Is Evil One of God's Tools?

...and do you mean 'the bad things that happen or that people do' or something that exists in its own right?

Thanks for the two examples that you find evil... but what is evil... how is evil defined?

When I've looked at examples people give, I've often found that they are relative... that is what is evil from one persons perspective, is not evil from another persons perspective. So I've struggled to define what evil actually is... the stuff I think of as evil is stuff like what Fred & Rose West did to those poor girls...

I think Laird used a similar example as this to show me an example of what 'evil' really is, when we were talking about this previously. And who would disagree? I can't even read or watch programmes about that sort of thing, as they are too upsetting.

One definition of evil that I've found is: 'Profoundly immoral and wicked'. 

People's ideas of what that may be will no doubt include a wide spectrum of ideas. If 'such an act' is carried out by an individual or group of humans then I can see why they might be blamed, but in reality, there may be much more to it where 'blame' is concerned. Is a tsunami or an erupting volcano 'profoundly immoral and wicked' ? Or are their consequences, when they kill innocent people and animals?

We humans often blame God, when we can find nothing else to explain our frustration and anger with such 'evil'. As Jkmac has written, I too find little evidence that God intervenes in earthly business directly. In my mind it would be just as easy to set things up and leave it to run independently, the consequences of learning wisdom and love being in stark contrast to fear and ignorance. It seemed weird to me how Stephen Fry could get himself so worked up about God, when he supposedly doesn't believe in such a thing.



If we could really see how our actions and reactions truly work, how the consequences of them ripple out in surprising and unexpected ways. Even Fry's video above would have produced huge ripples, when individuals seeing it all had their own emotional reaction to it, mostly negative I believe. I mean negative overall. They might have agreed strongly with him, or viewed his opinion in a 'positive' way. 

I think it's all so intriguing. Awe inspiring. This is part of the reason that I think there might indeed be a God, because I see such emotions as meaningful. It's like God is willing us to 'see what really works', he's given us an amazing place to play. Will we play nice?

...and do you mean 'the bad things that happen or that people do' or something that exists in its own right?

Are you trolling me? 

Are you trolling me? 

Lmao. Good lord no. But I'm sure you're seeing sometimes apparently simple questions, aren't

Lmao. Good lord no. But I'm sure you're seeing sometimes apparently simple questions, aren't

It's the same with people, don't you find? 

Thanks for the two examples that you find evil... but what is evil... how is evil defined?

When I've looked at examples people give, I've often found that they are relative... that is what is evil from one persons perspective, is not evil from another persons perspective. So I've struggled to define what evil actually is... the stuff I think of as evil is stuff like what Fred & Rose West did to those poor girls...

The definitions are definitely relative. What is evil for some people is not evil for animals or plants.

In the past I've considered whether evil might be better described as an emotion/feeling... for instance if you had a pallette of emotions... like a pallette of paint colours... what emotions would you use to mix up the emotion of evil...? When I try to think back about some very 'evil' event I've encountered from the past, I find really strong feelings, real intensity, I think perhaps I can identify 'fear', 'rage', 'frustration' being present within the feeling of 'evil'.

I really connected with bits of this post Max. 

The psychology of things has a lot to do with overcoming evil in my opinion. Don't ask me to understand it logically, it is an intuition. 

I really connected with bits of this post Max. 

The psychology of things has a lot to do with overcoming evil in my opinion. Don't ask me to understand it logically, it is an intuition. 

I tend to see things in terms of "seeking the light" rather than in relation to something else. In what I'm saying here, I don't mention evil, it isn't something which plays a role in my thinking.

To make an analogy, I saw a film on TV some time ago, As Far as My Feet Will Carry Me, a story about a long trek across inhospitable territory. Often it seems an analogy to the battles we face in this life,  where the primary opposition isn't anything of substance, it is simply the enormity of what needs to be accomplished.

I had a dream a few weeks ago, where I was giving advice to someone else in an unbelievably awful situation. But on waking it seemed more like advice I needed to heed myself. It was, "Don't ever lose hope. No matter what.".