>"evil" isn't an explanation, it's a label given in disgust to someone that is beyond redemption.
I've seen it far too many times used as an explanation thought. Like, somehow, WWII can be explained away because "Hitler was evil", or complex events involving millions of people, like the USSR History can be explained by the "evil of Stalin".
(Lots of times "paranoid" is used in the same vein, despite having an actual medical meaning).
>To focus on something smaller and simpler, I would say that most serial killers, as in separate premeditated incidents over an extended period, are "evil".
What I take offense with is the way this puts all the blame in the persons itself (which might be abused in childhood, mentally ill, etc), and acts as a pseudo-explanation which justifies medieval punishments like the death penalty (after all, if one is "evil", what can you do? Just kill that "evil" guy).
I'm OK with using it as a label, as you say, but most people don't stop there -- they believe in the label's actual exegetical power.
I'm OK with using it as a label, as you say, but most people don't stop there -- they believe in the label's actual exegetical power.
And even if they don't, there's someone like you around to claim they do, which is the whole cause of this thread ballooning into such crap with lots of noise and no signal. Good luck with all that I guess.
I've seen it far too many times used as an explanation thought. Like, somehow, WWII can be explained away because "Hitler was evil", or complex events involving millions of people, like the USSR History can be explained by the "evil of Stalin".
(Lots of times "paranoid" is used in the same vein, despite having an actual medical meaning).
>To focus on something smaller and simpler, I would say that most serial killers, as in separate premeditated incidents over an extended period, are "evil".
What I take offense with is the way this puts all the blame in the persons itself (which might be abused in childhood, mentally ill, etc), and acts as a pseudo-explanation which justifies medieval punishments like the death penalty (after all, if one is "evil", what can you do? Just kill that "evil" guy).
I'm OK with using it as a label, as you say, but most people don't stop there -- they believe in the label's actual exegetical power.