I cannot entirely agree with one author or another. I have mixed thoughts about some things the mention, and I agree 100% with others. So, instead of agreeing with one author I’ve decided to comment on sentences that stood out to me from two different authors. Khaled Abou el-Fadi wrote, “Evil breaks down your ability to feel or to appreciate.” This is not necessarily true. Many psychopaths enjoy what evil things they do and appreciate the moments. They may not be able to appreciate the meaningful things in life, but they can appreciate. Rabbi Brad Hirschfield wrote, “He’s one person (Bin Laden), and things like this don’t happen because of one person. Labeling him evil makes it too easy. Get rid of him; get rid of the problem. It doesn’t work that way.” I am of the same opinion. Labeling one person is definitely too easy, and getting rid of Bin Laden will certainly not get rid of the problem. There are others out there like him, others who support him, and even others who have helped him. He isn’t alone.

When I read “The Bible and Our Public Debate” I came upon an intriguing statement. Robert Winthrop, who served as speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, said, “Men, in a word, must necessarily be controlled either by power within them or by power without them; either by the Word of God or by the strong arm of man; either by the bible or by the bayonet.” I understand he means that men must be controlled by the fear of being punished for devilish acts (the power within) or by the government (the without them.) A man’s fear of being punished is often enough to keep him from doing something evil, but when the fear is not enough the government has to deal with the situation and doesn’t have to be fair.
“Either by the bible or by the bayonet.” (Winthrop) Now, this has a slightly different translation. What Winthrop means here now is men must be controlled by what the bible says or by force (bayonet.)
Think about it.

Malachai Writes:

I firmly believe that evil is a product of the existance of life, and that while not all things are evil, even what is good has this potential.

This line stood out to me because it was worded well and made complete sense to me. I am of the same opinion. Evil could not exist if there was no life to provoke it. Think about it. The puritans and those with similar beliefs prior to them practically invented the devil and evil for purposes of maintaining control over their people. They threatened to inflict punishment on people if they performed certain acts that were considered evil. People are examples of life, so this situation fits Malachai’s belief that evil is a product of the existence of life. Because of people like the Puritans, their exists evil. After the initial definition of an act of evil, we could not escape the wrath of it. Today, countless things are considered to be “evil.”
The first piece of this statement was not the only part that stood out to me. I also agree that what is good has the potential to be evil. Any one of us good people can and maybe has already committed an evil act. Whether is was lying for the purpose of gaining an advantage over another or aiming to hurt someone without remorse. It happens to the best of us.

Hey, it’s Anthony. My definition of evil is an action done by one person to the disadvantage of another when the person doing the action is 100% conscious of what they are doing and their aim is to hurt their target. Basically, the evil person really means what they are doing and intend on completing their task without a care. A person who has knowingly lied to get an advantage over someone else has been evil. I consider 9/11 an act of evil by the organization who planned the attack, because it was clearly meant to hurt the United States. Intentionally killing another human or species of animals (that is really cared about) when not in self-defence is an act of evil.
Much of Stephen King’s literature contains evil people or acts of evil. King is, actually, quite good at writing evil stories. Historical acts of evil include, the Rwandan Genocide, the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, the murder of King Nicholas (of russia) and his entire royal family, the assassinations of JFK, Martin Luther King(Jr.) , and John Lennon, the base for WWII, and the Holocaust.

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