Can we eliminate evil?

1. 59

   anancelesteposted 11 years ago

   Can we eliminate evil?
   
   Outside the religious view and being truthful to ourselves. Could the human being be delivered from evil? Could it be eliminated from our consciousness?
   
   

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2. 76

   ginjill ashberryposted 11 years ago

   This question makes me think. Outside the religious view, yet being truthful to self.. elimination from consciousness..
   'Yes' and 'No'.
   Outside religious views; suggests that evil does not exist. So, the question would not have been valid. To question evil and believe that there is evil, there must be a God. When there is a belief of God; it is the foundation of religion;-) Thus, the question of whether human can eliminate evil from their consciousness does not merit since without religion views, there is no God or evil, and without evil there is no manifestations:-)
   Now, being truthful to self:-
   Yes, evil can be eliminated from consciousness by resisting and replacing the ideas he plant with thoughts of which is good, pure, lovely etc.. Without sin, evil has no foothold. When you do not exalt his existence, he cannot  be active in you.
   No, human by their own strength cannot eliminate evil. Without God, human can do nothing.

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      teaches12345posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I love this anology on the question.  We can think positively to overcome evil, but does it eliminate it? What would be evil if there were no God?  How could we define it in terms of good?  What would be the measure of good? Anna, great question!

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3. 77

   Chris Nealposted 11 years ago

   If you really want to stay outside a religious context.....
   
   It depends.
   
   Without wanting to seem too much like some 1960's relativist, if you don't have some outside, objective definition of evil (whether religious or not) then you are left with just whatever you think of as evil. And for everything that "everyone knows" is evil (baby bashing, for instance) there are a sizeable number of people who have no problem with it, or even think it's okay.
   
   And then there's the ancillary question, do you mean for a while, or once and for all?
   
   I think that it's possible to do it for a while, but I don't think it could be permanent. I'm not saying that people would eventually desire to do something hideous, but in this world you're forced to confront evil every day, and it doesn't take a genius to know that if you have to deal with it externally, eventually it becomes part of your internal reality. The knowledge that it's there. You may not do it, you may not even want to do it, but you are never again pure and innocent.
   
   I'm probably not explaining myself well, but that's how I see it.

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4. 81

   SEM Proposted 11 years ago

   Define evil... In this earthly school of duality I've learned the most from those who test my fundamental paradigms. i.e. "life is fair"; "people are fundamentally honest"; "family always sticks together and help each other"... Every time I've assumed any of the above, my naivete has cost me dearly.
   
   From those lessons I've grown stronger, more open, learned to trust myself more, gained more confidence, seen hidden emotional blocks that need to be overcome... Yet I could relay a few of those lessons and anyone with a heart would call the perpetrators "evil".
   
   So no, I think we are here to learn, to deal with perhaps unkown past karmic mistakes, to enhance our empathy, compassion & love. Every moment, every action and everyone that crosses our path has a reason. Simply to judge it or them as "evil" is to negate the opportunity of a lesson and stay stuck in judgment rather than accepting responsibility to change. Thus, we ourselves would stay stuck in THAT "evil".

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5. 60

   shehzterposted 11 years ago

   Outside a religious context: NEVER. The essence of man is evil

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6. 61

   maomao198xposted 11 years ago

   The answer must be NO.
   We can't, and I don't think we need to do so.
   I'm not religious. I just can't imagine a human being who is all good. When there is no black, there is no white. In addition, it's a world filled with gray. We can't even really define evil.
   For example, human beings are selfish. We can't say it's all good or bad. There is a line there. And where is the line? It's vague.
   In nature, we can see lions eat antelopes. Is that cruel? The world has its rules including both good and evil.

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7. 59

   JamesGrantSmithposted 10 years ago

   No we cannot eliminate evil, its impossible, and some could argue evil is necessary, and evil occurs for the greater good for without evil their would be no good, and no good acts for example if people did not steal insurance companies would loose millions.
   
   This aside without evil, their would be no central focus for anger, so it would essentially be anarchy.

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