God anymore than you can say the Devil made you do something bad. That's just a copout way of avoiding the consequences of your choices and actions.

What is "good" and what is "bad" are culturally defined. It's not "Do whatever you want" but it's also not a universal set of rights and wrongs.

I do think there may be a few, very specific, good/bad things that tend to cross cultural boundaries, but not many... like murdering your grown children. Even so, it's not a hard and fast rule that should always be followed regardless of situation... if you can think of an acception to any rule, it's not universal.

I think it's ridiculous to say that all good comes from one source and all bad comes from a different and completely separate source. Makes no sense to me whatsoever.

No, the war in Iraq is bad, because some Man chose to be evil in this case. The question is, what was the intention to go to war?
Acutally, if concerning war, burglary etc - it's never of good will, even though it's pretended to be for the help of him or her or them ...
But yes, life is what you make of it .. it comes all from your own capability to move something .. My government teacher used to always say "Because Man is basically what?" "Evil" was the answer he taught us ... so things like war happen ..
Now if you really want to help somebody by stealing food or something, it is still not the right thing to do, since you're hurting somebody at the same time (except for you steal something from a Mafia boss - which you most likely won't do ..) The one that needs the help should have cared before it could have come to a situation, where it is a necessity to steal stuff.
Now what if somebody stole something from a, this way, hurt second person, if it wasn't this somebody's fault to be in such a situation? Then it's still not legitim to drag someone else down with you at the same time .... theoretically.

yet by hurting you, he helped himself. So, if mans actions are either good for helping, or bad for hurting, was what the thief did good or bad or both?

satan is a god? I\'ve read the bible twice and i saw no mention as Satan being a god. He was an angel, technically a fallen angel. But still, just because the bible said so doesnt mean its true. The bible also said an entire sea was parted with a staff.

Look, about the integrity of the bible. If all these miracles happened, we would have many more accounts of them besides one book. If i was at a part and i saw some dude turn water into wine, i would definately write that down.

Yet Christians still believe these stories all the way to the grave. My guess is either these people had hallucinations/dreams, or they just made it up as a fiction story. Just listen to its teachings, and you will go to heaven

Good and bad is just a by product of evolution, since we think we are conciouse and super intelligent we created those two things. In nature you won't find those things, there it's just harmony in my opinion. Good and bad don't have a meaning for anthing other than "intelligent life".

Originally Posted by Hard

satan is a god? I\'ve read the bible twice and i saw no mention as Satan being a god. He was an angel, technically a fallen angel. But still, just because the bible said so doesnt mean its true. The bible also said an entire sea was parted with a staff.

Look, about the integrity of the bible. If all these miracles happened, we would have many more accounts of them besides one book. If i was at a part and i saw some dude turn water into wine, i would definately write that down.

Yet Christians still believe these stories all the way to the grave. My guess is either these people had hallucinations/dreams, or they just made it up as a fiction story. Just listen to its teachings, and you will go to heaven
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some did. And it is in the Bible. If you have a copy of e-sword, look up "god of this world". Its in the new testement.

I assume you were being sarcastic in your last sentance, but it is half (actually a 1/3) true:
Listen, Believe, and Obay.

But the topic of this thread is still: What is good, and what is evil?

Moved to R/S.

I also fixed some of the grammar in the poll and added an option under the third question. My response didn't fit in there and it wouldn't let me submit it otherwise.

Originally Posted by Amethyst

Moved to R/S.

I also fixed some of the grammar in the poll and added an option under the third question. My response didn't fit in there and it wouldn't let me submit it otherwise.
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oops. sorry, didn't think of that ...

Originally Posted by Hard

satan is a god? I\'ve read the bible twice and i saw no mention as Satan being a god. He was an angel, technically a fallen angel. But still, just because the bible said so doesnt mean its true. The bible also said an entire sea was parted with a staff.

Look, about the integrity of the bible. If all these miracles happened, we would have many more accounts of them besides one book. If i was at a part and i saw some dude turn water into wine, i would definately write that down.

Yet Christians still believe these stories all the way to the grave. My guess is either these people had hallucinations/dreams, or they just made it up as a fiction story. Just listen to its teachings, and you will go to heaven
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It is obvious that Satan never has been named a god, It'd be a contradiction of the religion that there are many more gods possible... Well it doesn't deny that a lot of evil energy exists in our world and that creature called Satan can really bring a lot of disaster and pain.
One can abstain from calling it a god but it's anly a calling...it doesn't matter at all. What matters is that evil do exist and makes permanent harm.

Originally Posted by Rav1

It is obvious that Satan never has been named a god
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2 Cor 4:4

read it

I am glad you left room for 'good' and 'evil' do not exist. They do, but are totally relative, dependant on the society and some main guidelines of good and evil are perhaps in our instinct, but they are gudelines and can be altered (like by nazis).

If god would exist, he would have to be both good and evil, for he created everything. He has to be both, yet your holy book say he is just good. A god that created hell, satan, sickness murders and rapist can not be a good god.

Like yin-freaking-yan

In a way the cruel, mindsick, conservative/old-fashinoned, gaybashing, woman-hating, racist, discrimination (on religious and other) makes almost more sence then the new one, becouse at least god is a total asshole in it. It would explain why the world is a total asshole sometimes.