I purely dislike the term evil. It connotes superstition and images of eternal damnation which cloud our minds with satanic thought. Religion is but a disguise for fear which teaches and allows us to conjure demons and devils to blame for our own behavior or lack thereof. Consider; we are the only species we know which dedicates such a vast majority of our energies toward overcoming evil and worshiping religion as a panacea. The United States may be the most religious (i.e., fearful) of all developed nations but humans are the most religious of all species. In fact, as far as we know we are the only species to develop religion. All species show fear but humans are the only ones who turned it into religion.
Notwithstanding congenital and physiological dysfunctions, most of what we call evil is in reality irrational human reaction to fear. Fear is what needs to be dealt with since it is the ultimate source of almost all human ills. Calling harmful and offensive behavior evil is to hide it away from rational perception and thought and gives it a psychic power over us, which is merely a perceived power given gravitas through belief. The most powerful force we bring to bear upon ourselves is fear, most of which we create within our own consciousness and apply heavy- handedly across a broad spectrum of our thought and behavior. If I had had a father who dispensed sage wisdom and advice, I could imagine him telling me that the only people in the world I need be afraid of are those who are afraid of me. This is a lesson I learned the hard way. However, there is a familial model I relied on rather young -- I was four or five the first time I heard it -- and although it was quite dramatized by the circumstances of the time, the only thing we have to fear is fear itself sums it up nicely and has served me well over the years. Slip, do you think learning not to fear will be that simple? Just a realization! That would be exquisite but somehow I've a feeling it will be learned hard and slow. Actually my preference for moral judgments is good and bad. These are actually quantifiable terms that can be applied rather accurately if we can leave religion out of the mix. Molly your perceptions are still accurate as always. Good and bad are but judgments of our own consciousness and evil energy is merely the superstitious label we put on what we don't like. Energy exists but it is benign notwithstanding the uses creatures put it to. It is human consciousness that characterizes the whole universe. A non-human history, Archy? An interesting idea implying an alien archaeological dig into an extinct species. However, I believe -- purely on the basis of the spontaneous irony that appears to exist in nature -- that we are ultimately the culture we seek in the stars. We're the top of the food chain everywhere. This more intelligent alien species we want so hard to believe exists is us. Pat, I like your idea that our judgmental perceptions are based on our limited understanding of the entire chain of events, thus making our judgments at best ill informed and quite possibly dangerous and never- ending. Chris, any fixed perspective has no alternative but to ultimately fail. Our sciences and meditations have clearly shown time and again the natural state of all things is fluidity. The more we try to fix things the more we will fail. I think we have to flow with it rather than taking it and making it a statue or trophy on the mantel. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Minds-Eye?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
