what is good and evil?

KnowSelf

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Perhaps good and evil is simply a balance of positive and negative energy? Must good and evil coexist for what is?

There must be balance, why do bad things happen to good people? I cannot comprehend the range of possibilities of universal worldly life forms living and dying for the propitiation of what is according to God's will.

Consider, the It is pure truth, emotions/feelings gives us ownership to what and how we perceive IT.

Life is balance, emotionally we ask why bad things happen to good people? Humans are social creatures so when pain and death happens nearby, it becomes personal and we cannot see beyond our grief.

I'm ok with life and death, but suffering is different. I pray for suffering to end. However, spiritual and character growth may be determined from adversity, pain and suffering.

I am interested in psychological profile, why people think and do as they do; why do some people hate God? Is it because they feel in some way God was unjust by allowing something to happen? Emotions are useful, we feel happy, love, sad, anger and hatred, however, letting emotions to dictate your actions and beliefs is like making important decisions impaired by drugs and alcohol. Thinking is impaired, reasoning is impaired, your sight is limited by your emotions. What is real when it is not?
 
why do some people hate God?
Never met those people.

I've met people who don't believe.

I've met people who hate what religion has done to people.

I've met people disappointed in the G!d they believe in.

I've not met anyone that hates G!d, maybe others understandings of G!d.
 
Perhaps good and evil is simply a balance of positive and negative energy? Must good and evil coexist for what is?
Positive and negative are not 'good' and 'evil' imo. Positive and negative must exactly balance, for nature to exist. There cannot be an atom without negatively charged electrons balancing a positively charged nucleus. But if the electron was called positive and the nucleus negative, it would still just be just be words?

They are balancing forces of nature; they are not good and evil? They are like male and female. But male and female are not like light and darkness.

Shadow is the lack of light. It is not the opposite of light. Cold is the lack of heat, not the opposite. Darkness is the total lack of light; cold is the total lack of heat. Light gets infinitely brighter; heat gets infinitely hotter -- a candle, a sun, ten million suns?

Good and evil are totally relative to our own condition. What is good for the lion is death for the zebra, and vice versa. The total end of the human race may be what's best for everything else on planet Earth?

Ultimately evil -- for nature -- is measured by death, burial and return to dust, which dust eventually is subducted, drawn down and melted again back in magma fires of hell at the centre of the earth, to re-emerge as new continental mass.

So: death is the evil and gravity is the devil?

I think 'evil' is what gets through the cracks. Or, to reverse it: There is a crack in everything; it's how the light gets in (Leonard Cohen)

Proverbs 3:5-7

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.

Is all I need ...

 
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If a person chooses to commit more good than evil is that any less guilty than one who commits more evil than good? I appreciate the symbolism of the angel with halo and the little red devil with horns and pitchfork because it visualizes by character, choosing the good angel or the little red devil for what action we take.
is evil caused by trauma ? But not sin, sin is choosing to be ungodly
 
Each heart knows that deep inside :) and to the degree to which that understanding can be refined, then the scope widens. Things that are generally seen as neutral or good to the run of the mil person (smoking, harsh language, ego, selfish ambition, violence, and desire in general) become evil to the one on the path of purity. At the same time the scope of what is good widens: ones realizes that just giving someone the gift of a beautiful smile has the potential to save the universe; such is the strenght of a single act of love.
 
Perhaps good and evil is simply a balance of positive and negative energy? Must good and evil coexist for what is?
I don't think it's a case of must, I think rather it's inevitable in a finite, contingent Cosmos.

There must be balance, why do bad things happen to good people?
We have to be careful here. There needs to be a distinction between 'bad' things and 'evil' things. The two are not the same.
 
Bad things are determined by individual perception. Bad things-emotion & feelings.
 
Bad things are determined by individual perception. Bad things-emotion & feelings.
People regard cancer as bad, ebola as bad, tsunamis as bad, cot-death as bad ... and indeed they are, but they're not evil, that was my point.

So then people ask why does God allow bad things to happen to good people? The answer is, it's the nature of contingency; it's the price of the freedom we aspire to. If it were otherwise, the cosmos would not be as it is.
 
Cancer. ebola, tsunamis. or cot-death none of these things are bad, people may think they are bad. but they cannot be classified as bad. They may cause damage or death but not bad. These diseases are as much a part of living as you and I. God did not create bad.

Satan chose to oppose God, God did not create bad, Satan chose

Disease does not choose, how can disease be bad?
 
All these things we my see as bad....when they effect us.

Before man there were tsunamis,.floods, hurricanes, glaciers, earthquakes...

And they created the our national parks, fertile valleys,.grand canyons and beautiful beaches...

Only our presence here made them bad.
 
I hear you and I am trying to express is good and bad are subjective to interpretation. Disease is neither good nor bad diseases are diseases they are not good or bad, people decide what is good and bad but disease is neither good nor bad. For something to be bad there can be no redeeming qualities regarding its existence. Bad is not evil, is a car wreck? That depends on the circumstances. Suppose I totaled my car when another driver crossed a dangerous intersection without yielding to the right a way. I got a brand new car and the town board voted to put up a traffic light to prevent further accidents. You might say that was good, but they amputated my right leg. That's bad right? However, I joined an amputee basketball team, made new friends and traveled the world playing basketball? Good right?

