Can an insane person be evil?

Answer 1

Well, yes, they CAN. But a sane person can also be evil. It's not all inclusive. Not every insane person is evil and vice versa.

Answer 2

Such a complicated question. So many people believe that good and evil is a black and white issue. However, it is possible for a person to do evil acts and yet not be an evil person. The insane could fall in that category. There are many people with conditions that will cause them to do heinous acts under certain conditions. Many of them are in treatment and are fine but sometimes a treatment fails or gets skipped or a certain trigger happens and then the person is no longer in control. When the person comes to the person will abhor what has happened but many will still consider the person to be evil. Consider the case of Andrea Yates.

Another scenario are people who are under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol. A person may do things while under the influence that they are not normally capable of. Some may argue that they should not have been doing the substances however there are cases of people being secretly drugged. Slipping something into a girl's drink is a common trick of date rapists. Does that mean the girl is immoral because she was drugged and had sex? No, it does not. I knew a person who was slipped acid as a joke. Luckily, he just has one heck of a trip, however it could have turned out worse.

There are other conditions where a person may not be in control. Severe hunger or thirst can drive people to do horrible things. A fever can definately cloud the mind. It is possible to "condition" a person to do something horrible. That does not make the person evil.

In the end, good and evil is not a black and white issue.

Answer 3

A) If the insanity is clinical, or of physical origin, then no. They can, of course, DO evil and many, like Hitler, are prime examples of this truth.

B) If the insanity has been caused by steadfastly immuring oneself in evil thoughts and deeds, then yes. One has become evil by one's own choices. Stalin is a good example of that.

Answer 4

They can be looked at as being evil. But, any person can. Sane or insane. It just depends on how the person judging them thinks.

Answer 5

Evil people are insane

Answer 6

THE tragedy of mental illness takes many forms. It can be likened to an actor who wears various costumes or disguises, depending upon the character he portrays.

So much uncertainty exists about the condition that some widely known psychiatrists even claim that there is no such thing as mental “illness”! They feel it is merely a matter of ‘erratic behavior.’ But there is evidence that blood taken from schizophrenics and injected into sane persons can cause them to become temporarily insane, which would seem to refute this claim, as does the fact that the condition is often hereditary.

It is a general practice to divide all mental illnesses into two classes, “organic” and “functional.” Among the many faces of organic illness are those present at childbirth or shortly thereafter, such as cerebral palsy, mongolism, cretinism and other forms of mental retardation.

Other organic illnesses make themselves felt late in life, such as senility with its varied mental aberrations, often characterized by childishness. Such mental conditions call to mind the words of Shakespeare about being ‘once a man but twice a child.’

A neurotic person is in touch with reality but is handicapped by a lack of confidence, or by mistrust and/or by tension. A person suffering from a neurosis may be excessively anxious about his job, his family or his health. He may have exaggerated fears about people or places, such as being afraid to use an elevator. Among his symptoms may be compulsive eating, being edgy all the time, or having violent outbursts of temper at slight provocations. Generally he is aware of his problem but not of its cause, and does not seem to be able to control it.

In contrast to the neurotic person, the psychotic or truly insane person has a more extreme problem. He actually loses touch with reality and reacts and responds in, grossly abnormal ways. Thus there is a common saying: “The neurotic builds castles in the clouds, the psychotic lives in these castles, and the psychiatrist collects the rent.”

Hope this answers somewhat. The point is that many people have no control over illnesses, however that the conscious one who KNOWS what he is doing and yet does not do right is held guilty for doing "evil" things.

Answer 7

Well an insane person can't control himself from doing the wrong things, some cannot tell between right and wrong and some, actually know that they are doing wrong but they allucinate and create a delucional excuse for the evil deed.

Answer 8

Jonathan: A very interesting question. Insanity is a mental disease ... can a sick person be blamed for their illness? I'd lean in the direction of NOT. What if it's the result of a chemical imbalance or severe and sustained abuse from a very young age.

Answer 9

if a person is insane their thoughts and actions are not justified, it is the deed which is evil, not the person, because he or she cannot control their own mind and actions, and decide right from wrong

Answer 10

I would say that only a sane person could choose to obey YHVH, so yes, an insane person WOULD be evil.