Where does "evil" lie?

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   Lee Teaposted 10 years ago

   Where does "evil" lie?
   
   The recent posts on Halloween and mentions of "celebrating evil" have me wondering - is evil just the fear-based projections of what one does not know and understand for him/herself?

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   cjaroszposted 10 years ago

   I think evil lies wherever we want it to be. We create the evil in the world. It doesn't just happen out of thin air. We create it. We create evil in people, in animals, in everything really. Things aren't naturally evil. They become that way by what we do.

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      Lee Teaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I agree we create it, but I'm not sure it really exists other than in the minds of those that perceive it.  Thanks for helping me explore this idea!

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      cjaroszposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I think it does exist. There are things like hate, war, jealousy, and so on. All forms of evil. Evil that we as people have created.

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      Lee Teaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I like your statement also that "things aren't naturally evil".  I wonder then if things that are natural (like actual living entities) don't possess evil, but rather the means to control them do - I'd be quick to call money evil.

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      cjaroszposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Just like all things we made money evil. By being greedy and selfish with it. We installed the evil that we make of money.

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      Lee Teaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I think money distorts the true source of our livelihood and inheritance.  The sun provides us food, and grows the animals and plants for our clothing and shelter - and it shines equally on us all.  Someone took that idea and bottled it up for sale.

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      cjaroszposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      That is a great to look at it. Its absolutely true. For some reason, people seek power over others.

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3. 41

   Borsiaposted 10 years ago

   Evil is in the hearts of people.
   That said there are people who are just plain evil. Call it "bad seeds" or whatever you want they are out there.
   Calling Halloween evil is just out and out silly! It shows just how fragile these people's faith is. These are the same crowd who claim that Harry Potter is the devil's work or other such ridiculous things. They are so afraid that a crack could start in their little glass bubble and bring the whole thing down that they live every day in fear and they fear every little sound in the night.
   These are the people who condemn everything from books to songs almost always having never read or listened to them. A good example is the Rolling Stones "Sympathy for the Devil" which says that the devil will appear in many faces and forms and that if we choose to ignore or deny it we become their accomplice through our apathy. Really a stronger song about morality than most any church hymn, not to mention a much catchier tune.
   If one has a strong belief and real faith there is no reason to worry about such things.

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      Lee Teaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      In their hearts, like in their minds?  Shun and fear leaves evil in tact to a man, but learning and understanding dispels fear of the unknown.  Is evil, like fear, a product of misunderstanding?  A mere misperception?  We all have our reasons. Thx B!

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      Borsiaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      The problem is that when someone truly evil gets into your life your heart or faith doesn't matter. They will do evil to you just as they will to anyone else they can. Then evil is fact not misperception their "knives" aren't in your imagination.

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      Lee Teaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      But who is truly evil? Someone else? What if they perceive you to be - would you own it and admit you're truly evil?  Or would you have an explanation? Desperate, greedy, weak - people can be these things.  But evil?  Who's claiming to be this evil?

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4. 85

   Lee Teaposted 10 years ago

   I'd like to add my own insight into what spawned this question for me -
   Some posts assumed people "celebrate evil" on Halloween.  But the Halloween and Samhain celebrations I'm familiar with are about honoring this particular part of the seasonal and life cycle - the harvest, the clearing, slowing down and preparing for the rest about to come.  This is how we celebrate - we gather the last of our harvest, we decorate with skeletons of the corn and grapes that have beared their fruit and are finished producing, and we take this time to celebrate and remember our family and ancestors who have done the same and are resting now.  Our celebrating the death part of the seasonal and life cycle is considered evil by others, but to us, it's an equal part of the cycle of existance - like birth and growing.  If we embraced birth but never death, we'd never have anything ripe to eat!
   
   I've been through the schools of Catholicism, Celtic/Druidism, Paganism, Agnosticism, (I could go on...), and what one school deems evil is not hailed as evil in another.  When someone mentions "celebrating evil", I think they'd have a hard time finding someone to claim "yes, I'm celebrating evil."  This line is clearly skewed, a fear-based misperception of what another is actually doing.  Things I was taught to fear as a Catholic girl growing up turned out to be informative and empowering tools for being a capable and self-reliant being.  Tarot taught me perspective - that there are many (maybe infinite) ways to view circumstances, not just the immediate despair I may sense in a situation.  Witchcraft taught me to sew and knit and cook.  Druid and shamanism taught me that we as humans glance a very limited view as to what is happening in and around us - that we can explore the paths that brought us to our current situation/frame of mind, and in turn get a grip on it instead of being tossed around like a small boat in the stormy seas of our emotions and feelings.  There is so much to understand about life and how we perceive it we'll never understand it all anyway, but being afraid to try by calling it evil keeps a person from exploring the awesome majesty in life, keeps us from reading and understanding the story of ourselves.  I've been through the dark knowledge and back - there's no evil, just purpose that another may not understand.  Don't be afraid - I've searched.  All clear.  You are free to move about your psyche.

