Is God responsible for EVIL in the world?

Buddha2525 said:

Since when is the cat not an observer?

Second, I'm not zen. Read my Buddhist Sunday School thread, I'm a Pure Lander.

We don't have "animalistic tendencies" we are above animals, who've once been animals, and remember our past lives as an animal. Somehow in a past life we did something good enough to get reborn a human, the first state in animal samsara(cycle of rebirth) which can reach enlightenment. Some who remember their animal life, think therefore that animal life was correct.

People become evil, and aren't born evil. Everyone can become a Buddha, it's the person, and their life experience which makes or breaks Buddhahood, based on past life karmic actions. Otherwise, how do some who grow up amongst thieves become police, yet some police become criminals?

You say evil doesn't exist. It sure does exist. Every action you do causing purposeful harm out of greed, ego, lust, ignorance, or hate puts that much more evil in the world. To claim otherwise is a sophist argument.

The whole, "forgive them father for they know not what they do." Sure you can forgive, that makes you better, but it doesn't excuse their evils. Only those who do evil can change their evil ways.

Your "argument" is, if I can convince myself it's not evil, then it's not evil is a wrong view.

It's like a feminist who hates Christians who hates gays, but goes to a rally to have Barabas the Muslim out of jail for cutting off his daughter's clitoris and then throwing her off a high rise building once he found out she was gay, because "Imperialist America intervened!"

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He never said evil doesn’t exist tho

Sour Wreck said:

very true...

God is responsible for EVIL in the world. thanks for confirming.

would love to hear from more christians?

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Evil is a concept.

Buddha2525 said:

Since when is the cat not an observer?

Second, I'm not zen. Read my Buddhist Sunday School thread, I'm a Pure Lander.

We don't have "animalistic tendencies" we are above animals, who've once been animals, and remember our past lives as an animal. Somehow in a past life we did something good enough to get reborn a human, the first state in animal samsara(cycle of rebirth) which can reach enlightenment. Some who remember their animal life, think therefore that animal life was correct.

People become evil, and aren't born evil. Everyone can become a Buddha, it's the person, and their life experience which makes or breaks Buddhahood, based on past life karmic actions. Otherwise, how do some who grow up amongst thieves become police, yet some police become criminals?

You say evil doesn't exist. It sure does exist. Every action you do causing purposeful harm out of greed, ego, lust, ignorance, or hate puts that much more evil in the world. To claim otherwise is a sophist argument.

The whole, "forgive them father for they know not what they do." Sure you can forgive, that makes you better, but it doesn't excuse their evils. Only those who do evil can change their evil ways.

Your "argument" is, if I can convince myself it's not evil, then it's not evil is a wrong view.

It's like a feminist who hates Christians who hates gays, but goes to a rally to have Barabas the Muslim out of jail for cutting off his daughter's clitoris and then throwing her off a high rise building once he found out she was gay, because "Imperialist America intervened!"

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When does bad cross the line and become evil? The whole animal thing. How can we be above something we once were? Why not just call it different instead of less important, maybe it's our egotistical ways? If it is indeed our ego then isn't that whole religion built on evil?

...

For one thing, I don't sit in a corner masturbating and crying.

At any moment you can enter samadhi and return to reality. Rather than sit bored, you contemplate and dwell on what you've done that day, similar to someone writing in their diary.

Not once are you ever out of control. Some will sit and meditate, you are right, that is sitting in the corner to masturbate.

But you can enter Samadhi while doing a task. You become so engrossed in the task, you become the task. So no matter what you're doing, it becomes a pleasure not just something you dread and wish was over, like most people who go to work, counting the minutes until they can clock out of their lives as a slave.

Not once do I ever feel the urge for evil, sure you can dwell on evil and thought experience evil, but the wanting to do evil vanishes once you realize, what did doing evil get me? Nothing!

Ta ta,

Namo Amituofo!

I'm sorry I'm sorry. I went to far was just stirring the pot. Have a good day everyone I need a drag

mr sunshine said:

Evil is a concept.

