Would you kill somebody who you believed was evil?

Question

This time my question is serious. And it is a religious one, because it is religion that dictates what the meaning of the word evil is.

Please include your religion in your answer, unless of course you do not want to. It's entirely your choice, but... ya, you get the drift.

My own answer (I have to be fair).

I wouldn't kill any being, even an animal, on purpose, unless of course it is for food. Regardless of good/evil (which I don't believe exists, I prefer right/wrong).

Instead I try to cure people of the illnesses which make them do bad things. Ignorance is a big one, so is greed.

I am Buddhist, but I draw a lot from Neo-Pagan religions, too. I also agree with the ten commandments, seperate from the rest of the Bible, which I don't agree with.

I also do not believe in vengeance. To cause any harm in retaliation is the same to me as without retaliation. Therefore I would not kill even in self-defence.

Answer 1

Tough one. I agree that good and evil are determined by religion. So bearing in mind the concepts of right and wrong, which are debatable too, I would say that even after seeing someone act wrongly, I would certainly not kill him/her. I find it really hard even to fancy the idea of killing someone. Who am I to determine who should deserve to die or not? Everything happens for a reason, people make mistakes and that's how they learn, why should they be punished for learning?
I have pondered about this many times, especially whenever reconsidering capital punishment has been subject of debate in my country. I would always deplore the idea but then I thought, what about all the criminals who commit atrocities, who rape, who kill, who dismember their victims or skin them alive and even worse things? How would I feel if someone close to me suffered that? It is really hard to give a straightforward answer. Take for instance what would be a very simple case: Bush is a criminal, he is killing his fellow country men in order to secure this businesses. He sacrificed the life of thousands of people over a deal. He is a genocide and men under his command have and still commit war crimes and they are not being punished because they are from the US. Many people would say he deserves to die, I would have said he deserves to be lynched but one thing is to think and a very different one is to do or allow something to be done. Everybody gets what they deserve and it is not our job to make the calls. If all this lunatic fundies carry out divine justice they are not letting God do its job. They are taking justice into their own hands and that is defying God. Maybe God had different plans for that someone who is going to kill, who knows if God had planned to send that person a terminal disease or I don't know, something. Personally, I don't think God or destiny or whatever it is works that way, I think we all get what we deserve out of our deeds either in this life or in another one and that it's not up to us to decide how justice should be administered. I hope I've been claer enough.

Answer 2

Kill someone? May I remind everyone of 09/11/2001. Were all those people in the World Trade Center evil? What was it that drove the terrorists? Was it the religion or was it the insanity?

If it was the religion, I say: "F### such religion" - religion that killed a whole bunch of innocent people.

That's too scary to remember, is it not? Okay. Here is something not as scary. The lamb. The innocent lamb that was sacrificed. Why? I don't care what the Bible says about it. That lamb was an innocent creature that was murdered for no reason. Was it evil? It was furry and it ate grass. Was it why it was sacrificed? Is somebody going to tell me the lamb was sacrificed to "please the Lord"? Does that mean the God is evil?

Religion that kills. How does that feel? Fortunately, I am an Atheist and I fear the legal consequences more than some "punnishment from above", which says that I will not kill for I am afraid of consequences.

I just have no further words.

Answer 3

You mean, just because that person is evil? He's not doing anything evil at the moment? If that's the case, then no, I wouldn't. I could be wrong about my assumption that the person is evil. Perhaps the person has a different outlook than I do, different values that might make me think that he/she is evil. Or, if I wasn't wrong, and the person was pure, unadulterated evil (a psychopath), I'd still have to deal with the guilt that I took another life that wasn't immediately threatening my own.

There are only two circumstances that will drive me to take another life. 1) If that person is directly and actively threatening my life or the lives of the innocent. 2) If that person is in mortal agony and there is absolutely nothing that can be done to save his life--but that's another morals issue altogether.

I am an atheist.

Answer 4

The first hurdle for me in this question is whether I would have the intestinal fortitude to actually end a person's life, given any set of circumstances. That would have to be seen if and when occasion arose.

Secondly, in the cool light of not being confronted with this in my face, I can say honestly that I can only fathom killing if it was in self-defense or if someone was about to kill a loved one.

