are goats evil?

Question

and why are they.

Answer 1

A goat is merely an animal.
We sometimes picture them as evil because of the devil having the features of a goat, horns, beard, legs.
By associating the goat to evil, it seems to give us an idea of what evil might look like.
But lets not forget that the devil appeared as a serpent in the garden of eden when eve ate of the forbidden fruit.
However we dont seem to associate snakes as evil, just dangerous.
The bible says that the devil can appear as an angel of light, now with knowing that, does that mean that angels of light are evil? No, it is just another form that can be taken.

Answer 2

Heh....

Goats aren't evil, they're just stubborn. :P

Way back when, someone made a decree that cloven hoofed creatures were not pure. (points out cattle are not cloven but have a single hoof)

Pigs, Goats, certain deer...just about any animal with a split hoof like that of a goat were labeled instantly as impure and not of god. I'm sure there was a health issue at that time that made someone say animals like that were not clean, but whatever it was...it became ingrained in the minds of the followers of the decree in the form of religious practice.

At a later point in time, it became fashionable to call someone a name in comparison to the animla they were acting like. ie "Captain Hook, you ol' goat/dog/wolf. It is good to see you."

Being called a goat was almost synomynous with being called a glutton, as the goat will stop at nothing to strip the land of anything etable. Sometimes to the point of ruining the farmer's crops in the field if they got out of their pens or beyond the fences.

Someone somewhere must have associated a goat with the devil or not necessarily the devil but the antithesis of righteousness because of it's unclean superstition, stubbornness, and greedy appetite. And then placed the goat into the "satanic" category.

Because of this stigma, goats did not get the proper look over until maybe the 1600 or 1700's when a farmer realized the goat could quickly clear pasteurs of any sort of vegetation.

Answer 3

Goats are not evil but the symbol of the goat (horns) have been used since ancient times by various groups like pagans to depict their god Baphomet. Also a goat is used in Christianity to symbolize Satan and/or evil people.

Answer 4

This is more like "horn phobia". The association of the goat with evil or Satan probably originated in the custom of the scapegoat. In Israel the sins of the tribes were ceremonially loaded onto the head of a goat. This "scapegoat" represented the god Azazel, 'Messenger of the Lord', who took these sins away each Day of Atonement. The Horned God Azazel was actually a divine redeemer who took human sins upon himself and atoned for them by his exile and/or death, and you can read this for yourself in Leviticus 16:20 in the Bible: "An when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat; and Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins; and he shall put them upon the head of the goat, and send him away into the wilderness by the hand of the man who is in readiness. The goat shall bear all their iniquities upon him into a solitary land; and he shall let the goat go in the wilderness."
It could have been these early tradistions that associated the goat with evil.
Also the Pagan religion had dieties with horns or antlers, so this to could lead some to associate the goat with satan or evil.

Also the Myth of the goat of Mendes, the Baphormet which is depicted to both modern Satanic's and Christians as the symbol of Satanic, evil. But is a distorted vision of Greek God Pan?
Some say its as simple as Satanic mockery of Jesus Christ the sheep/lamb?

Answer 5

Well I used to have a re-accuring dream every night about an evil goat that could walk on two legs and talk, and it would always push me off the edge of a cliff, so yes, they are evil.

Answer 6

I owned 4 at one point. They were evil in the sense that they were a hell of alot cleverer than sheep in figuring ways to sneak out of their pen and sneak into the house. They were also very curious.

One of them had the pointy ears and beard often associated with the devil-goat. Interestingly enough he was as clever as the devil. He figured out how to squeeze through the little dog door in the basement and later he figured out how to open doors with his mouth! We called him Gandalf since his coat was grey trimmed with white. I wonder if we had named him Goofus or something would he have been so smart.

As for the devil connection, goats have horizontal pupils which must have freaked folks out back in the day like cats' vertical pupils.

Also the goat-devil thing is a bit of undigested pagan memory - Pan. Pan was a greek saytr god of music and good times. He had cloven hooves, goat-like legs, goat-like horns, and a small beard. All very goatish. When pagan gods became devils, THE Devil acquired some of the physical attributes of the goatish Pan.

Answer 7

actually under old testament law goats were considered clean. to be considered clean an animal had to chew the cud and be cloven hoofed. pigs, horses ect all have cloven feet. Pigs didn't chew cud so that is why they were considered unclean. It was partly a health issue. When we think of pigs today we think of farm pigs that are only fed certified food. but in old testament times pigs generally ran wild and were actually omnivorous so they would sometimes eat decaying flesh and other things harmful to humans. Goats are less omnivorous and have multiple stomachs so toxins and other harmful things are processed out before they can be digested into the animals body. also cows, sheep and goats can be herded rather easily and behave a lot tamer. even pigs that are farm bred have the potential to attack those herding them.

Answer 8

I don't know about evil, but every goat I've come across has been mean.

Answer 9

so far these are all good answers but do not answer the direct question no goats are not evil but their likeness is associated with the satanic.

Answer 10

how stupid can you be??? goats are farm animals, they arent any more evil than a sheep or cow. they are simply goats.