Week: May 10-16, 2009 Question 1
Well this week instead of 3 different questions i will be exploring 3 parts to one question. I have decided to ponder a question that has plagued man for thousands of years, and of course voice my opinions and come up with no answer just like everyone before me.
What is Evil?
Ah this age old question of right and wrong, good and evil. Most people would tell you that evil doesn't exist at all. That whole argument of black and white vs shades of gray thing. Even when i was a kid i maintained a stance on this that even the idea of shades of gray was unacceptable, i believed that the words good and evil were worthless. It never stopped me from using them just for the power that has been attached to them but ultimately worthless. I turned to Dictionary.com for this definition of evil
–adjective | 1. | morally wrong or bad; immoral; wicked: evil deeds; an evil life. |
| 2. | harmful; injurious: evil laws. |
| 3. | characterized or accompanied by misfortune or suffering; unfortunate; disastrous: to be fallen on evil days. |
| 4. | due to actual or imputed bad conduct or character: an evil reputation. |
| 5. | marked by anger, irritability, irascibility, etc.: He is known for his evil disposition. |
–noun | 6. | that which is evil; evil quality, intention, or conduct: to choose the lesser of two evils. |
| 7. | the force in nature that governs and gives rise to wickedness and sin. |
| 8. | the wicked or immoral part of someone or something: The evil in his nature has destroyed the good. |
| 9. | harm; mischief; misfortune: to wish one evil. |
| 10. | anything causing injury or harm: Tobacco is considered by some to be an evil. |
| 11. | a harmful aspect, effect, or consequence: the evils of alcohol. |
| 12. | a disease, as king's evil. |
–adverb | 13. | in an evil manner; badly; ill: It went evil with him. |
—Idiom | 14. | the evil one, the devil; Satan. |
I don't think i've ever seen so many definitions to one word. So as i was saying, i believe the word evil is worthless and meaningless. Evil is something we have defined over the years as something that is bad. To me there are plenty of words for something being bad, but when you use evil you tend to send the message that this action or person is so bad that they are beyond help. There are plenty of people that are beyond help in many different ways but to be so bad that you can't possibly be good? Evil like a lot of other words used to rarely be used because it had such a strong meaning, but alas it has joined with other words like "Epic" as something that has been tossed around so much that the power of the word has diminished to the point that it could be applied to anything. Unlike Epic though the word Evil has still retained most of it's power over the years despite numerous uses. If someone in a high position such as a president or leader uses the word evil people respond with the same thought that whatever they are talking about is so terrible that you shouldn't question it. It is also a word that pops in religion quite a bit, probably because of the words power.
Tomorrow i will examine the opposite to the word evil, Good.
Thought for the day: It might just be impossible for me to worship anyone at this point, i think i've broken every commandment and rule in history. Does such a thing make me beyond redemption? Or worse yet, Evil?
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