A little bit evil.

[Technosoul]

Is everyone a little bit evil (bad) and a little bit good? Is it still impossible to be one or the other?

Whatcha say?

[CoffeeSaint]

No.

(Ask an impossible question . . .)

[Osborn F Enready]

All people are both, good and bad, excuse me for not using the religious term "evil".

The point is where we draw the line, and the rationality of that line should in my opinion depend on two things.....

A. Who inititated force.
B. Who is the victim, the user or defender using force.

All people are supposed rational, until they start harming other individuals without permission.

So, the question is, what defines "permission"? Morality? Right and wrong? Evil or holy? Or my constant answer, the value of human life?

All people are limited to the "physical world" which is all our 5 senses can pick up, therefore, no man can judge, or hold judgement over me if I live without harming, or infringing another mutually respected lifes rights, or property.

Another perspective...... it all depends on WHO you ask.


My answer is above.

[GodBlessAmerica]

Quote by: Technosoul Is everyone a little bit evil (bad) and a little bit good? Is it still impossible to be one or the other? Whatcha say?

The Catholic answer is we are all born with Original since due to Eve with Adam in the Garden of Eden.
In Christianity in general it is often said that mankind has a sin nature.

Christ came as a sacrifice against the sins of Adam and Eve and against all our sins. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. If we accept Him as our Savior, despite our sin nature we are forgiven.
Doesn't mean we should PARADE our sins and expect them to be forgiven, but if we are heartily sorry and are really attempting to sin no more, that is taken with the intent it was offered and though we are not worthy on our own merit to receive the Kingdom of Heaven, we get to slide in the side door with Christ like adopted kids.
Of course Jews had the front door key already! ;-)

That is an over simplified version of a Catholic view on what you asked IMO.

That being said, I have met some fine people who believe all kinds of things (Muslims the exception IMO) and despite the sin nature of man, some people are really nice most of the time.

[benjackman198]

Man, ask a question like that and you get a coupla responses - the religious one, "He is our saviour, etc", which while valid in its own right adds absolutely nothing, I say nothing, to the conversation, or you get long rambling answers which have a point at first but dont sum up that nicely... and then get confused, and keep saying the same thing, and kinda see the point but not really.

You could argue long and hard about this - but because everyone's concept/definition of good and evil, wrong and right, nice and bad, are all different, you can't really come to much - the context is far too broad.

Narrow it down! Are we talking theology? (The religious among us can go nuts) Are you talking in the legal system?

I'm not sure where you're going with this.

[Technosoul]

Quote by: benjackman198 Man, ask a question like that and you get a coupla responses - the religious one, "He is our saviour, etc", which while valid in its own right adds absolutely nothing, I say nothing, to the conversation, or you get long rambling answers which have a point at first but dont sum up that nicely... and then get confused, and keep saying the same thing, and kinda see the point but not really. You could argue long and hard about this - but because everyone's concept/definition of good and evil, wrong and right, nice and bad, are all different, you can't really come to much - the context is far too broad. Narrow it down! Are we talking theology? (The religious among us can go nuts) Are you talking in the legal system? I'm not sure where you're going with this.

I tossed the ball, where people will run with it is up to them. So I was not pre-arrange where I personally want to go with the topic.

Now you might be correct, the topic can be wide reaching.

[Technosoul]

Quote by: GodBlessAmerica Quote by: Technosoul Is everyone a little bit evil (bad) and a little bit good? Is it still impossible to be one or the other? Whatcha say? The Catholic answer is we are all born with Original since due to Eve with Adam in the Garden of Eden. In Christianity in general it is often said that mankind has a sin nature. Christ came as a sacrifice against the sins of Adam and Eve and against all our sins. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. If we accept Him as our Savior, despite our sin nature we are forgiven. Doesn't mean we should PARADE our sins and expect them to be forgiven, but if we are heartily sorry and are really attempting to sin no more, that is taken with the intent it was offered and though we are not worthy on our own merit to receive the Kingdom of Heaven, we get to slide in the side door with Christ like adopted kids. Of course Jews had the front door key already! ;-) That is an over simplified version of a Catholic view on what you asked IMO. That being said, I have met some fine people who believe all kinds of things (Muslims the exception IMO) and despite the sin nature of man, some people are really nice most of the time.

So I got a couple of questions relative to the O.P.

According to that teaching is everyone also born with the "original good" that Adam and Eve had?

And if being bad is a sin, are forgiven and reborn Christians now "one but not the other". That is to say, good and no longer bad?

