Originally posted by Lord Urizen
This is not always so in real life. Good and Evil exist in every human being, to different degrees of that spectrum. Like Adam Poe says, Good and Evil often aim in the same direction, yet the means by which the journey is taken may be in opposition.
Good does not automatically mean "of God" and bad does not automaticalyl mean "against God"... these definitions are totally bias, and based solely on religion and by no other evidense.
My definition may seem bias, but is bias by personal/social research and experience, and not by a book or by a tv show....To me a good act is one where you solely try to enjoy, benefit, or educated another person or people, without greed or any propagandous intention. If you see that your act is only succeeding in annoying, harassing, or harming that person, you withdraw the act immediately. A Good act does not aim to violate one's freedom, individuality, or rights.....yet it also keeps their safety in mind.
An Evil Act by my definition is one where you aim to harm, harass, intentionally mislead, torture, kill, or control another person. Control is never a good thing....control is the withdrawal of one's physical, mental, emotional, social, and personal freedom. A Freedom that is natually deserved by us all, and only comes to question when this freedom is used to immediately and evidently harm or violate another person. An Evil Act is one that causes suffering, strife, conflict or inconvienence that is unwanted by the person recieving it, in the event where that person did NOT do something to violate the rights of another person.
Good and evil are opposites. Even though good and evil can exist in a single individual I would assert that they are working in opposition to each other even in this case. An evil act is an act that is not good, and vice versa. Now, there may be varying degrees of good and evil, but if one side or the other is stronger than the other in a given act then it is either good or evil.
Originally posted by Lord Urizen
True Evils like Hate, Discrimination, Violence, Judgement, and Torment ...yes these will always be to prevent Peace and Pleasure.
I believe your "True Evils" are simplistic and do not necessarily describe evil, they are merely a few extreme cases of evil action. An evil act, however minute is in opposition to a good action of some type.
Originally posted by Lord Urizen
A single good act can prevent an evil act. However, as for good prevailing over evil, i beleive that evil will always exist in someone. Cruelty, Hatred, and Sadism are sometimes thought to be inherit in people, and not always taught...if this is true, then there is no known means of ending this.
I would state that good cannot be defined without the existence of it's opposite.
Originally posted by Lord Urizen
But God does all the time, doesn't he? The God that many of you Christians, Muslims, and Jews preach about seems like the cosmic hypocrit in my opinion.
How a God who created something as complex as this Universe CARES for such miniscule things as our individuality, and would come up with such mundane rules which prevent no true evil (ex: Don't shave your beard, don't have sex with someone of your same gender, put your son first, men are incharge, don't stare at someone with lust if you are not married to them, don't have sex without the intention of children, etc.)
I would claim he is not a hypocrite. I would claim that interpretations made by men can make it seem so, but I do not believe that the God of the Bible is a hypocrite. I would claim that these interpretations are in error if he is made a hypocrite by the interpretation, and as such invalidate the religion using that interpretation as doctrine.
Given that these rules exist/ed, are there possible logical reasons for them? Don't shave your beard, allowed for Jews to be visibly recognized and distinguished from many other peoples. Don't have sex with someone of your same gender, I do not understand the need to do so, and seems to be a healthy consideration in terms of hygiene. Put your son first, to tell you the truth I am unsure as to where you got this one. Men are in charge, I believe that this is an inaccurate statement due to the position men hold in religion and it belittles the role of women. Don't stare at someone with lust if you are not married to them, well this is an extension of no extramarital sex, and as such is of itself a poor example. Don't have sex without the intention of children, if children result, what will be the level of esteem held by parents that did not intend their conception?
Originally posted by Lord Urizen
1) Wrong
.....the Bible, Torah, and Quran hypocritically encourage peace AND violence, understanding AND ignorance, love AND hate, etc. It's the biggest book of contradictions that have EVER EXISTED, and religion is one of the TOP REASONS for justifying hate, violence, and discrimination.
Give some support. You have made a statement here that lacks support, provide it.
Originally posted by Lord Urizen
2) WRONG AGAIN
..The Bible says that homosexuals should be put to death, also says they should be stoned...says prostitutes should be stoned, says massive amounts of people will end up in hell, says God sent disease, famine, and natural disasters as punishments for our "sins", our loving father burns down cities and burns up people's flesh, he wants women as second class beings, daughters are to be sold for money, sons are meant for war....
etc...lots of hypocrisy.
My religions view on the subject
My personal view on the subject is that in these situations the acts described are in conflict with one of the two purposes of the laws.