Sometime back around 2015 or 2016, I remarked to my dad that some politician was evil. It may’ve been the orange idiot, or one of many others, but that’s beside the point.
“‘Evil’ is a pretty strong word.” dad said, solemnly. Mind you, dad’s been in the Swedish Baptist RWNJ Evangelical Cult since his conception, and he ain’t budging. So his solemn tone comes from a deep seated, credulous cult-member belief that there’s a supernaturally-sourced book that has some words in it that you can only say in a very certain way, in very specific context. You know, saying the deity’s name in the wrong context is a reason to burn in hell for eternity. And “evil” is synonymous with “Devil” and “Satan”, so intentionally conflating a (white) human with Satan is as offensive as comparing other humans of some non-Caucasian ancestry with a primate or whatever.
That is to say, it was almost as if I swore the most-offensive of possible swearing, to suggest aloud that someone of my father’s race, age bracket, and political leanings was “evil”.
I’m now more than twice as far removed from the cult as I was back then. I’ve had more practice at looking at those concepts more objectively, and I have some admittedly amateur philosophical observations to make.
Disclaimers: I am not trying to convince anybody of anything. I am not right. Neither are you. When I say “you” I also mean “me”. When I say “I” I also mean you. i.e. All of us. There is no God, and no Devil. No, I’m not going to prove that, I can’t prove that, and I can’t even claim to 100% believe that. I only say that as an assumption, to set a frame of reference, so to speak.
Just… take anything supernatural off the table, and let’s make hypotheses based on what evidence can be observed, with the contention that there is a natural explanation or cause of everything – even if we don’t understand it yet.
That said…
Evolution is natural. Ergo it is natural to select (i.e. choose) for survival. An individual will choose (or accidentally stumble into) X instead of Y because X increases the chances of survival (or even thriving) of self, and of lineage, and more generally of the species. Selfishness is central to the natural order.
So if there’s no god, and no devil, is there good? And is there evil?
Yes. There is good, and there is evil. Good doesn’t come from god, it comes from us. It is a human concept. Evil doesn’t come from Satan, it comes from us. It is also a human concept.
Good, in broad terms, is making a choice that helps others, even if it doesn’t help self.
Evil, in broad terms, is making choices that help self, with the full knowledge that it harms others, and in fact harms the thriving of the species as a whole.
Making choices that help all of us, including self, is neutral. Natural. Consistent with the whole point of evolution.
As far as we know, humans are the most advanced thinkers to exist. We are probably unique in having even the ability to do selfless things to help another of our species, or for another species. Or, in a word, altruism. Altruism is kinda unique to us – and it’s sorta remarkable.
OK, taking all of the previous 7 paragraphs, balling it all up and labeling it “my world-view for the moment”…
What, then is the deal with humans believing in supernatural beings, if good and evil are both human inventions?
My present theory is that it’s mental laziness. If I know that I would have to work at doing good and fighting evil, because it’s all human-caused, then I’m responsible (and remember, I = we… we are individually and severally responsible). I don’t want to be responsible. I want it to be god’s problem to manifest goodness, and fight evil. I want it to be the devil’s fault that evil exists. And if I do something evil, the devil made me do it. I can only overcome evil with god’s help. Do not expect much of me, for I am weak. If there’s a god and a devil, then Climate Change is something for the supernatural powers to deal with. So is hunger. Disease. Poverty. If I’m rich, housed (with heat and A/C), fed, clothed, it’s because god blessed me, not because I’m a selfish, evil asshole.
Well anyway, the end result is, I still believe what I said back in 2015 or so is true – that fucker is evil, whichever fucker it was that I was talking about at the time. He’s evil in the perspective of my dad’s cult, and he’s evil in the perspective of the objective non-cult view.
