Is Evil a “Make-Believe Concept”? These Millennial Travelers Tragically Found Their Answer

Discussion in 'Faith and Religion' started by OldDude49, Dec 28, 2019.


  1. OldDude49

    OldDude49 Just n old guy

    GOG, tacmotusn and Gator 45/70 like this.
  2. DKR

    DKR Raconteur of the first stripe

    Are criminals "Evil"?

    Evil does exist, sadly, we see it everyday in things both large and small.
     
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  3. OldDude49

    OldDude49 Just n old guy

    so true... sad but... yep
     
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  4. HK_User

    HK_User A Productive Monkey is a Happy Monkey

    I have traveled all over the world, solo.
    I have been careful, evil is all around us and just waiting for you to be stupid.
    I followed my dreams and worked hard.
    That's about all I have.
     
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  5. duane

    duane Monkey+++

    I don't know about evil, if it exists or not, but nature, including man, is not always a bed of roses. Was with my grand dad, fishing on the back waters of the Mississippi in Minnesota when I was about 6 years old, we were watching several rabbits eating grass on a small wooded island, they were very nervous, constantly moving, watching, jumping, etc, and my grand dad pointed it out to me. A short time later a bald eagle, fairly uncommon in 1944, dived out of the sky and struck one of the rabbits, the rest run into the bushes, the rabbit was still struggling to escape when the eagle started to eat it, and it proved to me even at that age that nature is not always a kind and loving thing, but as my grand father pointed out, the eagle had to do what it did to live, and that in doing so, the rabbits did not eat every blade of grass on the island, and nature kept its balance. It is a shame but a lot of people with a good education and a lot of dreams do not understand that the eagle and the terrorists do what they do as it is how they were raised and taught. A eagle has to learn how to effectively catch fish and rabbits for food and while we may not agree with it, someone taught those men to hate, to kill, to rob, for religious reasons, because they were crazy, fill in the blanks, and none of our actions are going to change that. Better in this world to be a very wary rabbit than some ones lunch. Living with your parents in a safe suburb, going to a safe school with safe zones, a lot of idealistic thoughts and beliefs may make a good you tube video and a lot of positive comments, but one failure, the eagle picking you for lunch, the person wanting your money or your girl friend, to hold you for political or money ransom, or doing what he thinks is right to defend his view of his religion can ruin the positive actions of thousands. It is not good to have he was a very kind and loving person, but very naive, as the wording on your tombstone. Most of the young people today do not really understand the real nature of things, those leather shoes did not grow on a bush, etc, and once someone tries to kill you and you survive, you will never look at life in the same say again. The shell may land a hundred feet away, but you change and lose a lot of naive beliefs at that point.
     
  6. Gator 45/70

    Gator 45/70 Monkey+++

    Kinda reminds me of the fellow in AK that assumed he could befriend ''Bears'' and live with em'
     
  7. OldDude49

    OldDude49 Just n old guy

    I remember that... the bears got hungry IIRC... had him over for dinner so to speak...
     
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  8. BTPost

    BTPost Stumpy Old Fart,Deadman Walking, Snow Monkey Moderator

    Yep, that guy who thought he was the BEAR’S Friend, and accepted by those local Bears, found out that those local Bears just learned to ignore him, and his antics, as human’s are not really on an Alaskan Brown Bears menu... That worked right up until he ran into an Old Grumpy Brown Bear with a toothacke, and not able to hunt the normal menu items, for that area, any longer... He and his GirlFriend, made a quick, and easy to get, lunch and supper... It was to bad his girlfriend also paid. the price for his stupidity...
    Evil is real... Evil also is a Human trait.... Nature and Animals are not Evil, but humans can be corrupted by Adversary and become Evil....
     
