what is evil? why is it evil?

Anonymous2009-02-23T22:59:42Z

Favorite Answer

satan is the father of all evil and disobedience to God's will is evil.

Jennie2009-02-23T23:21:33Z

You can't know "up" unless you know "down." You can't know "here" unless you know "there." You can't know "white" unless you know "black." You can't know "light" unless you know "dark." You can't know "good" unless you know "evil." They are all two sides of the same coin.

We play the Game of Black and White, where we divide the world into two piles, the desirable (White) pile and the undesirable (Black) pile. Then, we add the rule that White Must Win. Since White and Black GO TOGETHER and define each other (and are really just ideas about reality, anyway–not reality itself), White can’t win, any more than up could win over down. In playing this game we put ourselves in a double-bind, an unwinnable situation.

To be here, to be human, you have to play the game of Black and White at least a little bit. You can’t be human without becoming attached to something. Without desire you wouldn’t eat or come in out of the cold. Without desire, we wouldn’t procreate, and humanity would cease to exist. The unconscious person, however, plays the Game of Black and White without knowing that it’s an unwinnable game. The unconscious person creates one kind of suffering after another by playing a hard and serious version of the Game of Black and White, desperately trying to get White to win.

So looking at one side of the good/evil coin, evil can be defined as:

The quality of being morally bad or wrong.
That which causes harm, misfortune, or destruction.
An evil force, power, or personification.
Something that is a cause or source of suffering, injury, or destruction: the social evils of poverty and injustice.

BUT those definitions are only the other side of the coin bearing "good."

Zsolt H2009-02-23T23:08:58Z

Evil is our inherent human nature.
We only care about ourselves, and want to take as much as possible, and give nothing.
This is not our fault though, this is how we are built.
It is evil, because it is against nature. Everything else in nature takes only what is necessary for survival, and otherwise contributes to the well being of the whole system.
Our task, our purpose in life is to recognize this "fault" inside ourselves, and have a desire to correct it.
We can correct it by starting to connect to our fellow humans, by elevating above our own desires, and fulfilling others, building a new human society based on unconditional giving.
All the superficial problems visible in the world today (climate, financial crisis, wars, terrorism, poverty, famine, etc) will correct themselves automatically.
This potential, perfect human society is in our hands.
I hope it helps, all the best.

Anonymous2009-02-23T23:03:37Z

Evil is something we don't like. It doesn't really exist, it's just something we all define a little differently.

Anonymous2009-02-23T22:59:41Z

unnecessary harm because it's unnecessary