When does bad cross the line and become evil? The whole animal thing. How can we be above something we once were? Why not just call it different instead of less important, maybe it's our egotistical ways? If it is indeed our ego then isn't that whole religion built on evil?

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There's no "bad" only evil.

You were once a baby, who only knows to eat, sleep, cry, and shit, pretty much like Trump, no? But most of us grow, we turn from baby, to adult, knowing consequences. Just as we were once a lower animal. He only knows survival, doesn't contemplate wanting freedom from existence, his only want is existing. But we go from jellyfish who only stings out of response, to stinging when a human to protect those who do harm.

We have no ego. What we call ego is a false notion. We call ourselves "I" but what is this "I?" The moment you say, "this is what makes me Buddha2525," is the notion Bruce Lee here confuses with this whole "dead and alive" nonsense.

Are you saying because Buddhism rejects the "self" and we are just a empty pot who is called self, that's evil? No. Many confuse Buddhist concept of "emptiness" as being a synonym for "nothingness." Nothing can be further from the truth.

Think of it like this. What most humans think of "ego" and "self" is a tree. To a Buddhist, we are really a reed, blowing with the wind. Who experiences moment to moment, changing as he goes along. While a tree fights the winds, but eventually loses and blows away, leaving behind it's roots. You can still keep your root of who is "I" as long as you don't stay so rigid, not accepting you now is not you a second later, yet at the same time, was the you ten years ago somehow not "you?"

But how different we have become!

doctordetroit said:

I'm sorry I'm sorry. I went to far was just stirring the pot. Have a good day everyone I need a drag

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Since when are all Buddhist the same? Since when are all stoners the same? If so, why do some on here who smoke want to light up after burning a cross, while another wants to light up after throwing a Molotov cocktail at the the cross burner? Hmm?

The saying is the enemy of my enemy is not necessarily my friend. The enemy of my enemy is my friend (only until he doesn't need me anymore!)

Venus55 said:

He never said evil doesn’t exist tho

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He did.

"own definition of our animalistic tendencies, "evil."

To him the word evil is "animalistic tendencies" what I say is what scientists say. We are the sum of our DNA which is a genetic blueprint and code.

Science first figured this out when they studied monarch butterflies. They know where to fly only because of DNA, when those parts of DNA become changed, the butterfly no longer knows where his old home was, and you can program him to fly somewhere new.

This example is only one small part of karma. Not only does karma have this whole "predestination" feature, but also includes acts of "god" like forces of nature not in your control. Others include spiritual revelations, like from meditation or doing shrooms that forever change a person. Then there's our connection to the cosmos as a super intelligent universe itself.

Evil happens when we don't grow from an experience, like those on a holy war. It's not because we are this animal. That animal is not us, it's Maya (illusion) which deludes us. It goes by many names: evil, Satan, Mara, Trump... But we ourselves don't have these "tendencies," that's only a cop out. Like when a pedophile says "I have this tendency and urges!" I call bullshit, sorry if that hurts your feels, but reality's a bitch hun!

Anyways,

As always,

Namo Amituofo!

all this Buddhist shit is interesting, i guess.

i am more concerned with the concept of evil/god in regards to white evangelical christians and their God. the one they call Yahweh(YHWH).

these morons help shape american culture, so their fantasies are the ones i am concerned about.

Sour Wreck said:

all this Buddhist shit is interesting, i guess.

i am more concerned with the concept of evil/god in regards to white evangelical christians and their God. the one they call Yahweh(YHWH).

these morons help shape american culture, so their fantasies are the ones i am concerned about.

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That's bigoted, bro!

I don't see pray to Jesus at the doctor, but there's a Yoga and meditation class flier.

You're so 1999.

For about 20 years, secular, and new age mumbo jumbo has ruled. About the only "christian" value which still holds true in my area is shops close early on Sundays. Other than that the only time I hear Jesus is from either online, or if I help out some poor homeless schmuck saying, "Jesus loves you, God bless!"

