What is true evil?

In comics (and real life) we see evil acts being done, but what is true evil?

My definition of true evil is doing an act because its wrong, because you know its wrong, and simply because you can.

Some evil is done because of a misguided purpose, ignorance, the idea that the "end justifies any means", the good of the majority, the privilege of the few, or unstable mind, but you hardly see anyone actually do what I described above (well at least on a level where the consequences aren't reparable or counter-able)

well in today's world, I would say things like rape, murder, child abuse, child rape, etc are all true evil.

Basically what you said. Things that are wrong and are done even though a person knows it is wrong.

You pretty much summed everything up in the OP.

"Be water my friend"

Depends on your definition.

True evil is a human construct created to help the human mind understand complex variables in a neater, simpler, easier way. Evil can also be considered concomitant to good. So as such the opposite of good, and so defined by how you define good. Since most things are relative there can be a sliding scale. So to me, since nothing can be absolutely knowledgeable, absolutely powerful, you can't have absolute evil or an evil at the end of a static scale, like true or false. I generally prefer terms such as malicious, selfish, ignorant, greedy. Much more accurate when describing actual things than evil which is kind of a diluted overextended lazy term.   

Meh I do not wear my morality on my sleeve, to me there is no good or evil,  things/people just are.............and......everything JUST IS. 

Look Into its eyes and know Despair.

Lack of being.

Probably doing an act that harms others [human or animal] and knowing that you are harming them, especially if you get pleasure out of it

I mean when you fight with a friend and then not invite her out on purpose, isnt evil, thats petty

but yeah rape, child abuse, harmful acts towards the innocent

Sharks are pretty evil, kill for pleasure and fun, not just to eat and survive.

Stuff like what happened to holly and jessica, god rest them, was pretty evil. Even in the animal world where everything runs off its basic instinct, that would be deemed evil

@cyberninja said:

Meh I do not wear my morality on my sleeve, to me there is no good or evil, things/people just are.............and......everything JUST IS.

Pretty much this.

Religion.

@Supreme Marvel said:

Religion.

Really?

@Supreme Marvel said:

Religion.

Atheism

@Agent9149 said:

In comics (and real life) we see evil acts being done, but what is true evil?

My definition of true evil is doing an act because its wrong, because you know its wrong, and simply because you can.

Some evil is done because of a misguided purpose, ignorance, the idea that the "end justifies any means", the good of the majority, the privilege of the few, or unstable mind, but you hardly see anyone actually do what I described above (well at least on a level where the consequences aren't reparable or counter-able)

But your interpretation of what makes an act "wrong" defers from person to person.

I would say most "evil" is committed because of this (the bold)

People who kill, kidnap, steal and cheat....People who dont believe in God or try to follow his work.

well in today's world, I would say things like rape, murder, child abuse, child rape, etc are all true evil.

Basically what you said. Things that are wrong and are done even though a person knows it is wrong.

@ChaosBlazer said:

shhhh becareful about using the R word...

@Supreme Marvel said:

Religion.

Atheism

@King Saturn: Idk if he truly believes that he may have said that because the other guy offended him and he wanted to get back or something.

@TERMINATORXX said:

People who kill, kidnap, steal and cheat

That pretty much covers everyone. lol

@King Saturn: Idk if he truly believes that he may have said that because the other guy offended him and he wanted to get back or something.

@King Saturn said:

@SilverGalford said:

@Supreme Marvel said:

Religion.

Atheism

lacking a belief in some deity should not be the cause of Evil... but believing in some type of deity that commands it's followers to do some things that are questionable could cause problems.

But he said religion in general, which means every single religion ever (even the peaceful ones). It's more probable to believe that the lack of religion would end up being evil as opposed to every last religion on earth.

An evil truly devoid of any benevolence.

@Supreme Marvel said:

Religion.

The dirty bomb has been planted.

Soon this thread will detonate into a wonderful cataclysm of flamewar.

