Define Evil

...as it relates to tactics used by Jihadists, fundamentalists, suicide/homocide bombers, etc...

Do you believe that the tactics used by these people can be defined as 'Evil' or simply tactics? How do you define evil outside the idea of terrorism? Can evil be defined without referring to religious ideals, or is evil a religious ideal itself?

Is evil equal on both sides of the equation, that is to say, is every player on this world stage just as evil as the other?

the absence of good......

and good is the absence of bad/evil

Evil tactics thats simple a great example the Attack on the Russian school. Thats evil no matter how anyone would try to explain there actions.

EVIL DEFINED

Good. Very thoughtful. Thank you.

Evil Is Real The inverse of God

if good men do nothing that is evil enough

Human's have morals and a natural sense of what's right or wrong.
Very wrong things are evil.
I don't think you can hold up a detector to a situation and decide evil, or not evil, it's something that you just have to weigh up in your heart. We know what is right and wrong, good and evil, and that is why we are not animals.

Examples like have been suggested is the Russian School atrocity. That is Evil.
Now another example, I don't know, I'm not muslim, but the putting your feet on someone, is that Evil?

Terrorists use "tactics". Is that definable as "evil"? See definition.

adj.

1. Morally bad or wrong; wicked: an evil tyrant.
2. Causing ruin, injury, or pain; harmful: the evil effects of a poor diet.
3. Characterized by or indicating future misfortune; ominous: evil omens.
4. Bad or blameworthy by report; infamous: an evil reputation.
5. Characterized by anger or spite; malicious: an evil temper.


n.

1. The quality of being morally bad or wrong; wickedness.
2. That which causes harm, misfortune, or destruction: a leader's power to do both good and evil.
3. An evil force, power, or personification.
4. Something that is a cause or source of suffering, injury, or destruction: the social evils of poverty and injustice.

(example: It is an EVIL corruption of the education system that people are
not taught what a dictionary is, or how to use it).

Define evil,

Evil a term used to justify a war.

Well I ahve something that explains it far better than I could:



The university professor challenged his students with this question.
Did God create everything that exists? A student bravely replied, "Yes,
he did!"

"God created everything? The professor asked.

"Yes sir", the student replied.

The professor answered, "If God created everything, then God created
evil since evil exists, and according to the principal that our works
define who we are then God is evil". The student became quiet before
such an answer. The professor was quite pleased with himself and
boasted to the students that he had proven once more that religion
and faith was a myth.

Another student raised his hand and said, "Can I ask you a question
professor?"

"Of course", replied the professor.

The student stood up and asked, "Professor, does cold exist?"

"What kind of question is this? Of course it exists. Have you never
been cold?" The students snickered at the young man's question.

The young man replied, "In fact sir, cold does not exist. According to
the laws of physics, what we consider cold is in reality the absence of
heat. Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or
transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or
transmit energy. Absolute zero (-460 degrees F) is the total absence of
heat; all matter becomes inert and incapable of reaction at that
temperature. Cold does not exist. We have created this word to describe
how we feel if we have no heat"


The student continued, "Professor, does darkness exist?"

The professor responded, "Of course it does"

The student replied, "Once again you are wrong sir, darkness does not
exist either. Darkness is in reality the absence of light. Light we can
study, but not darkness. In fact we can use Newton's prism to break
white light into many colors and study the various wavelengths of each
color. You cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break
into a world of darkness and illuminate it.

How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of
light present. Isn't this correct? "Darkness is a term used by man to
describe what happens when there is no light present"

Finally the young man asked the professor, "Sir, does evil exist?"

Now uncertain, the professor responded, "Of course as I have already
said. We see it every day. It is in the daily example of man's
inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence
everywhere in the world. These manifestations
are nothing else but evil"

The student replied, "Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not
exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of Good. It is just like
darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence
of Good. God did not create evil. Evil is not like faith, or love that
exist just as does light and heat. Evil is the result of what happens
when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the
cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when
there is no light"


The professor sat down.

So I guess what that means is, that evil would not be perceived by men were it not for God having created good. The whole tree of life story. Interesting.

i like this question. i am glad someone asked it. here's my 2 cents, for whatever it's worth:

evil is the sleep of reason.

[edit on 12-10-2004 by fledgling666]

Good, Evil? It all depends on where you are standing. Neither exists as an Absolute.

If you want to know what evil is: look at John Kerry and John Edwards!

Really, I don't see how terrorists can think they're doing right.

It was long ago prophesied that men in the end times will accept evil as good and condemn good as being evil.

I'm just sticking to what I believe in, evil is anything that I say is.

I guess each person has their own views when it comes to evil. This is probally deminstrated best through the saying "One mans terrorist, is another mans freedom fighter" - Very true dont you think ?

I guess evil is something that socity decides, to preform an evil deed is usually something that is in confliction with something that is law. I guess evil could be defind as doing something that is not meant to be done. Something different even.

Hmmm interesting thread though....

I almost did not write this, but evil is indifference, indifference to suffering, indifference to our fellow human beings. Indifference allows people to do whatever they think they want to do, indifference is the "do as thou will," equation where you get away with anything by depending upon apathy.

If bad cops get away with bribery as in the movie Serpico, why do they succeed? Indifference is why.

Look anywhere you want in history, indifference allows our government to trash the constitution, and people go along with it. Evil substitutes indifference for deep concern, engagement, and a fight for life itself. Indifference is what does not exist, yes, that is the point, it is the lack of acknowledgment of existence. Indifference says "don't rock the boat," when that is what you have to do to shake away the shark that is biting it.

Indifference is the product of fear, since fear arrests our ability to fight back. But it is what happens when anyone, anywhere in the world "gets away with it." Indifference is when injustice is a virtue to the few, and that kind of justice is what the many get from society, a false justice, vindictive and unfair.

Go back to sleep now, just forget about indifference, watch your sports game, drink a beer, and kick back. Yeah fat chance that is.

[edit on 11-10-2004 by SkipShipman]

[edit on 11-10-2004 by DeltaChaos]

when you tell me not to rock the boat, i ask "are you going to throw me over board?" warped perceptions also contribute to indifference, the warped views of the very few billionairs who struggle for control, of what we think, feel, and do. thank god there are men like skip who show us they can not control what we think, the final refuge for the many. now wouldnt it be convinient if we were to believe our government was incapable of injustice?

i can not deny concern

Originally posted by edsinger
....The student replied, "Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not
exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of Good. It is just like
darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence
of Good. God did not create evil. Evil is not like faith, or love that
exist just as does light and heat. Evil is the result of what happens
when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the
cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when
there is no light"


The professor sat down.

Wrong!!! This assumes you have to believe in god, or you're evil. I've seen more "evil" christians than I have atheists or agnostics. There is no such thing as evil or good. There is only positive and negative. It's a religious term.