Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
How about "wicked"? Or it that also too religious in nature? "Bad" is just too general. Seems like when we're talking about a sentient being, there ought to be a word that fits better than "bad."
I wouldn't use wicked either. Actually you've got me on the spot.
I actually can't think how I would describe bad people. I suppose I just take it as a given that we all know who the bad dudes are.
Do you have to be religious to describe Osama bin Laden, for instance, as evil? What better word would you use if you were trying to come up with something that didn't have a moral connotation?
I agree with you. A definition of evil is "profoundly immoral and wicked". I don't see morality as being only based in religion.
You seem to be assuming that evil must be a sentient being. I don't think that is true at all. Evil is no more a sentient being than mad, grumpy, or silly are.
Certainly, I believe that sentient beings can be evil. Don't you?
Evil has specific connotations in certain religions and so it takes on the coloration every time, like a special evil force. opposite of god in fact. so to say god should not be evil is a bit meaningless.
I would rarely use the word 'evil'. To me it carries with it too much religious baggage as if the person is kind of possessed with something. I put it in a similar category of word as 'sin' which I definitely don't believe in.
I think people are good and bad and everything in between.
I sometimes use 'evil' in a tongue in cheek kind of a way that is hard to describe on here. But more in a humorous, not really meaning it kind of a way.
Bin Laden is clearly a bad, bad, nasty scheming person. You are right though, there should be a stronger word that doesn't carry the religious connotations with it.
I would rarely use the word 'evil', but for a different reason. To me it describes things in a class that is way beyond anything normal.
How does "wicked" work for you? It seems a bit less supernatural than "evil" to me.
Either works for me. I was thinking, for example, of Pol Pot. Again, it is not so much -- to me -- about a religious context; it could be about a social context. I don't believe that all morality is based on religion.
Either works for me. I was thinking, for example, of Pol Pot. Again, it is not so much -- to me -- about a religious context; it could be about a social context. I don't believe that all morality is based on religion.
Agree. Some morality stems from religion but it is far more based on culture, environment and upbringing. Some of it is hardwired.
Evil has specific connotations in certain religions and so it takes on the coloration every time, like a special evil force. opposite of god in fact. so to say god should not be evil is a bit meaningless.
I'm not a member of any of those religions, so to me "evil" has no religious connotations.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
