anotherneil
Well-Known Member
I don't think it does; I think it doesn't mean anything or serve any useful purpose in scientific or political settings. I think it's only a religious word.
-
Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.
Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:- Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
- Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
- Access to private conversations with other members.
We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!
Does the word "evil" mean anything in a non-religious sense?
- Thread starter anotherneil
- Start date
ppp
Well-Known Member
It's an intense adjective. Like gut-churning or jaw dropping.
evil ::= intentionally malignant
It doesn't have its religious meaning to me, yet I would probably feel comfortable calling Trump evil because I see his policies as a demonstrable source of harm to the poor and to minorities, so to sum up evil in the non-religious sense that I use it would simply mean a demonstrable source of harm.
Others may use it differently to me.
Old English yfel simply meant 'bad'.
Evil these days mostly has theological connotations, meaning something like, 'states of affairs, actions and intentions displeasing to God'.
However, it's also serviceable as a word simply meaning "very nasty", "malicious".
.
Evil these days mostly has theological connotations, meaning something like, 'states of affairs, actions and intentions displeasing to God'.
However, it's also serviceable as a word simply meaning "very nasty", "malicious".
.
I think it's useful for describing calculated cruel, malicious, sadistic acts which offends the good conscience of normal people. Sometimes "bad" just doesn't cut it.
Heyo
Veteran Member
I try to avoid "evil" but I recognize it as a superlative of "bad" or "immoral" in casual conversation. I'm not sure, but it even may be a technical term in literature science, often in combination like "evil empire" or "evil stepmother".
So, no religious connotation, just moral.
Like others, I tend not to use it because it is so often meant in the religious sense, and as to such I cannot subscribe. Evil as being at the darkest end of the behaviour spectrum I can support.
In fact, most dictionary definitions don't refer to any theological connations at all. What other word better describes the holocaust, or slavery, or the lynching of people for the crime of being the wrong colour? What word better describes what HAMAS did on October 7, 2023, or what Israel has done to the Palestinian peope in Gaza ever since?
I think a lot of us turn to the word "evil" when we are trying to describe harmful things that are so much worse than we are accustomed to seeing, and usually contain a strong element of intent.
And it is that "intent" that causes me, if I ever do use "evil" in a religious sense, to ascribe evil to a god who would afflict an infant for David and Bathsheba's dalliance, or slaughter all the first born of Egypt for Pharaoh's intransigence, when that god could, presumably much more easily, punish David or Pharaoh themselves.
I believe it does, for most it indicates that the crime committed is above human possibilities; whereas, the person must be mentally ill. This is wrong. In my opinion people need to be held to their actions. Evil needs to be banished from our language and replaced with wrong as in They, He or She was wrong in their actions and will be punished accordingly. Even religiously evil gives an out to the doer, if the evil can be banished then they are somehow worthy again.
Arguably, no human words mean anything in a non-religious sense since all humans are fundamentally religious (that is, all humans construct narratives of deep meaning and values that help address the existential nature of life and living).