[Technosoul]

Quote by: Osborn F Enready All people are both, good and bad, excuse me for not using the religious term "evil". The point is where we draw the line, and the rationality of that line should in my opinion depend on two things..... A. Who inititated force. B. Who is the victim, the user or defender using force. All people are supposed rational, until they start harming other individuals without permission. So, the question is, what defines "permission"? Morality? Right and wrong? Evil or holy? Or my constant answer, the value of human life? All people are limited to the "physical world" which is all our 5 senses can pick up, therefore, no man can judge, or hold judgement over me if I live without harming, or infringing another mutually respected lifes rights, or property. Another perspective...... it all depends on WHO you ask. My answer is above.

Can you elaborate on what you mean by "the value of life".

If a person does not value life - is that what makes them bad people.
If a person dows value life - are they 100 percent good and without a trace of being "bad" in them?

If a person finds someone who would agree by permisson to "do the wrong thing right" then would that mean it is not really a bad thing to do. Example. A agreed upon boxing match - a properly declaired war, marrage?

[Technosoul]

Quote by: CoffeeSaint No. (Ask an impossible question . . .)

Thank you for your answer.

Now for your impossible question -

What came first - good behavior or bad behavior?

And don't forget to elaborate the details - who what why where when. (gotta have all the 5 - Ws in your incident report).

[The Bacon Guy]

Quote by: Technosoul Is everyone a little bit evil (bad) and a little bit good? Is it still impossible to be one or the other?

Evil is in the eye of the beholder. To some people, you may seem completely evil, to some you may seem completely good. To most people, you will be somewhere in between.

[Zhavric]

Quote by: Technosoul Is everyone a little bit evil (bad) and a little bit good? Is it still impossible to be one or the other? Whatcha say?

Oy... why do you insist on such infantile terminology and concepts? You may as well ask, "Do we all deserve a lump of coal from Santa? Do we all deserve gifts?"

[PatrickHenry]

Apostle Paul wrote that there is an internal struggle between the spirit of the flesh and the spirit of God. He even acknowledged it in himself.

So yes, some of both. Even the most horrible child rapist might gently pet their dog...

[Zhavric]

Quote by: PatrickHenry Apostle Paul wrote that there is an internal struggle between the spirit of the flesh and the spirit of God. He even acknowledged it in himself.

Which didn't make him AT ALL sound like a repressed homosexual.

Honest.

[Technosoul]

Quote by: Zhavric Quote by: Technosoul Is everyone a little bit evil (bad) and a little bit good? Is it still impossible to be one or the other? Whatcha say? Oy... why do you insist on such infantile terminology and concepts? You may as well ask, "Do we all deserve a lump of coal from Santa? Do we all deserve gifts?"

Quote by: PatrickHenry Apostle Paul wrote that there is an internal struggle between the spirit of the flesh and the spirit of God. He even acknowledged it in himself. So yes, some of both. Even the most horrible child rapist might gently pet their dog...

Apostle Paul, who perhaps and some good and also some bad ideas to write down, might wish to think out his remark this time. And eternal struggle? Enternally would include heaven in an afterlife and so will the stuggle continue then as well, or is eternity would for a short life span here on earth?

However that was not his point, just a typo error on his part if the qoute is correct, and so I guess if one agrees with Paul then that would be an answer to the question asked.

And I would speculate that the real battlefield between good and evil, good thoughts and bad thoughts, happens within one's mind. Until that doomsday battle distroys the bad thoughts, or they take over and win. Not sure how long that predicted battle would last.

[CoffeeSaint]

Quote by: Technosoul Thank you for your answer. Now for your impossible question - What came first - good behavior or bad behavior? And don't forget to elaborate the details - who what why where when. (gotta have all the 5 - Ws in your incident report).

Please forgive the smarminess of my initial response; as a non-theist, I have to consider your question unanswerable until we have some definition of good and evil. I realize that you were looking for something along those lines, and didn't want to prejudice us in any direction, but without some idea of what's under discussion, there's nothing I could say. I should have said nothing, but as I said, the smarm in me rose to the surface. It's never far down . . .
Did good behavior or bad behavior come first? That depends on what you consider the baseline to be. The value judgments, this is good and this is bad, came second; all before that was simply behavior. Anything we want to set up as the distinction between good and bad is arbitrary, when discussing the behavior of those (I'm speaking of animals, plants, bacteria etc.) that have no concept of good and bad. So, when living things are behaving in ways that have no particular moral baggage attached, would that be good behavior or bad behavior? That's what I meant about the baseline.

