Comments on: The Myth of Good and Evil: From Hitler to Mother Teresa

By: heathensguide

heathensguide — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 01:16:43 +0000

First off, I have not lived my life in some kind of amoral hedonistic bent. I have, in fact, spent a good portion of it working with homeless and disabled folks (not to mention the years at university studying religions). So no, I am not looking for some way to absolve myself of absolutes because of guilt.

You say that you would interfere if my mother was being raped. But what if my mother was a Midonite whom God sent the Israeli army to rape? (Numbers 31). Stopping the Israelis from raping my mother would then go against the Will of God. Inversely, what if my mother was Israeli when God commanded that the Israeli women be raped? (Zechariah 14:1-2) Where is your absolute ‘good’ now?

Morality is not from some magical place inside you, but from the environment you were raised in and the laws of the land. Sometimes rape is ‘evil’. These days we see it as universally so. But this was not always so, and many cultures today still adhere to practices that we would call rape and hold it dear to them.

The terms ‘good’ and ‘evil’ are just catch phrases that people use to label the world so they can exonerate themselves. As long as there is a ‘devil’ of some other innate ‘evil’, the deeds of fallen Christians can be blamed on succumbing to this evil, instead of being recognized for what they are” Part of human nature.

[That is not to say that human nature justifies the act btw. Merely that the individual is ultimately responsible for it, not some demon, snake, or mythical 'evil' force.]

By: Edward Millet

Edward Millet — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 00:23:23 +0000

Replying on my own comment to fix that last sentence, I meant ,”You can find them in the actions of individuals and these actions will be what we are remembered for.” Which is the reason Mother Teresa and Hitler are remembered in the way they are.

By: Edward Millet

Edward Millet — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 00:14:04 +0000

Where then did the idea of good and evil come from? So, if I go and rape your mother, that was not evil I was just being who I am??? Bullshit, that is evil and just wrong. There is a law of morality on the inside of me that tells me that is wrong and a matter of fact if I saw someone raping your mother or any woman at that, I would run to help them. Why? Because raping women is wrong or should I say evil and standing by, letting it happen would be just as wrong. Explain this law of morality inside of me that pushes me to know and do what is right. I agree there is no perfect person and more times than I would like to admit, I, myself have ignored this push toward what is right, but that is what I love about the stories in the Scriptures. The Scriptures point out flawed people that God used for his purposes regardless of their flaws.
You know what I believe, I believe that people like yourself, do your best to reason or justify the fact that an absolute good and evil do not exist, so that in your mind there is no absolute that you have to answer to for all the jacked up stuff you did in your life. Without an absolute good (God) there is no higher authority than yourself and you are free to do whatever you want. Well, there is proof of good and evil not necessarily fully embodied in one particular person, but are expressed by acts of kindness or acts of hatred. You can find them in the actions of individuals will be what you are remembered for.

By: heathensguide

heathensguide — Sat, 18 Aug 2012 00:12:15 +0000

No, they are asocial or antisocial in their behavior. There’s no supernatural aspect to it. The word ‘evil’ means there’s an external force acting on the person to make them do the things they are doing. Yes, ome people are just assholes, but it’s not because of a god, demon, or some supernatural trait.

By: heathensguide

heathensguide — Sat, 18 Aug 2012 00:09:28 +0000

Every government has less than 50 percent support of its people.

By: sure

sure — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 21:26:58 +0000

Hitler wasn’t going with the times. The nazi party had less that 50% of Germany supporting it.

By: Antonio

Antonio — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 13:47:34 +0000

Totally agree. Good and evil exist … as definitions that we create to give ourselves a framework within which to judge each other, ourselves, and anything that happens to or around us. Just like gods exist inasmuch as we create and define them. Just like gods, our definitions of good and evil are very inconsistent – depends on who you ask, when, and the context (under what circumstance). Even the uncle beating the aunt probably doesn’t think he’s evil. More likely HE thinks SHE’s evil (not defending the action). Eveyone, for the most part, has an inherent concept of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ and ‘true’ and ‘false’ – there is just no universal definition that everyone agrees on. If there were, there probably wouldn’t be so many wars. For that to happen though, there would probably need to be enough stuff to go around so there wouldn’t be large groups of people who can’t secure food and shelter that eventually need to find a way to take your stuff from you so that they can survive.

By: Jojo

Jojo — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 09:29:07 +0000

I want to agree with your message but i can’t, i have one example of a true evil : me. Since i was a child i often betrayed my friends, hacked into their computers, etc, with no apparent reason, so i don’t think there is any “different side of the stories here”, sometimes people are sadly just evil, that’s it.

By: veejee

veejee — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 22:56:16 +0000

Very interesting.
However, as you’ve noted, there is always another side to the story. On one hand, other countries denied access to the refugees, on the other, they shouldn’t have needed it in the first place. Yes the troops were starving and thus the Jews were too, but if Hitler hadn’t disrupted the nation with his egomaniacle greed perhaps few if any would have been starving.
I do agree, we all have the propensity to do good and to do bad as our passions dictate…..some just to a greater degree than others.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 10:52:18 +0000

Well said as for Margo whose family were “murdered” by the Nazis I am sorry but I hope your family suffered