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>I'd be interested in knowing what your definition of "evil" is, to better understand why you consider it BS. Evil doesn't mean anything. It's just a label whi

>I'd be interested in knowing what your definition of "evil" is, to better understand why you consider it BS. Evil doesn't mean anything. It's just a label which amounts to "enjoys to doing bad things", which is a non-explanation. If anything, it's just a quick condemnation, without wanting to _understand_ or hear more on the issue. As such, it acts as stop sign: it stops examination of what actually went on (which, besides hurting our understanding of history, it also hurts our chances of fixing it in the future). E.g: "Hitler did so and so because he was evil". Err, no. For one, he didn't do it alone, second, lots of leaders all around the world did equally bad things (e.g Japan and Manchuria), third, the motivations and reasons behind Germany's actions are long, historical and sociological (you could find precursors to Nazi ideology 50 and 100 years before they appeared). Second, "evil" has theological origin and connotations (whereas good and bad, harmful and beneficial and such are well known in any kind of society, including civic ones). I think the "evil" tag is popular in the US, because of the countries long theological tradition and huge influence of religion on culture. Nobody is content to call even Hitler or a serial killer "evil" in Europe and leave it at that. We always want to go deeper into the root of the issues.

Dylan16807 14y ago
"evil" isn't an explanation, it's a label given in disgust to someone that is beyond redemption. To focus on something smaller and simpler, I would say that most serial killers, as in separate premeditated incidents over an extended period, are "evil". The reason why is probably some warped mentality likely tied into mental illness, but mental illness is not an excuse either. And it's possible you could cure them, make then a fundamentally different person, and they would no longer be evil. But in the end the word evil is a label, not a reason to stop analysing.
- pretoriusB 14y ago
  >"evil" isn't an explanation, it's a label given in disgust to someone that is beyond redemption. I've seen it far too many times used as an explanation thought. Like, somehow, WWII can be explained away because "Hitler was evil", or complex events involving millions of people, like the USSR History can be explained by the "evil of Stalin". (Lots of times "paranoid" is used in the same vein, despite having an actual medical meaning). >To focus on something smaller and simpler, I would say that most serial killers, as in separate premeditated incidents over an extended period, are "evil". What I take offense with is the way this puts all the blame in the persons itself (which might be abused in childhood, mentally ill, etc), and acts as a pseudo-explanation which justifies medieval punishments like the death penalty (after all, if one is "evil", what can you do? Just kill that "evil" guy). I'm OK with using it as a label, as you say, but most people don't stop there -- they believe in the label's actual exegetical power.
  - Dylan16807 14y ago
    I can agree with that being a problem.
  - neumann_alfred 14y ago
    I'm OK with using it as a label, as you say, but most people don't stop there -- they believe in the label's actual exegetical power. And even if they don't, there's someone like you around to claim they do, which is the whole cause of this thread ballooning into such crap with lots of noise and no signal. Good luck with all that I guess.

Dylan16807 14y ago

"evil" isn't an explanation, it's a label given in disgust to someone that is beyond redemption. To focus on something smaller and simpler, I would say that most serial killers, as in separate premeditated incidents over an extended period, are "evil". The reason why is probably some warped mentality likely tied into mental illness, but mental illness is not an excuse either. And it's possible you could cure them, make then a fundamentally different person, and they would no longer be evil. But in the end the word evil is a label, not a reason to stop analysing.

pretoriusB 14y ago
>"evil" isn't an explanation, it's a label given in disgust to someone that is beyond redemption. I've seen it far too many times used as an explanation thought. Like, somehow, WWII can be explained away because "Hitler was evil", or complex events involving millions of people, like the USSR History can be explained by the "evil of Stalin". (Lots of times "paranoid" is used in the same vein, despite having an actual medical meaning). >To focus on something smaller and simpler, I would say that most serial killers, as in separate premeditated incidents over an extended period, are "evil". What I take offense with is the way this puts all the blame in the persons itself (which might be abused in childhood, mentally ill, etc), and acts as a pseudo-explanation which justifies medieval punishments like the death penalty (after all, if one is "evil", what can you do? Just kill that "evil" guy). I'm OK with using it as a label, as you say, but most people don't stop there -- they believe in the label's actual exegetical power.
- Dylan16807 14y ago
  I can agree with that being a problem.
- neumann_alfred 14y ago
  I'm OK with using it as a label, as you say, but most people don't stop there -- they believe in the label's actual exegetical power. And even if they don't, there's someone like you around to claim they do, which is the whole cause of this thread ballooning into such crap with lots of noise and no signal. Good luck with all that I guess.