What is the root of all Evil?

Answer 1

People

Answer 2

Pride. Many are familiar with the verse which says money is (a) root of all evil, not (the). The pride of man seperates them from God, since God determines what is evil and God only is good then anything that comes between that relationship is evil. Pride was also the original sin of Lucifer.

Answer 3

Buddhism advocates that desire is the root of all evil and salvation can be achieved by controlling ones desires.

Humans is the only "animal" that kills for sport or out of malice. Other animals kill only for food or when attacked. All religions have grappled with this evil, a distinctly human aspect. Each religion has looked at ways to control and manage this evil. For very in depth reading refer to World Religions by Huston Smith (ISBN: 0062508113).

The other way to look at it is that where there is good there is bound to be evil. Its like two sides of the same coin. It is nature's way of survival of the fittest.

Answer 4

The root of all evil is the belief that you can redistribute wealth. Wealth is not a finite thing it comes and goes depending on how hard you work to produce. You can not take wealth from those who produce and give it to those who don't with out destroying those who do produce leaving nothing in the end.

Answer 5

I suppose your question refers to *chosen* evil. That's evil done deliberately and in the knowledge that it is considered to be evil. But there's another kind of evil, that's unchosen evil: - diseases, all the sorts of natural disasters, natural inequalities (being 'different', ugly, small, etc.), etc.

Perhaps the root of chosen evil is unchosen evil. Perhaps people do evil mainly because of the various sorts of naturally caused inequality. Children treat other children badly if they are 'different' or smaller, or....unequal in some way. Neighbouring groups of people go to war because one of them has something the other lacks: - good land, food, etc.

So perhaps we can give the very generalized answer (typical of a philosophical answer) that the root of all evil is inequality.

We all have a very strong sense of injustice: - we resent it bitterly when we are treated unjustly, which is to say, treated unequally for no appropriate reason. (There are, of course, morally appropriate reasons for treating people unequally, a simple example being that we imprison people when they are guilty of crime. Imprisonment is unequal treatment, but morally justified.)

So, that's my answer: - the root of all evil is natural inequality.

Answer 6

Ignorance about the ontological nature of reality, as explored in the prasangika division of the madhyamika.

Answer 7

according to Stoic philosophy, the root of all evil is misunderstanding and misperception.

Answer 8

The love of money

Answer 9

The unteachable spirit nature in and of the human heart.

Answer 10

Greed.