Is Evil the absence of Good, like Cold is the absence of Heat?

Question

I often hear relgious people make this claim. It helps them rationalize the problem of evil. Because since everything is created by God, and he is presumably all good then what about evil? Ah yes it is the absence of God that is why we have evil. Like all creationist propaganda we must perform taught experiments to see if this makes moral sense.
Situation - A woman gets off work and she is walking down the street towards her house. A man pulls out a knife - drags her into an alley, beats he, rapes her, and kills her. It was a lack of God that caused this abhorrent event to take place? His actions were caused because he had a lack of God? Perhaps she did too? If this is true then God is a malnelovent S.O.B. - He is not a God of love, he`s a totalitarian dictator. No? Well then is it b/c of the Devil? Yes! Well I thought that Evil was a lack of God? Perhaps the devil is a lack of God? Ok, therefore he is not a serparate evil being after all. He is just a lack of God.

Answer 1

Quite right. If we draw a continuum line with Good at one end and Evil at the other, there is a centre point that is neither Good nor Evil - it's NEUTRAL.

The absence of good and/or evil is a state of neutrality. If a slice of chocolate cake is good, and a pinch on the arm is evil, then the absence of both cake and pinch is neutral.

The notion that an absence of Good is ipso facto Evil is a silly and counterproductive semantic scam.

CD

Answer 2

The Germans who built and ran Auschwitz didn't think they were evil. They believed they had moral superiority. truth of the matter is, some of the cruelest events in history were carried out by people in the same boat (and if you don't believe me, look up the historical figure who said "kill them all, god will know his own", what a nice guy. I wonder how he would judge US in the modern world, especially in the same situation).

My point is, that if God exists. he is silent in the modern world, if he is NOT silent in the modern world, than I think I hate him. The best he can offer is that he made us and walked away, because otherwise he messes with us for the fun of it and expects us to meet a standard that currently, is not even clear by the evidence HE put here.

So perhaps cold is the absence of heat if evil is the absence of God.... but I see a lot of both around us. Where the **** are the talking snakes, the parting red sea and the messiah to help us? I don't think we stand a chance...

Answer 3

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There are two answers depending on whether you believe in the supernatural or not. Let's suppose that you do, ignoring the diversity of religious persuasions we can take Christianity as an example and hope it is not anomalous. Christians believe "evil is the absence of God," putting it into your terms, but more correctly the presence of Satan. Evil is what comes out of things motivated by or done on behalf of Satan. The secular view in simple semantic terms puts the dichotomy as good & evil. But, this is not informative. Good, in an unreligious but moral sense, corresponds to anything that encourages cooperation. Therefore bad is anything that alienates cooperation and evil is just the superlative, meaning very bad.

Answer 4

Evil is the absence of Empathy

Answer 5

Well the answer to the retarded Religious claim is that Evil is a perception of humans. Evil does not really exist. Evil is used to describe things that are disagreeable to an extreme sense.

For example, killing someone is suppose to be evil, because who would want to be killed? that is not fun, it hurts and it sucks. So it's called Evil.

Although, everyday animals fight for food, and fight just to Fight, yet are animals evil? no, it's just how they have to live, they fight to stay alive, you have to kill to live. It is humans that make these rules about killing and other 'crimes' and deem them evil.
Chimpanzees even fight for no reason and travel around in little gang like groups and kill...for no reason they just do it. but in turn they have more land and don't have to share. so are monkeys evil!?!? no..they are just doing it to make their family line survive it's natural for them.

In conclusion, Evil can not be the absence of God, because like God, Evil does not exist.

Answer 6

Good and evil are the same thing from different points of view. Everything thinks they're good and that people who have different ideas of good are evil. In every war, each side is convinced it has right on its side.

Answer 7

Who are you to to judge God on the actions of another. Sin (evil) was brought into the world by Adam who chose to disobey God and since then man is ruled by the flesh which is evil. We live a corrupt world full of sin, man's choice not God's.

Answer 8

Satan was an angel. He fell. He tried to defeat and go against God and St. Michael threw Satan and his followers out of Heaven. They then made the place we refer to as Hell. For every good, there must be an evil. Satan and Hell are not a result because of God's absence. They are simply the opposite for God & Heaven. Just like, everyone who has done good in their lives and not committed any mortal sins will go to Heaven. Those who committ them and do wrong, will go to Hell....regardless of whether you believe you are "saved". All your hoopla up there is a crock. You're wrong.

Answer 9

Evil is an adjective, not a thing.

Answer 10

You cannot have one without the the other.
There can't be evil without good..... and vice-versa.

They are intertwined. Like the ying-yang symbol.