Timmy Talk

[Timmy]

Almost time for my next topic. (So far, they've been posted on Sundays.) I have a couple possibilities in mind, but how about if I take requests? Any suggestions?

[Timmy]

No requests? OK, then you must endure the topic of my choosing. Mwahahaha! And that topic is:


Evil


Oh no, not again! Yes. Again. Only this time, it won't just be a bunch of questions thrown out for your contemplation. No, this time, I will take a stab at answering the questions from last week. (Never saw that coming, did ya? )



Where did evil come from? Whose fault is it?

It came from us. Man. We are to blame. We invented it out of selfishness. But "selfishness" itself isn't strictly evil. Or, at least, looking out for our "self interests" is not evil. That's just a necessity for survival, and everyone has that instinct. But when it becomes our only focus, or our overriding focus and we care only about that and not about others, that's where evil begins. If we steal to get something for ourselves, or we lie to make ourselves look better (or someone else look worse), or we kill, or cheat, etc., well, we've turned a corner. A very dark corner. That's evil. And we don't even need a serpent to tempt us. We can tempt ourselves quite aptly.



Is it, somehow, necessary?

No.



Could good exist, if there was no evil or the possibility of evil?

Yes.



If we were not capable of committing evil, would we be robots?

No. There are many things to exercise "fee will" over, and they have nothing to do with good or evil. They just are. Hobbies, career, what to wear, what to eat, where to travel to, etc. Nothing robotic about those. And there's really no need for God to help us, in choosing things like that. Does God want me to wear blue today? Was God saddened (or angered) when I chose a career in computers, rather than carpentry? Did it disappoint Him when I became an agnostic?



Are robots bad?

Nah. Not the kind of robots people have in mind when they are talking about free will, as it pertains to good and evil. If people didn't even have the ability to do evil, that would not be a bad thing, not at all.



Is every action we take either evil or good?

Nah. Some actions are just morally neutral. Personal taste. What to wear, choice of career, what to eat. (Eating breakfast this morning would have been good, come to think of it. I literally forgot to eat! Man, was I hungry by the time church got out. I wonder what the sermon was about! )



Are there degrees of evil?

Yes. Obviously.



Is evil merely the absence of good, in the same way that darkness is the absence of light?

No.



Could evil exist in Heaven? Will the inhabitants of Heaven have free will? Will they be robots? Will the inhabitants of Hell have free will? Will they be robots?

Dunno.



Is good more powerful than evil?

It doesn't seem like it is, usually. Most of the time, if someone sets his mind to doing something horrible, he does it. "Good" doesn't stop it. Nothing "good" usually comes out of it. Murder victims stay dead, and their loved ones are forever deprived of their company, and the world will never know what their contributions would have been, had they not been killed.

Oh, sometimes, there is "closure", and forgiveness, and people move on. And that's a good thing. But does it mean "good" defeated "evil"? Does it mean there was a net gain, in the big picture? No, not really. To say otherwise would be to claim that the murder should have happened. That it was better than if it had been prevented. Such baloney is not usually stated explicitly, but such baloney is the only logical conclusion that such rhetoric leads to.



Will good triumph over evil, in the end?

Maybe. Guess we'll have to wait and see.



What would that mean to the inhabitants of Hell?

Well, if there is a hell, and if it will have inhabitants, and if they will be there forever and ever, that that would mean good did not triumph over evil. They should sue!



Is faith good? Is a lack of faith evil? Or does it depend on what we have faith in?

It depends entirely on what we have faith in! Or does it? Well, we learned in my first post (about Thomas's bum rap) that we should always believe what we are told, without "seeing". We will be blessed. OK, I'm having some fun with ya, here. Of course it matters what we believe. Of course we should not believe everything we hear! That would be crazy. No, we must choose carefully what to believe, and what to reject. (I'll leave that choosing as an exercise for the reader! )



Is it evil to be an agnostic?

No.



Am I evil?

Not usually.



Are you evil?

Ah, another exercise for the reader!

