Good vs. Evil
So, we always talk about this in first year seminar & it got me thinking.
"Evil"cannot be defined because of cultural differences and therefore, does not exist. First of all, the word is way too harsh. When you call a person evil, you have said he/she has no good within. Maybe he/she does an action or repeated actions deemed wrong in society, but that doesn't make him/her evil. For example, many claimed that the terrorists involved in 911 were plain "evil". However, to them, they were martyrs to Allah. We can't deem them evil for doing what they think is right. (I'm not saying I support this martyrdom. Rather, I'm saying that we can't say this as evil based on their intent.)
Also, just because people make irresponsible decisions doesn't make them "bad" people, or "evil". They just made terrible decisions. Human beings are not perfect, that's obvious, so don't expect them to be. However, I do think human beings need to grow and learn from their mistakes. If human beings are unable to grow, they still are not evil. Instead, I think they are maladaptive and stubborn.
"Good": Like evil, there is no set definition because of cultural differences. However, there are things across cultures which are considered good. Take charity for instance. Most cultures encourage giving to those less fortunate than themselves. To play devil's advocate, there are things considered evil in all societies-like murder. On the contrary, "murder" as we define it in the United States is probably different in some cultures (i.e. whether self defense is legitimate, the means of murder, etc.)
If human beings were all evil, our world would not exist today. Everything would be destroyed, and nothing good would come from it. Although there are still a lot of unsolved problems in the world, there is still human, animal and plant life so we must have some good in the world.
Thus, human beings are innately good, not evil.
<3
"Evil"cannot be defined because of cultural differences and therefore, does not exist. First of all, the word is way too harsh. When you call a person evil, you have said he/she has no good within. Maybe he/she does an action or repeated actions deemed wrong in society, but that doesn't make him/her evil. For example, many claimed that the terrorists involved in 911 were plain "evil". However, to them, they were martyrs to Allah. We can't deem them evil for doing what they think is right. (I'm not saying I support this martyrdom. Rather, I'm saying that we can't say this as evil based on their intent.)
Also, just because people make irresponsible decisions doesn't make them "bad" people, or "evil". They just made terrible decisions. Human beings are not perfect, that's obvious, so don't expect them to be. However, I do think human beings need to grow and learn from their mistakes. If human beings are unable to grow, they still are not evil. Instead, I think they are maladaptive and stubborn.
"Good": Like evil, there is no set definition because of cultural differences. However, there are things across cultures which are considered good. Take charity for instance. Most cultures encourage giving to those less fortunate than themselves. To play devil's advocate, there are things considered evil in all societies-like murder. On the contrary, "murder" as we define it in the United States is probably different in some cultures (i.e. whether self defense is legitimate, the means of murder, etc.)
If human beings were all evil, our world would not exist today. Everything would be destroyed, and nothing good would come from it. Although there are still a lot of unsolved problems in the world, there is still human, animal and plant life so we must have some good in the world.
Thus, human beings are innately good, not evil.
<3