Good evil

@ghost-of-a-duke said
There is a fungus that exists purely to infect the brain of an ant. As it begins to impair the brain of the ant, it turns it into a zombie like state and causes it to climb to the highest point possible (perhaps the branch of a tree). A spore then shoots out of the ants brain, killing it naturally, before dropping further spores to the ground below, infecting more ant ...[text shortened]... us evil? Are the ants evil? Is nature evil? Is the creator of the fungus evil? Does evil even exist?

Evil can only exist where good is.

@ghost-of-a-duke said
There is a fungus that exists purely to infect the brain of an ant. As it begins to impair the brain of the ant, it turns it into a zombie like state and causes it to climb to the highest point possible (perhaps the branch of a tree). A spore then shoots out of the ants brain, killing it naturally, before dropping further spores to the ground below, infecting more ant ...[text shortened]... us evil? Are the ants evil? Is nature evil? Is the creator of the fungus evil? Does evil even exist?

Have you any of this fungus to spare? I'm having difficulties getting a large colony of fire ants to leave my property. I have a really tall palm tree in the yard which the first zombie can climb to get the process in motion.

As I keep trying to relate....only good is real, whereas evil is just a shadow of good, to be a contrast from which the light of good can be distinguished and observed. Matter is the apparent evil which is required for light to be visible. The soul is invisible and can only be observed through the physical body, just like the absolute physical laws. Therefore: "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth , where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.

Everything is Good. Or as FMF would probably put it, to use only adjectives, it's all dandy and copacetic.

@kellyjay said
Evil can only exist where good is.

Why did God create a fungus that exists only to make an ant's head explode?


Answers on a postcard please.

@pettytalk said

As I keep trying to relate....only good is real, whereas evil is just a shadow of good, to be a contrast from which the light of good can be distinguished and observed. Matter is the apparent evil which is required for light to be visible. The soul is invisible and can only be observed through the physical body, just like the absolute physical laws. Therefore: "Do not st ...[text shortened]... hing is Good. Or as FMF would probably put it, to use only adjectives, it's all dandy and copacetic.

What of an innocent child dying of a terminal disease. Is their suffering not real? Is it merely a shadow of good, there to provide a handy contrast?

@kellyjay said
Evil can only exist where good is.

This sounds like a quote from a Harry Potter film.

@ghost-of-a-duke said
What of an innocent child dying of a terminal disease. Is their suffering not real? Is it merely a shadow of good, there to provide a handy contrast?

I assume that we all have a soul, and the soul is said to indestructible and immortal, and which can bear anything which seems evil to the body. The sensations are all part of the seeming the physical world provides. Besides, if nature made us, and governs us, take it up with nature, and demand to know why an innocent child has to die by a terminal disease. Also ask mother nature the reason why anyone or anything has to die at all, in the first place? Does nature reason?

@pettytalk said
I assume that we all have a soul, and the soul is said to indestructible and immortal, and which can bear anything which seems evil to the body. The sensations are all part of the seeming the physical world provides. Besides, if nature made us, and governs us, take it up with nature, and demand to know why an innocent child has to die by a terminal disease. Also ask mother nature the reason why anyone or anything has to die at all, in the first place? Does nature reason?

Is nature independent from God?

Why did an omniscient and omnibenevolent deity allow nature to include terminal diseases?

@ghost-of-a-duke said
Is nature independent from God?

Why did an omniscient and omnibenevolent deity allow nature to include terminal diseases?

The very good turned evil was cursed instead of blessed.

@pettytalk said
Did Jesus really lay down his life? Did he not say that he would only be gone for 3 days?

And if Jesus is God, according to the Trinity concept, why would God need to be so dramatic in the act of forgiveness?

What was forgiven in the act of laying down and resting for 3 days? All sins, past, present, and future? And if God created us, did he not create us with an in ...[text shortened]... lly, to live and die as they taught. Besides, both knew that the soul lives on after physical death.

I would add this He laid down His life not only at the cross, but also at the manger, when He took on humanity laying down His place as the Word of God to become the son of man.

@kellyjay said
I would add this He laid down His life not only at the cross, but also at the manger, when He took on humanity laying down His place as the Word of God to become the son of man.

I’d put good money on this pile of pulpit piffle coming not from you, but from one of your church leaders?

@ghost-of-a-duke said
Is nature independent from God?

Why did an omniscient and omnibenevolent deity allow nature to include terminal diseases?

Well, which one is to be?

Does a God exist? If we admit it in the discussion, my argument stands. The soul exists conditional of God's existence. Then, since the soul is said to be indestructible and immortal, no harm can come to it. Granted, pain and pleasure is a seeming reality felt by the body's brain through its nerve network located throughout the body. The ultimate receiver of the sensation of pain and pleasure is, of course, the mind, I think.

If God does not exist, then you must stand on your argument as an atheist, and ask why Mother Nature allows such things her children have become conscious of as being evil/bad?

But let me retort with a question also. Can mother nature violate these physical laws which science swears by? In other words, who's the boss? The physical elements (all matter, including light), or the invisible physical laws? What commands matter and light? Obviously matter and light do not command, but they do obey? Obey what? The physical laws which science has so ingeniously discovered by meticulously observing the control and effect they have on matter and light. And I believe logic mandates that, where there are laws, there must be lawmakers?

But perhaps in the next Big Bang it will be matter and light which will command, and not the laws? In this case, the next Big Bang will be a revolutionary one, rather than a mere old repetition, where matter and light will be dictators, and not ruled by laws.

@pettytalk said
If God does not exist, then you must stand on your argument as an atheist, and ask why Mother Nature allows such things her children have become conscious of as being evil/bad?

Conscience and morality ~ and perception of good and bad and evil ~ evolved because [1] humans had the cognitive capacity to perceive these abstract things and act upon them; and [2] communal living turned the existence of moral codes and possession of moral compasses into attributes that enabled humans to survive and flourish.

@pettytalk said
Everything is Good. Or as FMF would probably put it, to use only adjectives, it's all dandy and copacetic.

You obviously either didn't understand what I said or you are pretending you didn't.

@pettytalk said
I believe logic mandates that, where there are laws, there must be lawmakers?

This is mere wordplay on your part. The word "laws" refers to descriptions of the nature of the universe as deduced by humans. To then riff on a DIFFERENT meaning of the word "laws" in order to arrive at the word "lawmaker" - with its anthropomorphizing connotation - is simply a rhetorical gimmick.

@pettytalk said
Well, which one is to be?

Does a God exist? If we admit it in the discussion, my argument stands. The soul exists conditional of God's existence. Then, since the soul is said to be indestructible and immortal, no harm can come to it. Granted, pain and pleasure is a seeming reality felt by the body's brain through its nerve network located throughout the body. The ultima ...[text shortened]... nd ask why Mother Nature allows such things her children have become conscious of as being evil/bad?

I don't believe in 'mother nature' or the idea that nature in any way cares for us. Indeed, nature is often hostile and it is us who have to adapt/evolve not to be destroyed by it. In this context, terminal diseases and earthquakes are not surprising. - In a Christian context however, where God is the creator of everything, terminal diseases and earthquakes are very much surprising.