  9. tacmotusn

    tacmotusn RIP 1/13/21

    Life is not always a bowl of strawberries and cream. In fact it seldom is. In nature there are many perils to the poorly informed humans, however imho evil does not exist in nature. Humans are a different story completely. Good and evil does exist in humans. Some few are saints and others as evil as the biblical devil. Most of us are somewhere between those 2 polar opposites. None of us are perfect, and all of us have our weaknesses and sins. Then we have society and different cultures and upbringing. Perceptions of good and evil becomes blurred when cultures disagree. Regional norms for society usually stabilize with what is acceptable to the majority, the ruling class, or what the majority of the people in that area will allow and permit. Right and wrong are concepts within these regional cultural society norms. IMHO our society in the USA as designed by our Founders, our Constitution, and our Government with the 3 branches of government, while not perfect was the best ever devised. I don't believe the USA should try to FORCE it's values and form of government on other regions/countries/cultures outside the USA. Nor do I believe other countries/cultures should INVADE the USA and try to FORCE their culture on us. We have procedures within the framework of our Constitution and Government to gradually adapt and modify our laws to accept new concepts and ideas from other cultures if necessary. Others may disagree. It is our nature. Our Country has a long ways to go to return to Constitutional harmony.
     
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  10. Ura-Ki

    Ura-Ki Grampa Monkey

    I have seen evil up close and very personal, so Yea, evil does exist! One dude was so bad, my brother and I sensed him from a ways off, he had that "Look" about him, and as he came near, my brother asked me quietly if I was packin, and I asked him the same, to which both confirmed affirmative! He walked up to us and asked for a smoke, to which my brother told him to get lost, I sould sense him getting angry and I casually moved off to the side to open space between the three of us! Lemme tell ya, this dude was serious bad, and my danger meter was pegged in the red, I honestly thought we were going to have to shoot that Mo-Fo!
    After he got the hint and walked off mumbling, we had the chance to calm down and reflect, we were both shocked at just how much evil this dude had all around him and inside him!
     
  11. Brokor

    Brokor Live Free or Cry Moderator Site Supporter+++ Founding Member

    Folks know that I despise everything about religion, especially the human element. I have come to accept an individual's right to believe whatever stupid shit they desire, be it some type of religion or choice of words, that's fine. Just don't come around proselytizing your hogwash on my doorstep. The word "evil" is entirely contrived by people to explain everything dark and terrible, that which is wicked or the opposite of goodness and it is often associated with the King of all Bogeymen, the Devil, who will come and devour you for eternity in a warm and not so cozy place they call Hell if you don't do what their Holy Book tells you. THE END.

    I like Duane's reply earlier, and I think if we keep this based on facts and inspect the term through that of nature, it all begins to make more sense. The absence of virtue and integrity are at the very root of the matter in question, as these are both concepts we assign to humanity when necessary. In nature, animals do not possess these same qualities in which we are so quick to affix to another person. It would not be "evil" for a Lion to attack and kill another animal for sustenance or to defend territory, but if a human were to do the same and kill another human, we seek the reason after we judge his act. Since we are (arguably to some) a part of nature itself, would it not therefore be logical to conclude that humans have been biased for a very long time and granted a host of terms and labels in which they may use to describe every element of themselves, even sometimes unnecessarily? I would not rush to answer since it is also true that humans do sometimes exhibit characteristics that no other creature in nature would, such as self loathing, suicide, mass genocide, or in general just using power tools and technology. We are also the only species to have ever traveled space and gone to the moon, so there's that.

    I think if we strip away the religious connotations and assign a word to describe what many would call "evil", it may carry the same intent, but would lose its meaning entirely. The religious campaigns of the past and the twisted history of executing any person who did not believe what the tyrant who held the high chair at the time believed, forever sealed the term into the psyche of humanity. We are still murdering each other in whatever named God we choose to believe for whatever reasons we tell ourselves "must be" and convincing ourselves that we're not "evil" or downright crazy for doing so. We could just as easily say that people are filled with hatred and contempt for another, or they are insane or they've gone mad. Even if the vast majority of people are nothing more than the product of human society and will forever be caught up in this cycle of conceptual ownership of words, there are always a few people at any time who will challenge an idea and propose a new thought in the hopes to inspire reason and change. I also have no doubt that many of those people have been labelled "evil" at one time or another. Upon this thought, I would like to claim that the term "evil" does have its place, but only when attempting to describe the apparent insanity of the human condition itself, and if we are to avoid generalizing or wrongly accusing another, then perhaps a more suitable word may be chosen.
     
