Do you believe in "Evil"?

[Demigorgon]

I'm a skeptic for the most part. One thing I've been pondering lately is the concept of "good" and "evil".

What is evil? Is it a feeling? Is it tangable? Is it a point of view?

My wife works in the O.R. at a childrens hospital. I hear things that the news only dreamed of knowing about. So when I hear about "The girlfriend who stuck the baby into a bathtub of scalding hot water because she was pissed it wouldn't stop crying" I'm thinking that's one evil bitch. So there must be "evil" in people.

The skeptic might say that she had just lost control of her emotions. No. It takes awhile to fill a bathtub.

So what the hell is evil? Hormones gone wrong?

[Rascal]

My view is that "evil" is an adjective and not a noun. For example, a person does an evil thing and if they do enough of them, we call them an evil person. But I've never liked the concept that evil itself is a thing that resides in a person or in society. Is kindness a thing? How about indifference? Laziness?

But this does give me an idea for a new line of Evil-B-Gone air fresheners.

[Ladewig]

"The girlfriend who stuck the baby into a bathtub of scalding hot water because she was pissed it wouldn't stop crying" I'm thinking that's one evil bitch.

I see this as an horrifically violent response to a frustrating situation. My view of evil is more of a cold-blooded action. South African police who murdered political dissonents did not act in the heat of the moment - their actions were carefully thought out. A man who makes plans to kidnap, rape, and murder a child is evil once those plans are executed. Torturing people for their religious or philospophical beliefs is evil.

[Abdul Alhazred]

Originally posted by Demigorgon
I'm a skeptic for the most part. One thing I've been pondering lately is the concept of "good" and "evil".

What is evil? Is it a feeling? Is it tangable? Is it a point of view?

My wife works in the O.R. at a childrens hospital. I hear things that the news only dreamed of knowing about. So when I hear about "The girlfriend who stuck the baby into a bathtub of scalding hot water because she was pissed it wouldn't stop crying" I'm thinking that's one evil bitch. So there must be "evil" in people.

The skeptic might say that she had just lost control of her emotions. No. It takes awhile to fill a bathtub.

So what the hell is evil? Hormones gone wrong?

What's the matter with you? Why no poll? Of course there is evil.