Some issues have come up recently around good and evil, and I thought maybe we should discuss them. In a friendly way, like at a cocktail party. No knocking each other’s religion or lack thereof, or bashing their ideas on the head with a bottle of Absolut. OK, there will be all of that, who am I kidding, but friendly bashing. I’m very much looking forward to us getting to the bottom of this good and evil thing.
As a Daoist, maybe I should look to the Tao Te Ching to understand evil. Hm. Not much help actually:
Chapter 2:
Under heaven all can see beauty as beauty only because there is ugliness.
All can know good as good only because there is evil.
Chapter 20:
Is there a difference between yes and no?
Is there a difference between good and evil?
Must I fear what others fear? What nonsense!
Chapter 60:
Approach the universe with Tao, And evil will have no power.
Not that evil is not powerful,
But its power will not be used to harm others.
The Bible has much more to say about evil, but as near as I can tell, doesn’t actually define it anywhere, either.
Some folks see evil as an active force, and the world as being a cosmic struggle between good and evil. I don’t buy that. A CM here recently advised me that “Evil is the absence of good.” That seems woefully inadequate. When I made a selfish decision to skip a family friend’s memorial service, that was not good. . .but was it evil? I don’t think so. On the other hand, that French dude who invited scores of men to rape his drugged wife–can you really say that’s just “an absence of good?” Nope. It is much more than that.
And now let’s bring God into it. The “problem of evil” is a notorious argument against an omnipotent, loving God. But his defenders have a Trump card: Free will. Free will creates evil; without evil, there could be no free will. Nonsense, IMO, but we can hash that out in the comments.
Questions:
- What is evil, actually? A force? A thing? The absence of something? Merely a construct?
- What is good, actually? A force? A thing? The absence of something? Merely a construct? Could there be good without evil?
- An omnipotent, loving deity would presumably create the best possible universe. Is a universe with evil better than a universe without evil?
- Could there be a universe without evil? Could there be free will in a universe without evil?
So mix yourself a nice Vodka Collins, and let’s bash each other over the head in a nice convivial, genial, gladsome manner!