The mods will have no choice but to lock off this thread and eject it into space as soon as possible.

@NlGHTCRAWLER said:

@King Saturn said:

@SilverGalford said:

@Supreme Marvel said:

Religion.

Atheism

lacking a belief in some deity should not be the cause of Evil... but believing in some type of deity that commands it's followers to do some things that are questionable could cause problems.

But he said religion in general, which means every single religion ever (even the peaceful ones). It's more probable to believe that the lack of religion would end up being evil as opposed to every last religion on earth.

There are peaceful Religions?

D:

@InnerVenom123 said:

@Supreme Marvel said:

Religion.

The dirty bomb has been planted.

Soon this thread will detonate into a wonderful cataclysm of flamewar.

The mods will have no choice but to lock off this thread and eject it into space as soon as possible.

In a religion chat room I frequented, everyone was forced to type "in my opinion" or they were IP banned. All they did was talk about their cats to avoid war.

@utotheg38 said:

@NlGHTCRAWLER said:

@King Saturn said:

@SilverGalford said:

@Supreme Marvel said:

Religion.

Atheism

lacking a belief in some deity should not be the cause of Evil... but believing in some type of deity that commands it's followers to do some things that are questionable could cause problems.

But he said religion in general, which means every single religion ever (even the peaceful ones). It's more probable to believe that the lack of religion would end up being evil as opposed to every last religion on earth.

There are peaceful Religions?

D:

Jainism, Buddhism, and some forms of Christianity.

EDIT:

And these are only a few that promote peace. There are also some religions like Deism that don't conflict with anyone or anything.

@NlGHTCRAWLER said:

@utotheg38 said:

@NlGHTCRAWLER said:

@King Saturn said:

@SilverGalford said:

@Supreme Marvel said:

Religion.

Atheism

lacking a belief in some deity should not be the cause of Evil... but believing in some type of deity that commands it's followers to do some things that are questionable could cause problems.

But he said religion in general, which means every single religion ever (even the peaceful ones). It's more probable to believe that the lack of religion would end up being evil as opposed to every last religion on earth.

There are peaceful Religions?

D:

Jainism, Buddhism, and some forms of Christianity.

A lot of others also have some good qualities to them, even if they're not peaceful.

Oh lord. Someone HAD to say religion and then start a pointless argument. THANKS, guy.

@Xanni15: Yeah, I edited that right before you responded ^_^

@lagoon_boy said:

LOL!

But remember.... All of his action were for love.

LMFAO! Squid face!

@7am_Waking_Up_In_The_Morning: Yes, the same love that broke the bat.

Fox News

True evil is knowing for a fact that something is wrong and choosing to do it any way.

@King Saturn said:

@SilverGalford said:

@Supreme Marvel said:

Religion.

Atheism

lacking a belief in some deity should not be the cause of Evil... but believing in some type of deity that commands it's followers to do some things that are questionable could cause problems.

But he said religion in general, which means every single religion ever (even the peaceful ones). It's more probable to believe that the lack of religion would end up being evil as opposed to every last religion on earth.

@lagoon_boy: but he was evil for love, talia is evil for her father, Ra is evil because he wants to save the world from itself??? (i'll list that under misguided purposes)

@King Saturn: I agree, but I believe "Religion" can't be simplified so easily because there are so many of them.

@SC said:

True evil is a human construct created to help the human mind understand complex variables in a neater, simpler, easier way. Evil can also be considered concomitant to good. So as such the opposite of good, and so defined by how you define good. Since most things are relative there can be a sliding scale. So to me, since nothing can be absolutely knowledgeable, absolutely powerful, you can't have absolute evil or an evil at the end of a static scale, like true or false. I generally prefer terms such as malicious, selfish, ignorant, greedy. Much more accurate when describing actual things than evil which is kind of a diluted overextended lazy term.

I agree with pretty much everything you said here.

