Journal Pancho Pistolas's Journal: Am I hum-buggin'-out or just dyslexic? 2
This morning, the top of CNN's website has a frame that reads:
Santa is on the move. Track him here.
For some reason I read "Satan" instead of "Santa", my eyebrows popped up, and part of me briefly thought it was an actual breaking news item. I think it comes from having talking heads on the media spending so much time talking about evil empires and evil incarnate.
I still don't know if I really believe in evil as a concept. Not that I don't believe people can do some really bad things, but rather the idea that we should be able to blame really bad things on external causes. I see people use "evil" as a label (and implicit cause) frequently, and (in my humble opinion) it lacks a certain amount of facing up to reality.
I think that people are both capable of great good as well as great bad, and can (and should) take credit for both. Er, in the latter case not so much take credit so much as...well, you know what I mean-- face up to it equally and not blame someone else for it. And heck, I do believe that real people are capable of really, really good things-- you know, things like mercy, compassion, self-sacrifice, and charity. And love.
I definitely don't believe in Santa.
I agree, it's not a cause - (Score:1)
I do still use the word "evil" though, but as a descriptor of how bad someone's actions were, not as a way for them to blame someone outside themselves for their actions.
Good and evil... (Score:2)
Evil [amazon.com] exists in the world. It's the personification of it that is somewhat dicey. Humans seem to have a strong tendency to anthropomorphize, so we get that sort of thing from a wide variety of natural, social, and other effects.
Evil results from free human choice - as does good.