[Timmy]

Originally Posted by Timmy

Is faith good? Is a lack of faith evil? Or does it depend on what we have faith in?

It depends entirely on what we have faith in! Or does it? Well, we learned in my first post (about Thomas's bum rap) that we should always believe what we are told, without "seeing". We will be blessed. OK, I'm having some fun with ya, here. Of course it matters what we believe. Of course we should not believe everything we hear! That would be crazy. No, we must choose carefully what to believe, and what to reject. (I'll leave that choosing as an exercise for the reader! )

That wasn't a very good answer, was it? Not complete, anyway. Didn't address the second question: is lack of faith evil? I would say no. Not in general. And certainly not if the lack of faith is justified! Would a lack of faith in the Quran be evil? Or the Book of Mormon? I think you get my point.

Now, to explore the first question further, would it be evil to have faith in something that isn't really true? Now that's a bit tricky. If you were simply mistaken, I wouldn't call it evil. Just mistaken! But suppose you actually know that it's not true, and yet you have faith in it anyway. That's kind of weird, though. Can that even happen? Could I have faith in leprechauns?

But how about this: suppose you know something isn't true, but you act like you have faith in it. You pretend! Is that evil? Well, I don't think I'd go that far. But it's probably not exactly good!

[Timmy]

This week's topic (just one day late):



Writer's Block





Thank you.

[Timmy]

Uh oh. 661 views. Only 5 more, and, well, you know.

[Timmy]

Originally Posted by Timmy

Uh oh. 661 views. Only 5 more, and, well, you know.

671! Yay! Zipped right past that eeeeevil number!

[Pressing-On]

Originally Posted by Timmy

This week's topic (just one day late):



Writer's Block





Thank you.

[Timmy]

OK, since my last topic was both lame and late, here's next week's topic, six days early. And maybe not quite as lame. We'll see.



Pain


A couple of hours ago, I was changing into my jeans so I could mow the grass. Safety first, you know. I was wearing shorts, and the yard (not a lawn by any stretch!) is rocky, and the mower can fling things. Anyway, as I was pulling on my jeans, I felt a sharp pain on my wrist. Ow! What the! Then another one on my finger. I realized: scorpion! Shook it off, still not actually seeing it, looking all around for it. Shook my jeans out (having promptly reversed the task of putting them on!), which is where it had been waiting for me, I guess. Couldn't spot it anywhere. Then, zap! Another sting on my neck! Must have flung it there from my finger.

Finally got that little monster onto the floor where I could dispatch it. With my belt. (Handiest thing I could find.)

Pain? Oh, man! I've been stung by bees and wasps, many times, but this was like all of them combined! Of course, it could have been worse. Much, much worse. Did I mention that thing was on my jeans?

[mizpeh]

Originally Posted by Timmy

OK, since my last topic was both lame and late, here's next week's topic, six days early. And maybe not quite as lame. We'll see.



Pain


A couple of hours ago, I was changing into my jeans so I could mow the grass. Safety first, you know. I was wearing shorts, and the yard (not a lawn by any stretch!) is rocky, and the mower can fling things. Anyway, as I was pulling on my jeans, I felt a sharp pain on my wrist. Ow! What the! Then another one on my finger. I realized: scorpion! Shook it off, still not actually seeing it, looking all around for it. Shook my jeans out (having promptly reversed the task of putting them on!), which is where it had been waiting for me, I guess. Couldn't spot it anywhere. Then, zap! Another sting on my neck! Must have flung it there from my finger.

Finally got that little monster onto the floor where I could dispatch it. With my belt. (Handiest thing I could find.)

Pain? Oh, man! I've been stung by bees and wasps, many times, but this was like all of them combined! Of course, it could have been worse. Much, much worse. Did I mention that thing was on my jeans?

Don't take this question personally, but shouldn't you be dead by now?

[Timmy]

Originally Posted by mizpeh

Don't take this question personally, but shouldn't you be dead by now?

Maybe.