@King Saturn: I agree, but I believe "Religion" can't be simplified so easily because there are so many of them.

The more interesting question is perhaps, are people born evil or do they turn over time

@Xanni15 said:

@NlGHTCRAWLER said:

@utotheg38 said:

@NlGHTCRAWLER said:

@King Saturn said:

@SilverGalford said:

@Supreme Marvel said:

Religion.

Atheism

lacking a belief in some deity should not be the cause of Evil... but believing in some type of deity that commands it's followers to do some things that are questionable could cause problems.

But he said religion in general, which means every single religion ever (even the peaceful ones). It's more probable to believe that the lack of religion would end up being evil as opposed to every last religion on earth.

There are peaceful Religions?

D:

Jainism, Buddhism, and some forms of Christianity.

A lot of others also have some good qualities to them, even if they're not peaceful.

All religion is peaceful, actually all religion is neutral, religions don't do anything, they don't kill, they don't perform surgery, their not even physical, they are ideas, the worst they can do is offend someone and the offending has nothing to with them. Human Beings. Human beings are the problems. Human beings are the ones who do the killing, they are the ones who cause all the evil in the world. All evil that was done in the world in the name of religion would be and can be done in the name of another reason. So there is no reason to cause problems to because you don't agree with some else s idea.

Now can we make this not a religious debate, and stick to this the topic, if you must mention the topic of religion make sure it stays focused on the topic and isn't flammatory and be specific :3 thankyou

@utotheg38 said:

@NlGHTCRAWLER said:

@King Saturn said:

@SilverGalford said:

@Supreme Marvel said:

Religion.

Atheism

lacking a belief in some deity should not be the cause of Evil... but believing in some type of deity that commands it's followers to do some things that are questionable could cause problems.

But he said religion in general, which means every single religion ever (even the peaceful ones). It's more probable to believe that the lack of religion would end up being evil as opposed to every last religion on earth.

There are peaceful Religions?

D:

Christianity, Budhism, and Jainism are all peaceful

Small Children are pure evil....

@InnerVenom123 said:

@Supreme Marvel said:

Religion.

The dirty bomb has been planted.

Soon this thread will detonate into a wonderful cataclysm of flamewar.

The mods will have no choice but to lock off this thread and eject it into space as soon as possible.

Really? I thought when someone mentioned religion we discussed our differences peacefully without ever getting angry. On another note I once heard that whenever there is a vicious unopened minded debate on religion a baby panda is slaughtered. Soon they will be extinct...

Anything can be justified. Any crime, any assault, any murder, can be justified. At least by the person who perpetrated it. A person can't commit a crime and truly think, down in their very soul, that it's evil. Why did a person steal this? Do you think they thought it was wrong? No, they thought they needed it, or wanted it, and thus they should have it.

Why did a person kill this other person? Numerous reasons, so many I shouldn't even list a few.

Why did this person rape this woman? Again, numerous reasons. Not good ones, not acceptable ones, but there ARE reasons the people who do it give themselves.

Is it right? No. Not by a dam sight. Should they get away with it? HELL NO. I'm not excusing it, but you ask 'what is true evil'? There's no such thing as 'true evil', not really. Just varying degrees of psychosis. There's always an excuse. Is it a good one? No, probably not. Does it make sense? No, not at all. Is it evil? To you, to me, yes. Does the person who does it think so? No. So your example of: "When a person knows it's wrong, but does it anyway." If a person knows it's wrong, and does it anyway, it's because they're forced to do it. Again, if a person steals and they know it's wrong, it's because they literally have no other choice to do it. If a person kills and they know it's wrong, again, they most likely have no other choice. Doing something against your will does not make you evil. So what is true evil?

No such thing.

@JonSmith: Some men just want to watch the world burn

@VercingetorixTheGreat: And those men are crazy. But are they evil? They don't think so. They don't consider the acts they do wrong, so the OP's definition of 'true evil' does not hold for them.