I can analyze this in particular regard to being a mother, and say that anyone who might appear to about to kill my son, I would pull the trigger in a heartbeat. I am a lioness with regards to my child, and I would lay down my life for his. There is nothing I wouldn't do to protect him.

If it was just that the person was evil but wasn't DOING anything and it was just because I BELIEVED that he was evil, I would have no problem leaving that person well alone. There are lots of people who do really evil things in the world, and who got that way from a variety of reasons, mental health problems being way up there.

A thought: I don't really think about a person being evil per se, I think of the really horrible and terrible things people do to each other. For me the word evil conjures up images of devils and all the Christian dogma which I do not follow.

I am a very good Pagan Witch.

Bright Blessings,
Lady Morgana )0(

Answer 5

I once knocked out an armed robber who'd threatened the lives of a number of people, including myself, and assaulted two women before I was able to intervene. He was arrested shortly after. I don't have the resources, personally, to maintain a state of arrest over someone who is a threat to life. Were it not for the police taking over that responsibility, I'd see my options as a straight choice between letting him go and killing him (the ultimate arrest) and I would have chosen to kill the unconscious man. It would have been easy. He was a dirty fighter, he'd really pissed me off and I had his weapon.

If it had happened in a remote place instead of in a city affording the more civilised option, he'd be PERMANENTLY arrested, by me.

Having said that, it would take more than a "belief" that someone was evil, or intent on committing evil acts. A belief, alone, is not a good reason for any sanction.

Answer 6

In Short; *no*.

Even the question itself is flawed, ignorant and lacking empathy.

First thing, if you say religion defines the word evil, then religion should define right and wrong and I'd like to see any actual religious text saying that it's ok to murder if the victim is evil.

Second thing, as a noun we define evil as;

evil (plural evils) (uncountable)

The forces/behaviors that are the opposite or enemy of good. Evil generally seeks own benefit at the expense of others and is based on general malevolence.

"The evils of society include murder."

Any particular individual or state which may follow these forces or behaviors.
---

So technically anyone logical would have to conclude that murder is evil and religion has nothing to do with it.

You might want to put that thinking cap back on and get your grasp back on reality.

If you'd have to ask this question I'd be inclined to believe you should be more empathic. Imagine yourself in the shoes of somebody 'evil'. People inherently want to be good, want to do the right thing, want to be 'right'. If you can imagine where someone's coming from, where they draw their opinions and on what basis they take action which could be considered evil it would be much more constructive. If you can understand where someone is coming from you'll be much less likely to think of them as evil, in the end.

Anything else isn't going to be constructive or productive but by many definitions of right & wrong could land you in the sinner's seat, being judged as evil when you only wanted what was right and to be good.

Don't be fooled by seeing the world through an idiots eyes, seeing everything in black and white - the world is far more complicated than that & if you can't handle it - you certainly shouldn't be considering the moral implications of murder, nor the act itself.

Answer 7

Lots of people who are in murder trials are actually put in mental health programs, so no, they're not all judged as evil and sent off to prison for life or the death penalty. I don't really think anyone can have an actual good reason for killing another person unless it's in self defense or an accident (e.g. someone killing a person in a car wreck).

Answer 8

I'm eclectic I believe in God and Jesus, but also spread my beliefs all over Indian culture, Buddhism, wicca and a host of others.

I wouldn't because that would make "evil" just as real as The Christian church makes it. Not everyone views evil the same way. I for instance believe that there are those who are examples of how not to do things. An "evil" man worthy of death in the eyes of most is a man that I will laugh at and learn from.

Answer 9

Hi retroboy! Just happened on this question by accident really.

This is a philosophical question, not a religious one. Obviously the two concepts overlap, but not here.

The world's great religions are united in the conviction that killing is not condoned. Evil is in the men who, to this day, use religions as a vehicle for their sadistic perversions.

As to killing someone evil , I think that by doing that you would become as they were.

Victory corrupts. Consider the lessons of the last 100 years & think about it....

Answer 10

I totally agree with your answer - we are no one to judge anyone else. Everyone has to reap what they sow and if someone is doing something which is resulting in emotional / physical / mental pain to any other living creature he will have to bear the brunt of his Karma some other time. I am a Hindu but I do not believe in any barriers of religion. I think there is one Supreme Being and he resides in all living beings.