The Problem of Evil

[Bond]

Thanks for the reply Teuthida.

I added the pictures to... encourage people to keep reading. I can take them out for the next topic if they're too distracting.

Now, you said you don't believe there is such a thing as evil. Do you believe there is suffering?

[KillerGremlin]

I've always interpreted the Bible as a literary work, specifically an interpretation of events past; it is full of moral and stories that a religion was supposed to be built on. All literary works, at least fiction, have a good and an evil. I believe that good cannot exist unless there is evil. In order to qualify good you need to have an opposite, which is evil.

Too have a world with all good would mean that good would no longer exist. If there was no evil or no bad life would cease to exist because one could no longer experience good. By "adding" evil to the world, we are able to experience good. If you never felt pain you would never be happy because you would never know what it feels like to suffer, and then to not suffer. We, as we are now, could not exist without pain/bad/evil. It was like they said in the Matrix....The early Matrix was designed as a perfect world but no one was happy.

Morals work on opposites. You can't have morals without good and evil. If defining good means "don't kill people" than "killing people" needs an opposite definition, evil. Religions are based on a set of beliefs, and beliefs are rooted on morals, which all fall back on Good and Evil.

[Teuthida]

Originally Posted by Bond

Now, you said you don't believe there is such a thing as evil. Do you believe there is suffering?

Now suffering is something I can get behind. Everyone experiences suffering. Everyone. Stub your toe? You just suffered; unless you enjoy stubbing your toe. Your body sensed pain and received injury but to your mind it was an enjoyable experience. I'll focus on that for a bit.

People impose suffering upon themselves all the time. Usually it's for a greater good and thus tolerated. Want to get buff like Arnold? You're going to be in the gym breaking down your muscles to rebuild them bigger and stronger. When you life weights your body releases endorphins. Endorphins feel good. Without having a goal like in the bodybuilding example why else would someone subject themselves to pain? Consume a Bhut jolokia pepper and you'll feel like you’re dying. But no one sprung it on you. You'll injest it with prior knowledge that it'll hurt. Yet you do it anyway. It's painful but it still feel good. It's a rush.

Ascetics suffer as a way to reach spiritual enlightenment. Might be mistaken of the sect, but heard cases of Jainism in India where one fellow rolled along the ground for months, or maybe years instead of walking. Some other folks keep one arm raised above their head until it becomes withered and useless. Or take a look at monks giving up physical belongings and other things the typical person would consider to be pleasurable. Ascetics one up them by giving up their physical body.

Then there is suffering in the form of deprivation, which also goes hand in hand with the above. In prisons the most severe punishment is usually isolation. Sometimes one is deprived of light or food as well. Fasting is a form of suffering that can be quite healthy. Giving up food or certain types of food is found in almost every religion. One needs food to live. To eat is the most basic of instincts, so to deprive one self or another of food would be considered suffering.

Suffering is a bit more clear than the evil argument. It's still relative because what someone considers suffering, another might enjoy. Physical pain is observable though, so no matter if you hate it or like it, it's clearly wrecking havoc on your body. The fruits of one's labor almost always arise out of some sort of suffering.

A bit rambly.

[Yoda9864]

God and Satan are in an eternal struggle for the souls of men. Each side coerces people so that their souls may be taken. It's all explained in the movie Constantine.


Of course, this whole question relies on the fact that you believe in some higher power. If you do not, then the answer is simply that bad people exist and there is nothing you can do about it. Good people exist, and bad people exist. They balance each other. If they didn't balance each other (i.e.- one side massively outweighed the other), the world could not function. We would self destruct.