This is a bit of weird one I think. This came to me when I was reading a Philip K. Dick short story about something similer. This is purly hypothetical and I mean no offence.
If god is in everything and everyone, does that not make him as much an evil malevolent as a divine benevolent?
It just seems to me that evil is as much a thing as good; and something claimed to be everything must surely be both?
Thoughts on this random thought?
I may disagree strongly with what you have to say, but I will die to defend your right to say it.
well duh!
Doesnt every one think that?? Well not evil but then God not exactly good either. God is God. Not Good or evil as we understand it, its soooo much more complicated. My 6 year old sister asked me somthing similar this morning what is this the day of religious questions?
Anyway my point is as Muslim that is pretty much what I belive for us god has 99 names and some of them are a bit contradictry until you put it in this context like The Giver, The Taker, The Merciful, The Strict, The Forgiving, The Unforgiving, The aparnt, The hidden, The first The Last , just to mention a few that are translateable, I can off the top of my ead only think of a handful that dont have oposites, The Iternal, The One, The all-Knowing, and a few like that.
Last edited by Nightshade; 01-07-2007 at 03:24 PM.
My mission in life is to make YOU smile
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Blake had similar thoughts and used them in his poetry. I guess we all have entertained such ideas if only for fleeting moments. But as God is entirely good (in a way that we cannot comprehend) then there can be no spot or flaw there and the casting out of the rebel angels could I guess be seen as a an act of a God unwilling to countenance anything other than 'The Good' in His presence. Christ however has experienced Hell so God is present there as in Heaven and that would take a much more articulate theologian than I am to explain at all.
And, another alternative, you could think that God is totally and only good, but that there is also a an evil God. Within this universe, the two are irreconcilable and eternally at war.
Voices mysterious far and near,
Sound of the wind and sound of the sea,
Are calling and whispering in my ear,
Whifflingpin! Why stayest thou here?
I believe it has much to do with the concept that the Lord Christ took on flesh (that He could serve as a mediator between God and Man) but was not touched with our infirmities (sickness/sins/ etc) that His death on the cross and resurrection from the grave would serve as a acceptable sacrifice for sin and maintain holiness. Freely admit the concrpt of evil is a great and deep mystery that may (or not) be explained after judgement day.
Rich (Dick only when I venture back to New York from year to year)
Hmm. I was reading The Source a couple days ago, which i have come to beleive is one of the best books ever written, and thinking about this. Basically i guess it's just what you beleive. If God is simply a force, a cause, then he can be neither good nor evil but simply there, which i think is like Judaism. If he is personified, like Christianity does, depicting him and even giving him a benevolent "son", then he is like a human - with the capacity for either good or evil but wholly of neither.
No day but today
-God is real, unless proclaimed integer-
Who said "There's no Devil, there's just God when he drinks"?
Por una cabeza
Si ella me olvida
Qué importa perderme
Mil veces la vida
Para qué vivir
>If god is in everything and everyone, does that not make him as much an evil malevolent as a divine benevolent?
This is an age old question - if God is just everything then you're a Buddhist and God is both good and evil (but then neither exists in this system, only choices, which are good or bad).
If God is more than everything - for from him and through him and to him are all things - then you're probably a Jew or Christian. The general mindset here is that "good" is defined by God himself; thus, God is good/everything He does is good, for God works all things to His own good/His glory.
It's a very difficult concept to grasp, but evil is necessary for the existence of "good", just as darkness is the concept by which we measure light.
Read the book of Romans for further questions. I'm tired and depressed and can't really shape ideas anymore...
Madness is my defense against Reality.
I saw Lucifer in starlight standing elegant and grim;
A slim, conceited bastard in his uniform and boots.
And I watched him get excited as he waved his arms and boasted,
“The world’s a prize to seize for those who have the will.”
And would I be inclined to run for office?
I thought it over quietly,
Politely turned him down
And wondered, was he beaten as a child?
The biggest bullies were once victims themselves.
A lot of little Hitlers have grown up beneath the lash.
His is no temptation; I had loving parents.
And I cannot help but pity his disease.
I observed the young seductress flash her long silken legs;
The skin above her stockings so invitingly smooth.
And she broke the breathy silence as she arched her back and whispered,
“Women dress to be undressed, or so they say in France.”
And would I like to stay and do the honors?
I thought it over quietly,
Glanced down to check my watch
And asked her, “Is your mother waiting up?”
If all I cared about was pleasing myself,
The weight of my desires would be more than I could bear.
And this sweet temptation, she’s some father’s daughter,
As I cannot help but be my Father’s son.
Emotion should be molded by reason
Into something that’s designed to do some good.
No need to fashion a hammer
If the only thing to pound is someone’s heart.
And all you’ve got to do is take one more step,
One more step,
One more step.
All you’ve got to do is take one more step
And one more after that.
I’ve been on this train forever, or at least that’s how it seems.
I’ve traced the buckled strap iron from the highlands to the sea.
And I chuckle in agreement when the club car porter mumbles,
“It’s amateurs who brag about how much they dare to drink.”
And would I care to have another double?
I thought it over quietly,
Sat back to light a smoke
And offered, “It’s a tough profession, friend.”
Inherent weakness or just simple fatigue,
A stumble’s still a stumble; makes no difference how you fall.
But I'll fight temptation till the thirst turns brutal,
Then I cannot help but reach for my reward.
Otis Trench
"...There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so."
From Shakespeare's Hamlet
After silence, that which comes closest to expressing the inexpressible is music.
-Aldous Huxley
Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius.
-W. A. Mozart
Non scholae, sed vitae discimus.
Not school, but life teaches us.
Nice quote, Miss Darcy.
"You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life."
To go wrong in one's own way is better than to go right in someone else's" - Dostoevksy
There are some things clearly good or bad whether we can 'think' them so or not. Why would we run away from something dangerous if not?
Well thats a good way of putting itOriginally Posted by Miss Darcy
Yes but dangerous isnt nesserially evil, and in a way 'evil' isnt nessiserly mortaly dangerous
My mission in life is to make YOU smile
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The time has come," the Walrus said,"To talk of many things:
Forum Rules- You know you want to read 'em
|Litnet Challange status = 5/260
|currently reading
Well I agree but I can't think about it till my body lets me. On balance my body tells me being eaten by a tiger is NOT A GOOD THING and my mind doesn't have to come into the equation at all - until I stop running that is.
Last edited by ennison; 01-08-2007 at 06:38 AM.
Darkness doesn't exist in and of itself. It is merely the absence of light.
What if... evil doesn't exist in and of itself... rather it is merely the absence of good?
moreover... if God is ALL good... then you can rewrite that as
evil doesn't exist in and of itself... rather it is merely the absence of God
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