My family behind closed doors also talks about Yahweh too.

Namo Amituofo!

Buddha2525 said:

That's bigoted, bro!

I don't see pray to Jesus at the doctor, but there's a Yoga and meditation class flier.

You're so 1999.

For about 20 years, secular, and new age mumbo jumbo has ruled. About the only "christian" value which still holds true in my area is shops close early on Sundays. Other than that the only time I hear Jesus is from either online, or if I help out some poor homeless schmuck saying, "Jesus loves you, God bless!"

My family behind closed doors also talks about Yahweh too.

Namo Amituofo!

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all religion is fucked in my world. so if i sound like a bigot towards religion, i am...

you obviously don't live in rural southern america. we have billboards for Jesus along the roads...

white evangelicals provided the extra votes for trump to win the election. in the past any other candidate to act like him and say the things he does would automatically disqualify him/her. but white evangelicals saw a stolen supreme court appointment and a challenge to legal abortion.

i am tired of being governed by people with sky daddy fantasies...

you're perception of christianity in america is way off....

Sour Wreck said:

all religion is fucked in my world. so if i sound like a bigot towards religion, i am...

you obviously don't live in rural southern america. we have billboards for Jesus along the roads...

white evangelicals provided the extra votes for trump to win the election. in the past any other candidate to act like him and say the things he does would automatically disqualify him/her. but white evangelicals saw a stolen supreme court appointment and a challenge to legal abortion.

i am tired of being governed by people with sky daddy fantasies...

you're perception of christianity in america is way off....

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Then you're bigoted towards all life? No matter what, there's religion. Science is based off the religion of sexual repression. If you follow science, then you're following a reaction to religion.

Freud thought everything was sexual because he couldn't talk about it, so he used science as an excuse for lusting after mommy.

The Big Bang is a response to the idea of God was before that nothing except God. Then he used his word, in the beginning there was nothing, then God said, let there be light, and he was pleased. Same as Hindu/Vedic. Om is the vibration of the universe, out of it from nothing came creation. Big Bang was a thought experiment of a Roman Catholic Priest.

Even Einstein based his theories on syncretism of Buddhist and Judeo thought.

Without religion, you can have no appreciation for art or music. Literature is based on rules of spiritual thought. By saying religion is bad, you lose out on many wonderful creations in society.

When you get rid of religion, all you have left is a theory of random chaos, which will eventually die out when all change dies, and the universe dies from sameness, heat death. Isn't that depressing?

You are your own religion. In the end, religion is what you make it.

By thinking you can escape religion by ignoring and hating it, the only thing you accomplish is letting religion control you, rather than you control religion.

But how do you escape you?

Sadhguru:

God is an exaggerated version of yourself. Since you cannot even define yourself, and can never correctly define yourself enough. How do you therefore put a definition on the source of creation? Neither is able to be understood. You can only dissolve into it, and experience, but never know. Any knowledge about god is pure cultural nonsense. The only way is through experience. There's no other way.

What many think, is because God is thought of as this "sky daddy" they then come to the conclusion: well he sucks, so I'd rather no God. I want no higher power.

But that's foolish. There are plenty of higher powers in control.

For you those are a religion you want no part of, but constantly worry about, rather than finding something for you.

Namo Amituofo!

Buddha2525 said:

Then you're bigoted towards all life? No matter what, there's religion. Science is based off the religion of sexual repression. If you follow science, then you're following a reaction to religion.

Freud thought everything was sexual because he couldn't talk about it, so he used science as an excuse for lusting after mommy.

The Big Bang is a response to the idea of God was before that nothing except God. Then he used his word, in the beginning there was nothing, then God said, let there be light, and he was pleased. Same as Hindu/Vedic. Om is the vibration of the universe, out of it from nothing came creation. Big Bang was a thought experiment of a Roman Catholic Priest.

Even Einstein based his theories on syncretism of Buddhist and Judeo thought.

