I would agree that the greatest evil is doing harm. That seems to have infinite possibility. Do we harm ourselves with thoughts that position ourselves against another, or emotions that do the same? Certainly not as harmful as dropping an atomic bomb on a city. Yet if our internal environment creates our experience, it might be just as harmful to us in the moment in terms of what will manifest in experience.
On Feb 6, 12:15 pm, 1CellOfMany <[email protected]> wrote: > "Evil and good depend upon the society you are living in; what is evil > in your society might be good in another. Terrorists are not born out > of evil, they cosider themselves to be saints." > > What is *considered* to be evil or good depends, at least in part, on > the society in which one is living, but I suggest that you not close > your mind to the idea that some (perhaps "most" or even "all") > societies have some aspects or norms that are themselves evil. In the > philosophy of ethics many proposals have been put forth for how "good" > and "evil" can be differentiated. I don't believe that any reasonable > philosopher has ever suggested that, "if a group of people say that an > action is good, it is therefore good." > > I will also venture to say that those who use Islam and the Koran to > justify and promote what we call acts of terrorism are twisting the > meaning of the book and the intent of the religion. IMHO, those > "clerics" who facilitate the "radicalization" of members of the Muslim > community use the *authority* of the religion a a tool. They are not > serving Islam or Muhammad, but rather there own selfish, materialist > agendas. Considering the general public response to these acts, I > would say that these clerics and there dupes have done great damage to > the religion of Islam. By the same reasoning, I would say that those > Christians who are dubbed "fundamentalist," and who strive to foist > their literal interpretations of the Bible on the rest of the world > (e.g. teaching "Creation Science" in the schools) have done harm to > the Christian religion. > > So, to add to my previous description of the greatest evil: > 1) Identifying oneself with a body of teaching, whether religious, > political or philosophical, which is widely respected, and was created > for the purpose of, and has had the effect of promoting the betterment > of society. Then, 2) using the influence of the *name* and the > *repute* of that body of teaching and of its author to influence > people to commit acts which are detrimental to society and opposite to > the true meaning and intent of the teaching. > > On Feb 4, 11:39 am, RP <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Evil and good depend upon the society you are living in; what is evil > > in your society might be good in another. Terrorists are not born out > > of evil, they cosider themselves to be saints. > > > On Feb 3, 2:09 am, Lee <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > Yes Vam I'm going along with this because it ties in with what I > > > consider the greatest evil. I'll explain more shortly. > > > > On 2 Feb, 17:51, Vamadevananda <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > In deference to what you offer, I sure wouldn't say it's the greatest, > > > > but one evil that is obvious to me is the desire we have to bring or > > > > inflict pain or deprivation upon others, through whatever means ... > > > > food, weather, physical / illness, feelings / emotions, information, > > > > knowledge, trust / faith ... > > > > > On Feb 2, 10:19 pm, Pat <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > On 2 Feb, 12:26, Lee <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > What is the greatest evil? > > > > > > > I wanted to use the word sin, but I want to get away from any > > > > > > religiousness in this one. > > > > > > > So what is the greatest evil, and why? > > > > > > I don't think any of us have the capacity to comprehend the true > > > > > answer to this. Good and evil exist on a spectrum and I doubt, very > > > > > much, if anyone would ever encounter either end of that spectrum. In > > > > > truth, the greatest evil that could be would be 'the greatest evil > > > > > that God could comprehend', and that's outside our remit, as it were. > > > > > Sorry to drag this back to religion by introducing God into the > > > > > equation, but I think the true answer lies only with that One. In a > > > > > word, it might be best described by 'Hell'. But that offers no > > > > > discription whatsoever. I suppose it's a wait-n-see situation. By > > > > > that, I mean, if such a thing exists, then either we'll get tossed > > > > > into it or pass it by on the way to the opposite. So the tales > > > > > go.....- Hide quoted text - > > > > > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text - > > > > - Show quoted text - -- 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.
