The Ideology Of Evil

[Dr Adequate]

In one section about the role of lawmakers, the Pope takes another swipe at gay marriages when he refers to "pressures" on the European Parliament to allow them. "It is legitimate and necessary to ask oneself if this is not perhaps part of a new ideology of evil, perhaps more insidious and hidden, which attempts to pit human rights against the family and against man," he writes.
http://people.csail.mit.edu/people/paulfitz/spanish/tt2.jpg

If anyone does come up with a "new ideology of evil", it can't be as bad as the last one, can it?

Can it?

Let me know if gay couples start burning people alive for disagreeing with them.

[Jono]

Evil = the violation of others moral and integrity with the exception of direct self defence.

[jmercer]

Originally posted by WhiteLion
Evil = the violation of others moral and integrity with the exception of direct self defence.

Care to explain this in context of gay marriages?

[wollery]

Originally posted by WhiteLion
Evil = the violation of others moral and integrity with the exception of direct self defence. Which means that women failing to cover every mm of their body except their eyes is evil, since to certain sects of Islam this is immoral.

Sorry, try again.

[TragicMonkey]

There are only two acts in life that are truly, utterly evil:

Hanging the toilet paper so it's "down the wall" style and reading library books in the bathtub. Those books are a sacred trust, and it is a violation of all that is right to risk dropping them into the water.

Oh, and telling someone "ooooh! Come see this!" while watching television, and you come running, thinking it'll be film footage of monkeys attacking the president, or naked people, or that episode of Lucy where Ricky beats the crap out of Lucy for being a stupid whore...and it turns out instead to be some godawful decorating show, and they ask you, "Do you like what they did with the walls?"

[Dr Adequate]

Oh, and would someone like to explain to me how people who want to get married are "against the family"... whereas people who take vows of lifelong celibacy... ?

No, on second thoughts, explain the doctrine of the Trinity first. Start with the easy stuff.

[Gestahl]

This easily boils down to two concepts:

1) Persecution complex
2) Conspiracy construction

They work hand in hand. It is easier to unify a group *against* something tangible than it is to unify a group *for* a lot of shared common ideals.

Just think what group you would be more involved with, a group nebulously *for* critical thinking and skepticism, or *against* tangible things like con-men, creationists, anti-science people, and the religious (count the religion bashing posts) in which you see a definable evil?

The first thing you need to create this is to indicate that there is a threat, morally and spiritually, against your beliefs. Enter persecution. It is easy to unify people when they believe their *entire belief system* is under attack as a whole. And remember, or goal is unification, so "they" need to be attacking the very core morals of your belief. See some conservative statements of certain ethnic groups "hating freedom", "jealous of America", and "anti-democracy" (against individual liberties and the democratic process, the two main pillars of the American political philosophy), and of certain sexual persuasions "undermining family morality", "desecrating the sanctity of marriage", etc. (family values and sexual morality, two main pillars of religion). This cannot be any small affront, it must be a concerted attack on the very foundations of your personal beliefs.

Such a concerted attack must have a unified, well-planned, and large force, since obviously in the cases of the US and Catholicism, the "in-group" are the 900 lb. gorillas. Individuals could not possibly do this on their own. So they cannot be protrayed as individuals, only as a concerted group of "anti-us".

Enter "The Gay Conspiracy" (ominous organ music swells)!

Dr. Adequate:

The trinity is easy. All it takes is the willingness to accept that 1 + 1 + 1 = 1. With the Orwellian mental backflips that the religious make all the time, that one is easy.

[LostAngeles]

Originally posted by TragicMonkey
There are only two acts in life that are truly, utterly evil:

Hanging the toilet paper so it's "down the wall" style and reading library books in the bathtub. Those books are a sacred trust, and it is a violation of all that is right to risk dropping them into the water.

Oh, and telling someone "ooooh! Come see this!" while watching television, and you come running, thinking it'll be film footage of monkeys attacking the president, or naked people, or that episode of Lucy where Ricky beats the crap out of Lucy for being a stupid whore...and it turns out instead to be some godawful decorating show, and they ask you, "Do you like what they did with the walls?"

"Down the wall" style is better if you have cats. It's not as prone to ending up all over the floor.

Carry on.

[Jono]

By Jmercer: Care to explain this in context of gay marriages?

The definition of evil that I presented is of course from my opinion and is philosophical in nature, quite obviously.
As with words of metaphors and philosophical, poetic nature, they are of course a double edged sword in the eyes of the beholder.

Gay marriages? Don't see any sort of evil there, though people do, I do not. Not sure I understand what there is to explain from my account from that question?

By Wollery: Which means that women failing to cover every mm of their body except their eyes is evil, since to certain sects of Islam this is immoral.

Yes there are actually people of beliefs that do expand beyond their own body. Meaning they hold for example the manner of clothing of others immoral.

I simply mentioned my opinion on what evil often is, it is a violation of anothers moral and integrity.
If that integrity is dependant on what everyone else is wearing than it is highly expanded from oneself and projected unto others of course.

Words are forever semantics, double edged swords, which the wielder can swing either way.

My opinion still stands by my definition however.

[Bikewer]

Mr. Monkey: Do you secretly live in my house?

Another horrible evil thing is paint "chips". Never, never, never let a woman near a paint-chip display.

After taking home several dozen of the damned things, and holding each one in turn up against the wall.."What do you think?" (I think the room looks just fine....darling)

Then you will be sent back to the hardware store to buy whichever shade she's picked, only to be asked by the nice hardware guy, "Do you want the 10-year paint, or the 20 year paint?"
Buddy, there ain't no such thing as 10-year paint. Not if you're married.

[aofl]

Originally posted by LostAngeles
"Down the wall" style is better if you have cats. It's not as prone to ending up all over the floor.

Carry on.

It follows then that cats are evil. QED

A
(I am a cat person, so I know of what I speak)

[neutrino_cannon]

Originally posted by Gestahl
Enter "The Gay Conspiracy" (ominous organ music swells)!


One comedian called it the "limp-wristed rainbow S&M appocolypse".

[RiddleRhet]

Originally posted by Gestahl
It is easier to unify a group *against* something tangible than it is to unify a group *for* a lot of shared common ideals.

Very true -- we see this kind of dynamic in play across cultures and across history....even in our own skeptic / critical thinker / brights movements today. I certainly feel motivated to Do Something on behalf of critical thinking / reason / church-state-separation-issues in the cultural environment created by the Bush presidency, as I'm sure many others do too!

Talk about feeling like Reason itself is under attack these days....