Without religion, you can have no appreciation for art or music. Literature is based on rules of spiritual thought. By saying religion is bad, you lose out on many wonderful creations in society.

When you get rid of religion, all you have left is a theory of random chaos, which will eventually die out when all change dies, and the universe dies from sameness, heat death. Isn't that depressing?

You are your own religion. In the end, religion is what you make it.

By thinking you can escape religion by ignoring and hating it, the only thing you accomplish is letting religion control you, rather than you control religion.

But how do you escape you?

Sadhguru:

God is an exaggerated version of yourself. Since you cannot even define yourself, and can never correctly define yourself enough. How do you therefore put a definition on the source of creation? Neither is able to be understood. You can only dissolve into it, and experience, but never know. Any knowledge about god is pure cultural nonsense. The only way is through experience. There's no other way.

What many think, is because God is thought of as this "sky daddy" they then come to the conclusion: well he sucks, so I'd rather no God. I want no higher power.

But that's foolish. There are plenty of higher powers in control.

For you those are a religion you want no part of, but constantly worry about, rather than finding something for you.

Namo Amituofo!

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my religion is exposing hypocrites

so the white evangelical GOD allows evil in the world, even to his followers. that is, if you subscribe to christianity....

and even though the christian god is omni-everything, he allows murder, rape, sexual molestation of children and babies.

we have free will, but if we choose to do other than he wants, then we will burn in damnation forever and ever...

people had a lot of time to think and try to control others back in the day...

doctordetroit said:

leviticus would be a great read for you then chunkystool

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I've read it.
Would you like to talk about the bible?

How do you feel about incest...?

Skeet Kuhn Dough said:

Kind of interesting having a conversation about evil and then trying to quantify evil while insisting there isn't a god. I'm not religious, but I also don't believe in evil. When a dog mauls a person, is it evil? When that pet chimpanzee mauled that lady and ate her face off, was it evil? Human beings are animals, just like any other creature on planet Earth. The difference between us and other animals is that our brains are so much more advanced. We can conceptualize, through empathy, something called "evil," or something called "goodness." At the end of the day we're a slave to our internal instincts.... greed, which is really just our natural instincts pushing us to "win." Food, sex, reward. Just like a wolf pack has its alpha dog, humans are driven to dominate, just like a chimps do. Our amazing brains allow us to dwell on these thoughts, while an alpha male chimp wouldn't think twice about destroying a rival, nor would he dwell on it. Our ability to conceptualize our behavior and create deep thought, or, critical thinking, about our actions, in fact "creates" evil, or, rather, our idea of evil and what it means. So, yes, in a very real sense, mankind has created evil, or at least our own definition of our animalistic tendencies, "evil."

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Interesting.
How do you explain bonobo monkeys?

Chunky Stool said:

Interesting.
How do you explain bonobo monkeys?

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Easy. They're not monkeys at all. They're apes. Joking aside, what is it that you're wanting me to explain? I know that they were separated by a river from the ancestors of the common chimpanzee (neither excel at swimming).I know they prefer sex to violence. Don't wanna drop a research paper on them, but I'll leave it that they're definitely more altruistic than chimps and that they really only live in the Congo.

Sour Wreck said:

white evangelicals provided the extra votes for trump to win the election.

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Along with evangelicals of every race, and the millions and millions of folks who voted for Obama twice.

Buddha2525 said:

Then you're bigoted towards all life? No matter what, there's religion. Science is based off the religion of sexual repression.

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No, science is defined as: the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment. Nice try, bud.

Buddha2525 said:

The Big Bang is a response to the idea of God was before that nothing except God. Then he used his word, in the beginning there was nothing, then God said, let there be light, and he was pleased. Same as Hindu/Vedic. Om is the vibration of the universe, out of it from nothing came creation. Big Bang was a thought experiment of a Roman Catholic Priest.

