Does anyone here believe that the problem of evil in the world is all caused by free will or by some other evil force? (soul, faith)

[CleoPlato]

Isn't this forum supposed to be about discussion? It seems like everyone is just squabbling over the differences between the religion forum and the Christian forum. This reminds me of my undergrad experiences. Not enough discussing, too much squabbling. So, in order to end this problem I pose a question... Does anyone here believe that the problem of evil in the world is all caused by free will or by some other evil force?

[Travelling fella]

Originally Posted by CleoPlato

Isn't this forum supposed to be about discussion? It seems like everyone is just squabbling over the differences between the religion forum and the Christian forum. This reminds me of my undergrad experiences. Not enough discussing, too much squabbling. So, in order to end this problem I pose a question... Does anyone here believe that the problem of evil in the world is all caused by free will or by some other evil force?

Imho it is a combination of both, the evil force that opposes God, influencing our free will.

That evil force is metaphysical, it influences what you think if your mind is not strong enough it all starts there, and there is a third player involved which is your own ego, if your soul is strong the ego will behave himself and will be under control, but if your ego isn't held back by a strong soul it will be seduced easily by that evil force.

For example, you have a neighboor whose wife is very pretty, and you feel that she has an interest in you, the evil force will try to influence you with thoughts of lust and desire, and your ego will tell you, hey man, you are a chick magnet, just think at the way she looks at you? hey come on, if you do something nobody would find out?

if your soul is strong, these thoughts wouldn't even get through because your mind would be constantly focused on God, that's exactly the point behind afirmations, prayers, meditation and mantrams, to keep that mind focused in the positive force.

For example when this temptation arises instead of letting your mind and ego loose thinking this crap, you could be strongly affirmating inside you, my father and I are one, my father and I are one, my father and I are one, with such strenght and faith that neither your ego nor the evil force could ever dream of getting close.

When you do this, you will feel how your entire self becomes charged with a current of positive energy that will increase the stronger your thoughts and willpower are, that's the energy of your soul and if it's strong enough others would feel it too, and will be influenced by the positive energy that your thoughts are broadcasting.

Faith is the key here, because faith activates your spiritual energy and your willpower channels it.

If you want an explanation of this that is more compatible with our XXI century culture, we are using here the same technology behind wireless, celphone or satellite communications, these devices send and receive waves of electromagnetic energy, to transmit the information from one place to another.

So let's say that the positive and negative force of the universe do exactly the same, they broadcast their energies into us, we have the free will to choose which station will be tune in to, but being dual human beings we have inside us a lower and higher self (ego vs soul) which will compete for control.

We have also the power to broadcast the energy of our thoughts to others, even if they can't know what we are thinking, they can feel our vibrations and use their intuition if it's developed enough to feel what's going on.

The only diference between wi-fi, satellite of cellphone is that these devices use electromagnetic energy, and in the case of mind and soul it is spiritual energy, so you could say that mantrams, affirmations, prayer and meditation are spiritual technology developed to strenghten your higher self.



नमस्ते / Namaste

[Visvaldis]

There are no forces causing people to do evil things. Believing that some forces influence evil deeds relieves the evil-doers of all responsibility. Doing an evil deed originates as an evil thought in the mind of that person. People do not do evil deeds just to be evil, but they justify their deeds cancelling their conscience. The reasons for evil deeds are usually greed, prejudice, fear, revenge, and envy.
Also, we must remember that evil is a relative concept. Some people do not consider their deeds as evil, but as justified acts.

[Mooseketeer]

We are the cause of all evil in this world though I think a lot of people attribute it to some dark satanic force as it makes their bad choices a lot more acceptable to themselves, and exonerate them from taking full responsibility for their actions.

We have all the moral and compassionate tools to make the right decision. We all have a duality of good/evil as part of our human nature , the trick is to let empathy and natural morality win out over human traits such as greed, lust, bigotry, hatred and other unsavoury character traits. Human nature is still very "animal" driven and as social creatures it is up to us to abide by "social" and "civilised" mores laws which dictate not to harm others and not to allow harm on others.

