Do repressed feelings breed evil?

Question

Can holding back emotions lead a person into doing things that are not moral as an outlet for how that person feels deep down inside?

Answer 1

That depends. Its not immoral to be sexually active with a consenting partner who is legally and ethically able to give consent. It would be immoral to do that with someone other than the person you have promised to be faithful to.

I do believe repressed feelings can lead to a variety of ills and in some cases, say you are holding back a feeling of anger with a desire to rape, you need professional intervention to help to keep you from harming others.

Here's an example. Say you are the male minister of a church and you are married to a female. To her you have promised to be faithful, however that is a promise that you are not able to keep because you are actually not heterosexual. So you lie and cheat and seek out what you are truly attracted to, your own gender. That is an immoral situation, not because you are seeking out your own gender but because although the relationship you are having with your own gender is consentual and you are both of an age to be able to give consent, you are lying to someone else that you have promised to only be with. However that is not evil, its simple immorality.

Now say your level of self hatred about your true nature is so intense that not only do you lie and cheat, but you also spread your self hatred into society at large, targeting those who's very nature you share. Your work to discriminate against and cause emotional and psychological harm to a particular group of society by its nature is evil because its based on your repressed feelings and not on the public reasons you state. In your repression of your true self, you have made a ministry of repressing others.

Answer 2

In a way, those feelings are repressed because of them being within the definition of 'evil' in the first place. Some things that are acceptable to some people will never be to others..

Answer 3

Of course. Repressing any kind of feeling good or bad can lead to the mental break down, and there for loss of control over the actions and emotions.

Answer 4

I don't know about making you act in an immoral way, but Ive repressed feeling in the past and I did make me behave in a self distructive way. I know one person who is the most outwardly calm person you could meet, but if slightly pushed or pissed off, will crack.....I often wonder will he one day go up to a large clock tower and just start shooting...

Answer 5

Absolutely. People who lie about who they are for so long end up doing shameful things. And it's a very topical question, especially with all the stuff in the news about the fundamentalist minister up in Colorado who had a penchant for meth and prostitutes.

Answer 6

i believe they can. i remember reading in the pink paper years ago that the soho bomber might have been a closet, repressing his feelings and venting his repression in the worst way possible.

i know of men who go around fighting physically with any lad they can...methinks they are acting out erotic fantasies towards other men in a way they think masks their actual gayness/biness...they aint fooling me and probably not fooling other people either, only fooling themselves...

come out, come out, wherever you are....

Answer 7

No . But evil feelings should be repressed.

Answer 8

repressing feeling is always a bad thing to do. as for morality who is to judge

Answer 9

Yes and organised religion must take some of the blame for this.

Answer 10

Yoga is the answer my friend, only then can those repressed feelings by dealt with.