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Towards the end of class today, (before we were so rudely interrupted by the bell) a discussion regarding the role of the word ‘evil’ in today’s society was sparked. Needless to say, the concept of evil doesn’t play as much of a significant role as it used to, and the question is ‘Does our society need the concept of evil to help keep people in line, or can we do without it?’ I’ll be honest: With all today’s technology and new explanations for even the most horrendous actions of humans, I almost feel silly using the word evil. I think many psychologists/psychiatrists feel the same way. Referring to something as ‘evil’ is admitting that they don’t fully understand what they’re dealing with. Although it makes sense that society would use something like evil to help keep its people “in line”, it still doesn’t feel right to me. I owe this thought to my very logical personality.

So, in a nutshell, my gut says we don’t need the concept of evil in our society, as we have logical explanations for what we used to consider ‘evil.’

This was an enjoyable read for me, because it contained several perspectives regarding the concept of evil from people of entirely different backgrounds. While lots of different points were made and contradicted, there was one point that remained constant for (almost) the entire article: Evil is an overwhelmingly large force, which cannot be contained by simply referring to something or someone as “evil.” I strongly agreed with this statement, because it makes so much sense. If we refer to Hitler or Osama as ‘evil’, it almost suggests that if we rid of them (Hitler’s already dead, by the way =) ) then ‘evil’ will no longer be a problem for today’s society. I think we can all agree that this is not the case. Many of the articles refer to the events of 9/11 as evil, when in reality it is just one of many other acts which could potentially be considered even more evil. 9/11 has directly affected our generation, so it has hit us much harder than events such as the holocaust.

One holocaust survivor stated that her definition of evil is the things she has seen and heard around her, including the men who burned her entire family to ashes. She declares, “Were they too created in the image of God? I don’t know. What does it say about God?” This particular quote hit me pretty hard, because I’ve always wondered what God’s role was in midst of people like this. To be honest, I’m still not sure.

Chrissy writes…

In today’s society, examples of evil are the common rape and murder crimes, the terrorist attack on September 11, or the shootings that have occured at schools. Evil of the same sort has occured in the past, examples being slavery, wars, or genocide. All of these are acceptable instances of evil; it’s something that simply isn’t right.

Well, this basically sums it all up. =) I especially agree with evil in genocide, as there is rarely a legitimate reason for mass casualties. One example in particular is the Rwandan genocide from the early 90’s. This genocide was filled with pure evil, as almost one million people were executed without reason in less than a month. The lack of response (from the UN and US particularly) was outrageous. I’m not done, so chill.

What is evil? In the traditional sense, evil is any action done to with intentions to harm another living being. People are not evil; their actions are. Once this consensus is reached, further, more specific definitions of evil are in the eyes of the beholder. For example, your typical emo 7th grade girl will consider gossip regarding her to be evil, while an average adult will be able to look beyond that. Dictionary.com defines evil as ‘morally wrong, or bad.’ If only it were that simple. On the one hand, you can technically consider the gossip to be morally wrong, but I doubt very many of us will truly find it to be an evil action. Evil is in the eyes of the beholder.

Our modern world is filled with evil. Take a look at the terrorist attacks that occured roughly five years ago: I believe that those actions were evil. I find it particularly interesting that many people these days find that they need to resort to ‘evil’ to resolve a conflict. A closer look into the life of Osama Bin-Laden reveals that he (shockingly) is a relatively peaceful man who would always try to solve conflicts harmlessly (source: 1 of his 6,000 brothers). Clearly, Osama felt that he needed to resort to evil to get his point across.

Another example of evil in our modern world is our two friends at Columbine High School. Whether they attempted at a peaceful resolution or not is irrelevent, for eventually they felt the need to resort to evil. This is also a terrific example of where the interpreation of ‘evil’ comes into play. At the end of the day, the jocks probably didn’t think twice about their actions towards Eric and Dylan, but clearly Eric and Dylan felt it was evil enough to warrant an unauthorized death sentence. For the record, I consider the actions of Eric, Dylan, and Osama to be evil regardless.

Adolf Hitler is a man from the past whose actions I would consider to be evil. Needless to say, he is responsible for the deaths of six million innocent people.

[off topic] Want a good laugh? Have a click. [/offtopic]

I have no idea what someone could have said to Hitler to make him angry enough to kill six million people. It must have been bad, though. I find it interesting that some people (probably bored with their own pathetic lives) try to semi-justify his actions by diagnosing him as a sociopath years after his death. (I recognize that not all people who study this try to “justify” his actions.)

Another example of evil in history is the witch trials in Salem, MA. It’s debatable as to whether the people were true morons, or whether there is some sort of logical explanation for the “possessed.” Either way, I accuse you of witchcraft. At the end of the day, 1692 Salem is an example of evil actions from history.

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