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You're so uninformed. I can also tell that you think really highly of yourself even as you hide behind your ridiculous buddhist shenanigans/quotes. The Big The Big Bang theory developed from observations of the structure of the universe and from theoretical considerations. Vesto Slipher first measure the doppler shift of a galaxy and that almost all of them were flying away from Earth. Roughly one decade later, it was Alexander Friedmann that we might not live in a static universe and instead may be living in an ever expanding universe. Edwin Hubble later confirmed that what we had been seeing were in fact other galaxies (beforehand we weren't 100 percent sure). Almost TWENTY years after Sipher, a Roman Catholic priest, who was ALSO A PHYSICIST, suggested that we were indeed living in an expanding universe; his name was George Lemaître. If our observations showed us that we were indeed living in an expanding universe, then obviously, if you rewind all of this, we go back to a single point in space/time, an infinitely small/dense point. Not only has science continuously corroborated this, but what we've learned is that the universe is actually speeding up in its expansion. Read a book that wasn't written by the Dali Lama; you might learn something based off of the real world.

Buddha2525 said:

Even Einstein based his theories on syncretism of Buddhist and Judeo thought.
Namo Amituofo!

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That's just not true. "Albert Einstein was a pantheist who maintained certain Jewish traditions. While he noted that “From the viewpoint of a Jesuit priest I am, of course, and have always been an atheist,” he preferred to be called an Agnostic and disliked militant atheists. He considered people who anthropomorphized God to be “naive”. Ethically, he was a secular humanist." https://bigthink.com/articles/did-einstein-pray-what-the-great-genius-thought-about-god
"The Pantheism of Spinoza, which Einstein was most interested in, holds that the universe is identical to God. This God is impersonal and uninterested in human affairs. Everything is made of the same fundamental substance, which is derivative of God. The laws of physics are absolute and causality leads to determinism in this cosmos. Everything which happens was the result of necessity and it was the will of God. For the individual, happiness follows from understanding the cosmos and our place in it rather than trying to pray for divine intervention." https://bigthink.com/articles/did-einstein-pray-what-the-great-genius-thought-about-god

Buddha2525 said:

Without religion, you can have no appreciation for art or music. Literature is based on rules of spiritual thought. By saying religion is bad, you lose out on many wonderful creations in society.

When you get rid of religion, all you have left is a theory of random chaos, which will eventually die out when all change dies, and the universe dies from sameness, heat death. Isn't that depressing?

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You're so lame to claim that if one is not religious than he cannot appreciate art or music. What a big head you have! I swear you like listening to yourself talk/profess/postulate. If literature is based on rules of spiritual thought, prove that. Quote somebody. It's more of your bullshit. While I do agree that there are many wonderful literary works that religion has produced, it is pure folly to say that literature is based on rules of spiritual though.
Literature: 1) written works, especially those considered of superior or lasting artistic merit. 2) books and writings published on a particular subject 3) leaflets and other printed matter used to advertise products or give advice.

The universe isn't predicted to die a "heat death" as you put it. If you'd put down your book of fairy tales and read a science book or two, you'd know that most mainstream scientists predict that the universe will die a cold death. You may cling to religion the way a kitten clings to its mother's teet because you're afraid of being left with "random chaos." Religious or not, if you view the world on a quantum level, you see that things are quite random! Bury your head in the sand if you wish, it doesn't change anything. If anything, it shows how stubborn, uniformed, dogmatic, and irresponsible you are, not unlike so many Christians (white or otherwise) that try to explain the world through fairy tales, as opposed to empirical evidence. To me, that is depressing.

I (edit: *do not*) particularly feel the need to rebuttal your other words after this, as it is obviously your own clumsy meanderings and bullshit thoughts and opinions. It's funny how obviously dogmatic you truly are, how closely related you are to other religious zealots, whether they're Christian, Moslem, or Jews. Buddhists, Hindus, all religions and their practitioners, are all headstrong and dogmatic in the end. You come off as so self-righteous and know-it-all, yet you misquote so much about science. You've obviously dedicated yourself to "spirituality" than you have empirical evidence/science. You're a nut. Go spread your bullshit to someone that is stupid and uneducated enough to believe it.