Can people possibly be evil?

Question

I dont think there are evil people in this world. Even serial killers are just a product of their enviroment. Or was never diagnosed or treated for a mental illness and slipped through the cracks of society

Answer 1

there is a Cherokee legend each person has two wolves living inside of them. one represents good the other represents evil. the one that wins is the one the person feeds the most

Answer 2

We are evil. Think about it, we naturally have that nature. Even if you grow up in a loving home, you're gonna sin. When you were little, and your mother told you to keep your fingers out of the outlet, I can bet anything that you wanted badly to touch that outlet, even if you didn't actually do it. That yearning to go against what you know is right is your sin nature. True, MAYBE a serial killer wouldn't have killed had he been raised differently, but neither would he ever have been perfect. And, in the end, he knows it's wrong, yet chooses to do so, and is thus responsible for his actions.

To say that we're all basically good is to excuse all crimes. If a criminal can blame his sin on society, then he shouldn't be punished, and everyone is then given the freedom to do ANYTHING and get away with it.

Answer 3

OK, lets take this from the stand point of the Secular Humanist, which is what you believe. All people are basically good and good attracts good. Threes a huge flaw in this. Jesus was good, he went around healing the sick and blind and raising the dead. He never refused to help anyone who came to Him for healing. Then why did so many hate him?
There are and always have been evil people, there is no excuse for the wicked things that people will do, even if ,as you claim, that they are a product of society, they still know right from wrong. People are not good, they are inherently wicked and given the chance, the majority of "good" people will do wicked things. Peter was a devout follower of Christ, yet he denied even knowing Christ.

Answer 4

I have to disagree with you. There are and have been throughout the history of human civilization, many EVIL people.

Many who have come to be past all moral sense, committing atrocities that the human mind cannot even comprehend.

WOULD you trust the doctor that changed the temperature scales on the thermometer to make the fever normal? That would remove the fever from the patient’s chart, but would it not remain in his body?
To say the sick are well does not cure the sick. To change the label does not eliminate the problem. To deny the disease does not halt death. Such tactics would be more than futile endeavors to hide the doctor’s failure; they imperil the life of the patient by camouflaging the danger.

Answer 5

You can't say someone isn't evil because their behaviour is a product of their environment. I mean so what? No one ever said evil had to be born evil. If someone acts evilly because of their upbringing or because of an untreated mental illness, that doesn't make them any more or less evil.
In answer to your question, it depends entirely on your definition of evil. Using the definition "one whose actions seek their own benefit at the expense of others and are based on general malevolence" you would certainly find some people who are evil.

Answer 6

I think everyone has a GOOD and EVIL side. Some people are just more than the other. YES, there are evil people out there. And you say they are a product of their own environment. I don't think so! Some people just aren't chemically balanced as others.

Answer 7

I believe there is absolute proof of evil people. Look at Hitler, Stalin, Charles Manson, etc. All evil, whether they got there through the influence of others or not is debateable, however the limits to which they sank in the realms of evil can only be attributed to the fact that they eventually grew to enjoy their evil behaviors.

Answer 8

Possibly? No... People will think for themselves first. When that is in conflict with consideration for others... Guess which wins? And yes many people are evil, it's all in the body's chemistry. Bad chemistry: School massacre, Good chemistry: Mother Theresa. Bad chemistry: Jew holocaust, Good chemistry: Peace Nobel prize. You see?

Answer 9

I do not believe people are evil in any way
they may do acts that appear evil but as you rightly said some are ill or are in situations that are out of their control
if there is evil ... then why is it that medication can take this evil away in most cases ?

Answer 10

I think most people have at least a few good qualities. The personification of evil has to be Hitler.