As for karma, it does exist, but it's a social phenomenon rather than a cosmic power rewarding good deeds and punishing bad ones.

A bad person in a pool of unquestioningly good people will eventually come to dominate the good people by continually taking from them while never giving anything back.

Conversely, a good person in a pool of perpetually bad people will be bled dry in no time.

It's because of the ability of the human mind to build up character profiles of individuals that we are able to single out the bad people and communally act to their detriment. If somebody is known to be a bad person, people who are otherwise good would refuse to help them if they fell on hard times.

Conversely, if somebody is known to be good then it's likely most people WILL rally around them if they fall on similarly bad times, and that is on a very basic level how karma works, but it can only work on a community level, not in individual cases.

The best way to play karma is to start off from a position of being nice to everybody, but to take note of 'evil' deeds and punish them accordingly.

Or, if you're like me, always be a complete bastard unless you know somebody genuinely needs your help, then show your true colours.

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We'll always have good men doing good things and bad men doing bad things; but for good men to do evil things, that takes religion

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Originally Posted by Imzadi "those who always took but never gave back" = Evil? Don't see it. That is selfish. You are interchanging 'EVIL' with 'BAD' I don't think you are putting enough weight on the power of 'Pure and True Evil' if it even actually exists in reality. The oozing blackness that came out of the sealed cavern, that consumes everything in its path, with writhing victims and puppies moving around in its depths... There are evil intentions... and acts of evil... or evil doings... but what is the source of all evil. Does it exist? Can it?

what if it is not that dramatic? what if the Evil you are seeking to understand is simply that which keeps our hearts from being pure

like your earlier reference of children being innocent

what if it is that we are born innocent and as we grow older we are tempted with Evil which blackens are hearts

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Lloyd Dobler: I got a question. If you guys know so much about women, how come you're here at like the Gas 'n' Sip on a Saturday night completely alone drinking beers with no women anywhere?

It's hard to quantify exactly what is evil and what isn't.

"Hitler was evil". Any decent person would agree with that statement.

But do we consider Julius Caesar to have been evil? How about Moses? If either of these had access to the military machinery Hitler did, I have no doubt they'd have been responsible for many times the number of deaths Hilter was able to inflict, and neither had any real justification for doing so other than empire building - the same excuse Hitler gave.

Moses is regarded by millions as a holy role model and Caesar as one of the most brilliant generals of all time.

The problem with the concept of 'evil' is that it shifts over time. What we consider to be evil changes as we become more aware of ourselves and of the world around us. As such, no, I don't believe in a pure embodiment of evil as you put it, evil is a man-made concept with ever-changing boundaries.

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We'll always have good men doing good things and bad men doing bad things; but for good men to do evil things, that takes religion

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Originally Posted by ProTender what if it is not that dramatic? what if the Evil you are seeking to understand is simply that which keeps our hearts from being pure like your earlier reference of children being innocent what if it is that we are born innocent and as we grow older we are tempted with Evil which blackens are hearts

I like that...


but it still points to a source of evil... that tempts us. Can there BE evil without religion?


And Psych... your title says much.

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Originally Posted by Imzadi I like that... but it still points to a source of evil... that tempts us. Can there BE evil without religion? And Psych... your title says much.

I dont understand how that denotes any type of religion

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Lloyd Dobler: I got a question. If you guys know so much about women, how come you're here at like the Gas 'n' Sip on a Saturday night completely alone drinking beers with no women anywhere?

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Originally Posted by psychiria It's hard to quantify exactly what is evil and what isn't. "Hitler was evil". Any decent person would agree with that statement.

That's where I disagree... he did evil things... but he was justified in his own mind for doing them. That doesn't make HIM evil, that makes him delusional. A savage beast that did heinous acts of violence... but not with evil intentions. He thought he was doing right. That doesn't make it any better... but I don't see it as evil.

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Originally Posted by ProTender I dont understand how that denotes any type of religion

Some higher power is tempting you. Come to the darkside, Luke... I think there is a different idea of 'evil' for every person in this forum... which is right? Possibly everyone, for their own form of evil.

This thread is still going? I thought we all agreed I was the most evil being there ever was or will be now shut the fuck up and worship me bitches!

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Brandi: i got something sweeter for your taste buds
Brandi: i always think of you

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Originally Posted by Spinnr1 ]This thread is still going? I thought we all agreed I was the most evil being there ever was or will be now shut the fuck up and worship me bitches![/color]

you are not evil

you are just drawn that way[/color]

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Lloyd Dobler: I got a question. If you guys know so much about women, how come you're here at like the Gas 'n' Sip on a Saturday night completely alone drinking beers with no women anywhere?

You say that doing evil deeds yet justifying them to himself made Hitler delusional. But who defines what makes a man delusional as opposed to a visionary?

All people are ultimately judged by their fellow men, and what society deems to be evil generally sets the standard by which controversial figures are judged. If the majority of historians see fit to label a man as evil then that is usually enough for me.

Of course anybody's angel might be somebody else's devil, that's the nature of the diversity of humanity. There are many who see Hitler as a messiah, there are many who see Jesus Christ and Yahweh as the single most destructive figures ever conceived, and that's why there can never be a true definition of pure evil, because there's no way every single person (or even close) could be persuaded as to the absolute evil of any one person, concept or entity.

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We'll always have good men doing good things and bad men doing bad things; but for good men to do evil things, that takes religion