I would like to ask an Atheist what is your definition of a *Evil Person*?

Question

And how easy do you think it is forgive a evil person and do you think you have to forgive?

I can tell you when I met the drunk criminal who killed my 17 yr old brother years ago in his car, my human reaction at first was to hope he would die a painful death asap, but when I finally met him and he said he was sorry, it was only the love I could pull from GOD who forgives me, and allows me to forgive other's as well as the man who killed my brother..

Is it your opinion that human beings just naturally love? if we evolved as many of you think, I would say that belief would have a human biengs will, FIRST to survive (Just like in the animal kingdom) and everything else would be secondary to genetics and DNA...

Answer 1

Ick. I hate this question because I can't ignore it but I hate going there every time.

An evil person is one who doesn't respect life. They don't value other human beings. Three boys (two 18 year olds and a 15 year old) beat my grandmother to death. She had a very slow and painful death and she was no likely scared out of her mind. She was in her own home. She was 89.

They caught the men who did this and put them on trial. Although many in my family wanted the death penalty, we did not. My 3rd grade daughter put it the best, she said "If we kill them, they win. They make us as bad as they are."

Being kind, playing by the rules doesn't always work. But it is the moral way to live, even when others don't play fair. I have to forgive. A life with hate only hurts me, my children.

Answer 2

1. I don't believe there is any such thing as a definition for evil, let alone a definition for an evil person.

2. There is not now, nor has there ever been, a person who was completely bad or completely good... even the people who have leaned to the far end one way or the other cannot be painted in black and white. There is no black and white. There is only shades of gray.

3. It is not easy to forgive someone if they have caused me pain, but I do it anyway.

4. I don't "have" to do anything but stay white and die one day. It is, however, in my own best interests to forgive. Carrying a grudge around isn't healthy.

5. Sorry to hear about your brother.

6. We are *generally* predisposed to forming close/loving relationships.

7. Evolution has favored those who are "moral" - those who have good relationships with others, treat others with respect and honesty, etc. Why? Because a society offers goods and services that make it more likely you will survive, and go on to reproduce... and if you act like an ***, the members of society will not be so willing to offer said goods and services.

8. We are a part of the animal kingdom, specifically -

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Family: Hominidae
Genus: Homo
Species: H. sapiens
Subspecies: H. s. sapiens

Answer 3

As a Buddhist, therefore technically an atheist, I believe that humans natural state is one of loving compassion for all sentient beings. Sin, and especially "original sin" does not exist. Neither do I believe "evil", especially in the Christian sense exists. There are just a lot of ignorant people making unskillful actions that lead to their own and other people's misery.

Of course as a Buddhist, the purpose is to love and have compassion for all. If you have ill feelings towards someone, then that person is one of your greatest teachers since they are showing you that you are not enlightened and what you need to work on in order to become enlightened. They are helping you show your path to enlightenment.

Of course, as a human being and especially one who is not enlightened it is not easy to follow these ideas. But that is why I meditate everyday and work on my compassion everyday. Forgiveness is not easy, but if you work on it, it can happen. The American people need to work on forgiveness with Muslims. We are very good at blaming the whole lot on 9-11. It is about time we forgive those who were involved in 9-11 and stop blaming the entire religion. Not until we forgive those who committed the acts on 9-11 will we begin to move towards peace. Now all we want is revenge and that is evil-a very unskillful action and way of thinking.

Answer 4

depends on the human being, not on one's faith. I know atheists, who are able to forgive great harms over time, just because they seek harmony for their own life and don't want to destroy it with hatred. There are also revenge-searching people who go by an eye for an eye. No matter if religion or not.
I can't answer that, cause until now I was able to forgive everyone, but I never experienced a big loss.
I am against death penalty and for trying to help criminals to find the right way to live in a society (they could also safe us a lot of money, if they do work), maybe that answers your question.

Answer 5

I don't believe that anyone is 'evil'. I think that many people are confused and sometimes their confusion leads them to make choices that don't get them what they want. Others fail to see the long view and act in ways that are to their short term benefit but not to their long term happiness. No one wakes up in the morning and says to themselves, "I want to be evil today, what evil things can I do?".

I'm sorry for your loss, re your brother. I'm sure the drunk driver didn't intend to get into an accident and kill someone, but made some very poor choices.

As far as humans love being natural or not, I think that all human emotion is there to encourage human survival and reproduction.

Answer 6

Can an agnostic answer? I'll answer anyways... an evil person is a person who does not care about how their actions affect others and do cruel things and feel no remorse. It is not always easy to forgive an evil person, it's very difficult, but you have to find it in yourself to be willing to forgive them. It's easy for me because I'm too sympethetic and don't want anyone to hurt because of me so I just forgive them. I think you have to forgive people if you want to be free. If you hold a grudge sometimes it only hurts you so you should forgive and forget so you're no longer hurting. Well, some humans natrually love, most I should say, but I do know some or rather one that has really never loved efore, I know it sounds impossible, but it's true.

Answer 7

An evil person is one who habitually and deliberately acts against the interests of his fellow humans.

According to Dawkins, the basic unit of evolution is not the individual, but the gene. Humans evolved morality because moral behavior is in the best interest of humanity--i.e., the gene pool. Hence, altruism, even at the expense of the individual, is not a violation of natural selection. Contrary to popular misunderstanding, "survival of the fittest" does not necessarily mean survival of the meanest and nastiest; it means survival of those best adapted to the environment. Humans live in a social environment and, as such, we survive best by being nice to each other.

Consider this example of microevolution among humans: What happens to thieves, rapists, and murderers? We jail, or even execute, their asses. In the jargon, there is a _selection pressure_ *against* criminal behavior among humans. It more popular terms, criminals are the *least* fit.

Humans aren't the only ones. Even creatures as simple as ants have complex social rules that enables ant colonies to survive as a whole, even if it means the sacrifice of some individuals. Behaving like an animal isn't as simple as you seem to imply.

Answer 8

If a drunk killed my brother, there would be no forgiving. The drunk may not be an evil person, but no forgiving for taking a life.

Everyone defines evil on their own terms.

Answer 9

What happened to your brother was a tragedy, and I'm very sorry for the loss you and your family suffered.

I assume that your brother was killed by a drunk driver. I would describe that driver as thoughtless, as criminally irresponsible, but not evil.

If your belief in God is what helped you through that terrible crisis, then I'm glad you have that belief to fall back on. My belief is that morals are based on compassion for other people, and that in most cases it is best to forgive.

Answer 10

An evil person is someone who willfully causes harm to someone else (mentally or physically) and often gets joy out of it.

I don't think you HAVE to forgive. It's a nice thing to do and I've forgiven people who don't really deserve it. But that doesn't mean I'm a Christian or belong to a certain religion. Many atheists are very kind, moral people.