Everything is subjective to individual feelings and desires but diseases and car wreaks are neither good nor bad, we decide what is good and bad no one else decides this except the individual
 
I am reminded of the preacher who stood with his family watching their house burn to the ground...who is quoted as saying "can't wait to see what good comes of this". And then there.is of course.

A farmer and his son had a beloved stallion who helped the family earn a living. One day, the horse ran away and their neighbors exclaimed, “Your horse ran away, what terrible luck!” The farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.”

A few days later, the horse returned home, leading a few wild mares back to the farm as well. The neighbors shouted out, “Your horse has returned, and brought several horses home with him. What great luck!” The farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.”

Later that week, the farmer’s son was trying to break one of the mares and she threw him to the ground, breaking his leg. The villagers cried, “Your son broke his leg, what terrible luck!” The farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.”

A few weeks later, soldiers from the national army marched through town, recruiting all the able-bodied boys for the army. They did not take the farmer’s son, still recovering from his injury. Friends shouted, “Your boy is spared, what tremendous luck!” To which the farmer replied, “Maybe so, maybe not. We’ll see.”
 
Very wise my friend, @KnowSelf, this is called Equanimity and is the highest virtue both in Judaism and Christianity, and in Hindiusm and Buddhism, and most other religions. Its undisputable and has been argumented with reason, logic, love, and truth, by various philosophers--by all the wise of all times and places. You belong in their company. See; Epicetus' Enquiridion.

Much love, my friend
 
This the story of The Companion of Musa/Moses (as) in Qur'an 18:60-82 - known as Khidr. Prophet Moses, upon request was allowed to follow him. It presents a different view of understanding good & evil. wil's post reminded me of it.

Khidr receives much attention in Circles of Islamic Mysticism.

There is a movie co-writen by Bruce Lee that came out in 1978 called the "Circle of Iron" which mirrors this story.

Bismi-Allah ir-Rahman ir-Raheem

60. Recall when Moses said to his servant, “I will not give up until I reach the junction of the two rivers, even if it takes me years.”

61. Then, when they reached the junction between them, they forgot about their fish. It found its way into the river, slipping away.

62. When they went further, he said to his servant, “Bring us our lunch; we were exposed in our travel to much fatigue.”

63. He said, “Do you remember when we rested by the rock? I forgot about the fish. It was only the shaytan who made me forget it. And so it found its way to the river, amazingly.”

64. He said, “This is what we were seeking.” And so they turned back retracing their steps.

65. Then they came upon a servant of Ours, whom We had blessed with mercy from Us, and had taught him knowledge from Our Own.

66. Moses said to him, “May I follow you, so that you may teach me some of the guidance you were taught?”

67. He said, “You will not be able to endure with me.

68. And how will you endure what you have no knowledge of?”

69. He said, “You will find me, Allah willing, patient; and I will not disobey you in any order of yours.”

70. He said, “If you follow me, do not ask me about anything, until I myself make mention of it to you.”

71. So they set out. Until, when they had boarded the boat, he holed it. He said, “Did you hole it, to drown its passengers? You have done something awful.”

72. He said, “Did I not tell you that you will not be able to endure with me?”

73. He said, “Do not rebuke me for forgetting, and do not make my course difficult for me.”

74. Then they set out. Until, when they encountered a boy, he killed him. He said, “Did you kill a pure soul, who killed no one? You have done something terrible.”

75. He said, “Did I not tell you that you will not be able to endure with me?”

76. He said, “If I ask you about anything after this, then do not keep company with me. You have received excuses from me.”

77. So they set out. Until, when they reached the people of a town, they asked them for food, but they refused to offer them hospitality. There they found a wall about to collapse, and he repaired it. He said, “If you wanted, you could have obtained a payment for it.”

78. He said, “This is the parting between you and me. I will tell you the interpretation of what you were unable to endure.

79. As for the boat, it belonged to paupers working at sea. I wanted to damage it because there was a king coming after them seizing every boat by force.

80. As for the boy, his parents were believers, and we feared he would overwhelm them with oppression and disbelief.

81. So we wanted their Lord to replace him with someone better in purity, and closer to mercy.

82. And as for the wall, it belonged to two orphaned boys in the city. Beneath it was a treasure that belonged to them. Their father was a righteous man. Your Lord wanted them to reach their maturity, and then extract their treasure—as a mercy from your Lord. I did not do it of my own accord. This is the interpretation of what you were unable to endure.”
 
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People regard cancer as bad, ebola as bad, tsunamis as bad, cot-death as bad ... and indeed they are, but they're not evil, that was my point.

So then people ask why does God allow bad things to happen to good people? The answer is, it's the nature of contingency; it's the price of the freedom we aspire to. If it were otherwise, the cosmos would not be as it is.

I think the "ebola isn't evil, it's just bad" idea doesn't work for someone who believes in an all-powerful, benevolent creator, which seems to be a widespread belief. How to reconcile the benevolence with the omnipotence, is what people struggle with. It's a tough one, especially when grieving over the loss of a loved one.
 
No I disagree ebola is ebola its not its not bad its ebola
 
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