I would say that good behavior came first, but bad behavior was recognized first. It seems that the most basic standard for "good" behavior is actions that support the status quo: I am alive, I want to remain alive, therefore any action that helps me remain alive is good. But there's no particular need to recognize those actions as such, since 5 billion years of evolution have made me perform those actions and keep performing them without conscious thought or any value assessment. But if someone were to perform an action that would hinder my survival, or change the status quo, it would probably seem counterintuitive to those around the actor -- though I would think the actor himself would think his action just fine -- and therefore the action would be bad. You know, my instincts are to eat my meat raw as soon as I catch it so that I don't lose the meat to another predator; my neighbor, Ook, starts cooking his food. I freak out and call him the devil for using fire to destroy perfectly good raw meat.

It seems, then, that "evil" is doing something different, unexpected, something that does not obviously support the status quo. So what is evil, then? Creativity. It began with man's ability to project a series of events before they happened, and deduce a change in that series according to the effects of his own actions. When we became human, we turned bad.

So: is anybody all good or all bad? Is there anyone who is pure creativity, or has absolutely none? Theoretically, there could be either or both types in existence; realistically, if there were, I don't think we'd recognize them as such. We might put them in an institution, however. I'd say anyone not in a madhouse is a combination of good and bad, of order and chaos.

Better level of detail that time?

[Technosoul]

Quote by: Zhavric Quote by: Technosoul Is everyone a little bit evil (bad) and a little bit good? Is it still impossible to be one or the other? Whatcha say? Oy... why do you insist on such infantile terminology and concepts? You may as well ask, "Do we all deserve a lump of coal from Santa? Do we all deserve gifts?"

You will need to take a "wait and see" attitude here. As most people posting have not yet responded to my additional questions about their opinons.

So here is a (little bit more) intelligent question for you. If people are both good and bad then how would anyone judge if they should be rewarded or punished? How would Santa for example know what kids to bring a gift for, after suggesting they must be good to get that Christmas present, when everyone knows that kids are good sometimes, and sometimes not.

Or is the whole concept of rewards and punishments for being good or bad just another kookie idea?

[McAiden]

Somewhere back in the OT (Genesis?) the Lord said man was inherently evil. He decided then and there to give them (man and woman) everything they wanted.

Forgot how the rest went, but the ball has been thrown in our court, we make the decision as to how much we want vs what we need. Anybody who wants somethng bad enough will eventually get it. That is a promise. We just have to decide what we need vs what we want. We are the ones who pay the price should we continue to chase wrong things.

[Jack]

If I'm guessing correctly where you're headed with this, I'd like to say that from all appearances you are misapplying the term "evil". The bible refers to "sin", which is not the same thing as we understand evil. Sin is the state of being less than perfect. Evil implies maliciousness. Two seperate things.

[Clarence]

I always try to be the goodest bad guy but always end up being the baddest good guy.

[Osborn F Enready]

Techno said: Can you elaborate on what you mean by "the value of life".

I say:
The plain and simple fact that NOBODY likes to be ruled, if the rule has the faintest possibility of becoming unjust, against them.

Even those who are authoritarian in nature, don't like to be dominated TO DEATH. Even Sado-Masochists get their rush from coming NEAR death, not dying.

The basic fact of life seems that all people value life in their OWN way, but the one universal thing is the ability to decide for ones self, in the most crucial, life enriching or threatening decisions. We are all men bound EQUALLY by the physical world, and the supernatural world is unprovable, therefore left up to the individual who will decide where he stands before god, nature, or whatever he so believes in.

Techno said: If a person does not value life - is that what makes them bad people.

I say:
Nothing. I never said that. I said those that don't respect the basic bounds of man, and life, which is the right to live as one sees fit, believe as one sees fit, be economicly free to decide his own destiny, and able to pursue happiness all as long as it is an act of free will, without VIOLATING the equal rights of others.

I don't value life, at all, if liberty cannot be had for the individual. Does that make me bad? I don't really give a damn who thinks one way or the other.....

Techno said: If a person dows value life - are they 100 percent good and without a trace of being "bad" in them?

I say:
Never said that either. There is no absolute in man, except error is to be expected, and perfection, if there is such a thing, hasn't been shown, at least to suit me.

Techno said: If a person finds someone who would agree by permisson to "do the wrong thing right" then would that mean it is not really a bad thing to do. Example. A agreed upon boxing match - a properly declaired war, marrage?

I say:
It is as simple as the question of free will by all parties involved. If they are all there of free will, they have right to do so as long as their actions ONLY affect them, their property, their rights.