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Getting Real : Tea for Two
Why is Evil Good? | from Fish - Monday, August 23, 2004
accessed 1626 times There must be darkness to see the stars… Is good really so good? Every good deed must have an evil counterpart or it would not be good. This being said, who is to say what may or may not be good? It has been said, “Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.” However, without light there would be no shadow. A truer saying is, “To light a candle is to cast a shadow.”
No one likes evil. Those that say they do might not enjoy being tortured or raped or murdered, some of the behaviors that most of us recognize as evil. But why do these things happen? In explanation we have the Christian sins: love of money, lust, anger, and underlying all, pride and selfishness.
But are pride and selfishness truly evil? Pride can most certainly not be said to be evil. Many things that we classify as “good” are the fruits of pride: honor, dignity, knowledge, self-esteem and love. Even discretion requires pride. A man with no pride would hardly be a man and would likely not be considered good. A man with no pride would not hesitate to rape, rob or murder. The same may be said of selfishness. In order to exist and in order to accomplish anything, one must be selfish.
Therefore, it cannot be said that the supposed “roots of evil” are truly evil. (Unless one believes that existence itself is evil.) Taken to extremes they may be classed as such, however, most anything taken to extremes will yield evil results. It follows that we should not concern ourselves with eradicating these traits; rather we must strive to find a balance between them. True good is not found in the destruction of evil, it is found in balancing it. If there was no evil there would be no good. If one would be of service to man, let him not strive to “right the wrongs” but to balance them. We may never attain a perfect human state, but if an equilibrium were reached, we would likely be closer to any than we have ever been before.
A man incapable of evil is not a man. We are men. Let’s stay this way. |
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Reader's comments on this article Add a new comment on this article |  from colden
Thursday, November 27, 2008 - 19:07
(Agree/Disagree?)
I believe you may enjoy the teachings of the Tao. Its focus is on the ballencing of yin and yang (which the west has confused as masculine and feminine) for harmony of ones existance.
(reply to this comment)
| | | | from
Wednesday, February 16, 2005 - 01:10
(Agree/Disagree?)
A very dualistic viewpoint.
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| from dalai pot lama
Tuesday, February 15, 2005 - 22:41
(Agree/Disagree?)
Hmmm. Well, in my opinion, nature always finds a way to balance itself.
Humans can't balance evil and good, because humans don't know what evil is.
What is evil? If murder is evil, then is it possible to commit evil, for a righteous cause? Would it be non-evil to say, murder a child molester in order to stop him/her from commiting further evil?
Nature always balances itself by pitting one species against another, or causing turmoil within one species.
So evil is natural, just as much as good is natural. What we should do is make our judgement according to our limited knowledge. If we feel one way is just, then we should pursue that. Feck balance. Nature will balance herself.
gimme another pull
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| | | |  From Greensack
Wednesday, February 16, 2005, 08:32
(Agree/Disagree?)
An interesting read on the nature of goodness and evil is Platos The Republic. Particularly the first four books. Everytime I read that I'm amazed at the intelligence and foresight of Socrates, he was a brilliant mind and of course it got him killed. I beleive it's required reading for all high school kids, but most just flip through it enough to pass a test and never really go back and study it for what it is. A brilliant blueprint for our modern life.(reply to this comment) |
| | from selvegion
Saturday, September 11, 2004 - 19:24
(Agree/Disagree?)
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| from frmrjoyish
Thursday, August 26, 2004 - 08:51
  (Agree/Disagree?)
Were you speaking to only the male members of "Moving On"? Because "we" are not all men. I, for one, am a woman and proud to be so. Let's not forget there are two genders in the world!!
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| | | | From Fish
Friday, August 27, 2004, 10:03
(Agree/Disagree?)
Ah screw you guys Im going home!!! You just need to get in your daily Loving Jesus time!! By "we are men" you would think I meant that in the mankind sense of the word. Either you two never read anything clasic or you dont think... Ill be posting a "Jesus Speaking" here shortly to give you the LORDS mind on the matter. Stay tuned!!! PTL! GBY!!! ILY! WLY! TLLY! TYJ!!! (end of message from Dad)(reply to this comment) |
| | | | | from porceleindoll
Wednesday, August 25, 2004 - 03:41
(Agree/Disagree?)
Have you ever read Damien by Herman Hesse? He touches on this very point, the necessity of evil in order to have good, and therefore the need for evil, else there would be no need for good.
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| from Question
Tuesday, August 24, 2004 - 19:41
(Agree/Disagree?)
How long have you been out of the family?
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| from Correction
Tuesday, August 24, 2004 - 19:39
(Agree/Disagree?)
"We are men. Let’s stay this way"
My sister's not a man.
(reply to this comment)
| from Shaka
Tuesday, August 24, 2004 - 10:11
(Agree/Disagree?)
Or like Satan says in that great epic, South Park: The Movie, "Without evil there can be no good so it must be good to be evil sometimes".
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| | | | | | | | | | from banal_commentator
Tuesday, August 24, 2004 - 06:04
(Agree/Disagree?)
What a banal article
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