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      Sri Tposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      At the highest level of the superconscious all are omnipotent. Some adepts have mastered that level with meditation or hypnosis. In some cases they have left the world behind and only operate on other planes while appearing to be in the body.

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      Lee Teaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      "Appearing to be in the body", interesting. Expanded awareness feels like floating. I know my thinking isn't along the lines of others, & I'm keenly aware of who needs help and where (like, actual help - lifting something heavy or clearing a path

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   Sri Tposted 10 years ago

   Evil is the desire to harm others. Some people are frustrated with life for many reasons such as, not getting "the American Dream". Instead of trying to figure out a way to win, they decide to attack other people who have nothing to do with them at all. Some people also have perverted fantasies that they later act out after repeating it in their mind often. Some have criminal intentions and see the fastest way is to take what they want. Others read or practice dark occult material that completely endorses all forms of evil in order to join forces with invisible evil entities. Some call it black magic or sorcery. Since they are all concept driven, who can say if the entities really exist?  Some would say, on the astral plane, yes they have always existed. They are looking for a willing human to catch their thoughts and carry out their sinister plans of destruction. The entities may not be real, but the evil thoughts do already exist for those who tap into them. As far as cults, some are evil and say they are to the public and some are not. http://logosresourcepages.org/HalloweenBook/occult.htm

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      Lee Teaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      "Some people" and their doings...this is what I'm exploring, your fear of other's actions.  When you ask these people, do they claim they're doing things in the name of "evil"?  I've never heard that.  I bet their reasons are not "I do it for evil".

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      Sri Tposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      If you look at  black magic books by Carl Nagel and others with curses, hexes and demonic contacts with infernal beings, the goal is not to do pleasant things. It's all about supernatural power and getting whatever they want even if evil is required.

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      Lee Teaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Contacting supernatural powers is just tapping into ideas we don't usually allow ourselves to consider.  It is (and only can be) an extension of who we already are.  Some who don't use it view it as dangerous & evil; to those who do its empowerin

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      Sri Tposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Supernatural powers are normal. Everybody does have them , but to combine forces with a demon or sacrifice animals to amplify them or accelerate them is another matter, especially if the intent is to harm people.

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      Lee Teaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I start to wonder if atoms behave the way they do, and universes too, then how much control do we really have over how we move and what we do?  Are will & reason just illusion...does physics dictate our every action? Why wouldn't it? *Thinking al

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6. 85

   Paul K Francisposted 10 years ago

   Evil does not lie anywhere. It is not a thing. I see it only as an adjective, one that describes actions taken by hateful people. And there are no evil spirits (if you believe in the spirit thing); there are only good spirits - the kinds that those who have chosen to commit evil acts have turned their backs on. And being hallowed, Halloween cannot be an evil celebration; it is a wonderful time of the year. Enjoy.

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      Lee Teaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      The simple idea that maybe evil isn't real, and an echo of it somewhere, off someone, back to me. 
      
      What a sweet, soothing sound. If all saw that all are good, just struggling, & we all had compassion for every single person.. sounds like hea

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7. 73

   lone77starposted 10 years ago

   Evil exists in selfishness. Ego.
   
   Ego is separateness, like the rift that happened in the Garden of Eden. The fruit (product) was of knowledge of good and evil, but evil is the entire dichotomy -- in fact, all dichotomies. Good-evil, right-wrong, generous-selfish, wisdom-stupidity, compassion-indifference.
   
   Ego is both perpetrator and victim. Ego is the mass murderer and suicide perpetrator. Ego is the little old lady who goes to church every Sunday, but despises the recovering drug addict who sits in the back.
   
   Ego uses lust, not love.
   Ego uses arrogance, not confidence or faith.
   Ego uses victim, not humility.
   Ego uses blame, not responsibility.
   
   I've seen the world without this source of evil. I've been able to see without the need for human eyes and to think without the need of a human brain. I was, for a few brief moments, completely devoid of ego and entirely spiritual. That was bliss.

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      Lee Teaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Yeah, screw ego lol!  I was a marketing professional for years - ego's need for identity, attachment, and form makes a lotta dollas...
      I know we spend our days together, so each night before I fall asleep I thank mine, then send it on its way.

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8. 84

   gmwilliamsposted 10 years ago

   Many people have their own beliefs &constructs regarding life. They have their own respective take regarding what is considered to be evil.  There are many concepts to what is evil as there are people. read more

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      gmwilliamsposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      This hub is in response to the question. Please check it out and leave comments, thank you.

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