can good exist without evil?

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   janesixposted 12 years ago

   I don't think good can exist without evil.
   
   If everything were good, we wouldn't know it. There has to be something to compare it to.
   
   I think when God created the universe, he had to create duality, or pairs of opposites. Male and female, good and evil, light and dark.
   
   I don't think things could exist any other way.
   
   So evil has to exist for the universe to exist.

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      wildernessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      But that duality is a construct of the observer nothing more.
      
      Good is only good in comparison to something else.  Without gradations of "good" there can be no good better than any other (keep in mind that there is some good even in evil just as there is some evil in all good).
      
      Explain male and female to an amoeba.  While a very smart amoeba might recognize the difference it would hold no significance to him.
      
      Explain light to an eyeless fish, living deep underground.  Or consider that light is a form of energy, that there are other forms or either energy or particulate matter that will pass through the entire earth as if it were transparent (which it is to some energies and particles).
      
      No, these ideas are ideas only, and to use them to claim that it was required of God to use them in creation does not agree with the concept of an omnipotent God at all.  In any case there are more cases of non-dual things in nature than duality or pairs.  Only hydrogen, for instance, can fuse to create helium.  Only carbon can form a diamond.  Only humanity has the ability to leave the earth.  We only have one moon and one sun.  There are 6 points on a benzene ring; a most important chemical.  There are 4 chemicals making up DNA.  There are 3 atoms in a water molecule; another very important chemical. 
      
      The list is endless of the non-duality of nature.

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      A Troubled Manposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, it can, very easily. There is no problem with that.
      
      
      
      Not true, acts of goodness don't need anything to compare, there is no reason for comparison.
      
      
      
      And yet, there are many things that have no duality. Your point is moot.
      
      
      
      Sure, if one has their nose only in the Bible, that might be what one would fallaciously believe. It's merely ignorance.
      
      
      
      Completely false.

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      Disappearingheadposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Isaiah 45:7
      King James Version (KJV)
      I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.
      
      No separate evil entity is required.

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         Rad Manposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Brave, most don't like to admit that their God creates evil.
         
         Thumbs up.

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   Jared Milesposted 12 years ago

   Note that both good and evil are subjective terms. They both rely on a personal view to support a system of behaviour.
   
   In some cultures, actions or opinions that some would consider 'evil' can be considered by others to be 'good'. However, I do agree that without something to compare with, it is impossible to determine whether something is truly good or evil.
   
   To your question janesix, I agree that good cannot exist without evil. Without evil, there would be none to  strive to benefit from good, and we would not recognise good when we saw it.
   
   Jared Miles

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      janesixposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Sure I agree they are subjective terms.

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   Zelkiiroposted 12 years ago

   Here's a dilemma (brought to you by Dungeons & Dragons!):
   
   You are a Rogue. Your alignment is Chaotic Good, which means you strive to do good at all times, though you feel the law is superfluous; essentially, you're Robin Hood. You hunt down bandits, take their loot, and give it to charities and the poor and what-have-you. You see the lawmakers and their apathy as evil, and do everything in your power to snub it.
   
   You are accosted by a Paladin. His alignment is Lawful Good, which means he strives to do good at all times, but the law is absolute; he is the Hand of Justice, the altruistic holy guy. He sees your appropriation of goods and unsolicited bandit-slaying as evil, and so he must do everything in his power to bring you to justice, either by the courts or by the blade.
   
   Who's the bad guy?

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      janesixposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      The rogue is the better of the two, he is following what he feels is right. The Paladin is only folloing man-made laws.

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         janesixposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         I take back what I said. There's really not enough information about either of the two. I suppose The palladin could be the better person. I suppose there's nothing wrong with uphilding man-made laws as long as you agree with them in your heart.
         
         And i suppose the rogue could just be a plain-out asshole, he IS slaying people and all that.
         
         It really is hard to tell.

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