What Is Evil? Duality of Man
Evil – the duality of man
I do not believe that the term “evil” is a word that can be used as a characteristic. I believe that “evil” is merely the label that society places upon those who are different in a specific way. It is only in our evolved “moral” society, that people are placed in groups depending on their so called traits, e.g. evil/good. In my opinion, everyone is a blank sheet. It is not their speeches, it is not their actions and it is not their personalities that colours them. It is what society labels them as. Anyone who is different gets a label. A great example is the people of various Islamic terrorist organisations. In our western society they are evil, but in their origin countries, they are saviours, trying to rid the world of non-believers. It is merely a question of perspective. Another example is the Roman invasion of France and Germany around 5 B.C. If we ask the French or the Germans of that time, they would see the romans as tyrants, but if we ask the romans, they would see themselves as great heroes, bent on expanding the great empire of Rome.
If we instead treat the word “evil” as a term used on persons, and not groups the answer is a little bit different. I still believe that no one is born evil, and that evil is in the eye of the beholder, but there is a little tweak. Coincidences do not exist, when it comes to the actions of man. Everything has a reason, this meaning, that man can make an accident, like the discovery of penicillin, but every deliberate action has a meaning, even if it is a subconscious one. And because of this, an action cannot be labelled as evil. Now that we have established that the term “evil” is merely a label, we can begin to discuss whether or not this term can be used to describe persons who have done “evil” deeds. Picture in your mind, a 2 metre tall man, with tattoos covering most of his body and a leather jacket with the imprint: “Bandidos”. At first one would say: That man is evil, this being because
I do not believe that the term “evil” is a word that can be used as a characteristic. I believe that “evil” is merely the label that society places upon those who are different in a specific way. It is only in our evolved “moral” society, that people are placed in groups depending on their so called traits, e.g. evil/good. In my opinion, everyone is a blank sheet. It is not their speeches, it is not their actions and it is not their personalities that colours them. It is what society labels them as. Anyone who is different gets a label. A great example is the people of various Islamic terrorist organisations. In our western society they are evil, but in their origin countries, they are saviours, trying to rid the world of non-believers. It is merely a question of perspective. Another example is the Roman invasion of France and Germany around 5 B.C. If we ask the French or the Germans of that time, they would see the romans as tyrants, but if we ask the romans, they would see themselves as great heroes, bent on expanding the great empire of Rome.
If we instead treat the word “evil” as a term used on persons, and not groups the answer is a little bit different. I still believe that no one is born evil, and that evil is in the eye of the beholder, but there is a little tweak. Coincidences do not exist, when it comes to the actions of man. Everything has a reason, this meaning, that man can make an accident, like the discovery of penicillin, but every deliberate action has a meaning, even if it is a subconscious one. And because of this, an action cannot be labelled as evil. Now that we have established that the term “evil” is merely a label, we can begin to discuss whether or not this term can be used to describe persons who have done “evil” deeds. Picture in your mind, a 2 metre tall man, with tattoos covering most of his body and a leather jacket with the imprint: “Bandidos”. At first one would say: That man is evil, this being because