Does Evil actually exist?
I've often wondered if Evil actually exists. I know that every major religion states that Evil does exist and Evil is going to be the downfall of humanity.
Whole texts revolve around how some gods are good (Usually the one you worship,) and other gods are evil (Usually all of the one's that you don't.)
I know that Hiltler and Mao Tse Tung and Che Guevara are called Evil.
But, does Evil actually exist? Do men intentionally set out to be "The Evil overlord," or is just selfishness or self interest that makes a person "evil"?
Is the real evil when you try to enforce your own viewpoint on everyone else and then punish those who don't think the way you want them to think?
Is it Evil to want to protect your country from people who want to destroy you? Or do we actually have people who want to destroy whole countries?
Are all politicians evil? Are all policies evil?
Is Trump Evil? Are the Clinton's Evil?
What if we are looking at this the wrong way? What if instead, we should be asking. "Is what I'm going to do, going to hurt other people?"
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If you use evil with a capital E, generally it's a personification for a given religion. A great evil, a great enemy, a great satan... I generally interpret such a use as being an attempt to unify or coerce the audience.
Calling specific people evil is just leveraging a common archetype to simplify communication. You say they're evil to bundle up malicious intent, willingness to harm, and disregard for others all in one and then a sort of force multiplier to indicate a generally higher degree than is socially acceptable.
I think evil makes for a nice story or a nice metaphor, but its influence ends there with regard to a universal force. It's great for literature.
Now that's profound. ;-) I can only counter that with the less restrictive A.
No it doesn't exist.
Neither do I.
And this is my greatest accomplishment.
Yup..the Klinton's are evil.
My definition of evil is...anyone who works toward the detriment of me and mine.