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  12. tacmotusn

    tacmotusn RIP 1/13/21

    Isn't the First and Second Amendment grand! Not really a question. Except a rhetorical one, or a statement I strongly believe in. To each his own thoughts and beliefs. God Bless you and the USA.
     
  13. Gafarmboy

    Gafarmboy Monkey+++

    Evil exists. Most Americans have been shieled from true evil for generations, but not for much longer. That cow is coming back to the barn, and bringing some friends.
     
  14. apache235

    apache235 Monkey+++

    'fraid you're right on that one.
     
  15. UncleMorgan

    UncleMorgan I like peeling bananas and (occasionally) people.

    I've see evil up close and personal.

    It's nothing like mere psychopathic torture-murdering baby-raping serial cannibals.

    That's more like a very, very depleted AAA battery compared to a lightning bolt through the top of your head.

    It can manifest a physical field of energy surrounding an individual or a group. That field is no less tactile than walking into an invisible ball of ice-water.

    When it happens there is no mistaking it. Every cell in your body sends the same message: RUN!

    But sometimes you know you can't because it chases things that try to run away.

    There are things you can do to disengage. One of them is to remain emotionally neutral. It senses and homes in on emotion: fear, anger, etc., like many blind creatures home in on vibration. If you are dispassionate, you can be like a bubble of oil in the icey water.

    It may flow around you without interacting.

    People have tried to define Pure Evil for tens of thousands of years. That's an utterly hopeless task.

    All you can do is describe what it does, and fall back on strategies for dealing with it that have worked for some people at some time in the past. You never have any trouble identifying it when you encounter it.

    I can tell you from first hand-experience: it exists, and it exists independently of the humans it infests, controls, and/or whatever.

    I have no idea what happens when you kill the host.
     
  16. OldDude49

    OldDude49 Just n old guy

    there are things that by definition are evil... yet if you look at these by societies or cultures we find they are somewhat different...

    history shows that such things change depending on... as someone has already put... the people chose to believe...

    that said... most agree... murder is bad... as is rape... and theft...
     
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  17. Ura-Ki

    Ura-Ki Grampa Monkey

    I don't think it requires one to believe in a religion or not to identify or define evil, but it does exist no matter what you believe or or not! Ones religious beliefs may help discover it or more closely define it, but it's not exclusive! Even a Child or a Dog can sense it, and you cant explain things to a Dog or a Small Child, so...................
     
  18. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    "An ye harm no one, do as you will." Use your own definition of "harm". You might think my definition is something you disagree with. There's a message hiding in that, revolving around philosophy. Frankly, I'd rather argue with gravity than this shit.
     
  19. BTPost

    BTPost Stumpy Old Fart,Deadman Walking, Snow Monkey Moderator

    No one will ever win, arguing with Gravity... It is relentless, and has no expiration Date...Just ask those folks that lost their lives in the Twin Towers... All things will eventually rest at Mother Earth Level... It is the “What goes up, will Almost Always come down ...”. The one exception is a Satellite that has reached Escape Velocity of our Solar System...
     
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  20. tacmotusn

    tacmotusn RIP 1/13/21

    Evil walked into this church in Texas. Evil exposed it's self for what it was, and was cut down by good folks with their own guns. There were plenty of naive innocent sheep present and bleating loudly, but the sheepdogs killed the wolf without mercy.

    www.livelink.com/view9N4df_1577655564

    This is why I can never fully relax, and why I am almost always armed, no matter where I am at.
     
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