Nobody but us is ultimately to blame. Though if I did believe in a god, I would certainly question why any omnipotent and omniscient creature would create us with evil potential in the first place and then would let us act on it.

I would like to believe that if I had kids ( as god is supposed to be our loving and just father) I would stop them from committing murder , rape or countless other horrors if I could and not idly cross my arms in the name of free will. Not to do so would rightly make me complicit and condoning of those actions...

If making your own mistakes includes harming others, then I believe free will is a serious flaw in this so called divine system.

We are what we make of ourselves though I believe some individuals get a very poor start in life which can lead them to making all the wrong choices. Ultimately though, we all know what is right or wrong ( bar some very few truly amoral people) and the decision rest with us. Nobody else to blame.

Some nefarious influences no doubt but we still have that ultimate say.

[Travelling fella]

Originally Posted by Visvaldis

There are no forces causing people to do evil things. Believing that some forces influence evil deeds relieves the evil-doers of all responsibility. Doing an evil deed originates as an evil thought in the mind of that person. People do not do evil deeds just to be evil, but they justify their deeds cancelling their conscience. The reasons for evil deeds are usually greed, prejudice, fear, revenge, and envy.
Also, we must remember that evil is a relative concept. Some people do not consider their deeds as evil, but as justified acts.

Dear visvaldis, the following reply to your post is just to exchange views and ideas, but please have in mind that i'm not stating that i possess the absolute truth, these are just opinions in order to continue having a dialogue about this subject

So please answer me the following questions.

If there is no force causing people to commit evil things, where do evil thoughts, feelings come from?

Why is it, that if you have a developed intuition you can feel this evil force?

Wouldn't it be our own egoes those responsible for justifying those evil thoughts we are having or deeds we've commited?

[RAZZEL]

Wherever you look in the world, there is crime, hatred and trouble. Often it is the innocent that suffer. Some people blame GOD. They may say: If there is a GOD, why does he permit all these terrible things to happen??

WHO are doing these wicked things to others? It is PEOPLE.
Not God. God condemns wicked acts. Much of the suffering on earth would be prevented if PEOPLE obeyed God's laws. Many people reason that they no longer need to answer to GOD or submit to his laws.It is the power of deciding for himself what is good and what is evil and of acting accordingly, a claim to complete moral independence.

[sean98125]

The root of evil is selfishness, and our free will forms the basis for that selfishness.

I think there is a corporate nature of evil, that it feeds on itself in communities and makes it easier to justify when groups of people convince themselves that it is right for them to do something horrible to others.

[Huckleberry3911948]

neither, lack of punishment.

[Haaziq]

There has never been a time where evil acts haven't been committed. It's not an evil force or anything like that. It's a human thing. We as humans are not perfect. If we were the creation of a perfect being, we would be perfect, seeing how this supposed creator can't do wrong. A desire to sleep with your neighbor's lover, desire to steal something, or anything else, is just human. No, not all people experience such things, but the ones that do experience it because of inside reasons. Not outside forces. The only living thing I would consider evil is bacteria (the disease causing kinds), lol. We as humans are responsible for our actions. We need to stop blaming people or things for the things we do.

[simpleton]

Originally Posted by CleoPlato

Isn't this forum supposed to be about discussion? It seems like everyone is just squabbling over the differences between the religion forum and the Christian forum. This reminds me of my undergrad experiences. Not enough discussing, too much squabbling. So, in order to end this problem I pose a question... Does anyone here believe that the problem of evil in the world is all caused by free will or by some other evil force?

Evil is defined by God. Free will has nothing to do with it. Now when we go against what God has defined as good, that is when we have commited evil in his sight. It's a whole lot easier to pray to God to keep you away from evil, then to use the "free will" God has given you to lead yourself away from evil. That is why God came down here to earth. He knew that man's "self-will" was not enough to bring him to himself. So Christ became the door, the bridge between mankind and God again. All we have to do is have faith in Christ's atonement sacrafice, and we will be saved. Simple..yes..