Discovering Evil

It is tough enough to figure out what is good, but at least we can have a basic agreement as to what is good for people in general.  But what is evil?  Does it even exist? Can we actually nail down what evil is?  Is evil anything that harms another person?  or is there an outer standard of evil so that one might think a person was doing good, but was really doing the worst of evil actions?

What is the source of evil?  Where does it come from?  Does it come from a personal source, like Satan or certain people?  Is evil systemic, so it mostly comes from an improper government or institution?  Or is evil found everywhere, in every heart, in every animal?  Or is it found nowhere, in no heart, in no place, in no system?  If evil can't be found, then was Hitler evil or Stalin?

Is evil about action or about motivation?  Is it the intent that matters, or what a person actually does?  Can a person be evil without actually having done anything?  Can evil exist by not doing good?  Or does one have to perform an evil act in order to be actually evil?

(BTW, I love Invader Zim.  Especially Gir.  "I love-ed you piggy... I love-ed you...")

Is Faith Essential?

Is faith believing in what cannot be proven?  There are different kinds of faith, in reality.  Faith is a kind of trust, but the amount of "proof" one has isn't essential.  One could have a lot of proof, or not.  The important part is the trust.

Does faith only have to do with religion, or is it important in other aspects of life?  Is faith just certain hope, or is it based on a relationship?  Or is faith a firm belief in a concept?

Is faith, in an of itself, a benefit?  Does it matter what or who one has faith in?  Is faith a virtue all by itself, or only if it is accompanied by other virtues, such as reason or ethics?

Do any of us lack faith in anything? Is there such a thing as a human without any faith?  If there is, what does that look like-- complete skepticism or maybe complete isolationism?  Does lack of faith make a better person, a worse person or does it really matter?

Implications of Questions

Some think that to ask a question is to express doubt, which lacks confidence and faith.  But is that what a question does?  There are many reasons for asking a question:

-An openness to examine a subject critically
-An opportunity to hear another point of view
-A confession that you may not have all the answers, yourself
-A re-examination of something you may already know
-An opportunity to bring others down a path of inquiry you have already gone down

Are there times when questions imply weakness?  Or is it humility?  Are questions controlling, trying to determine the agenda?  Or are they serving others? Can questions be manipulative?  In what context can they be one or the other?

Do questions limit knowledge or increase knowledge?

What Is Death?

Some have claimed that death enhances the meaning of life.  However, if humans are simply animals, then why should our deaths have any greater meaning than other animals?  Does the certainty of death encourage us to live better or to simply frighten us, causing us to desperately cling to life?

Is death an unassailable mystery, or is there some way to break through the barrier, to catch glimpses of death? Is death simply cessation of being, or is there a part of us that never dies?  What would be the nature of that aspect? Is it simply other people's memories, whatever physical presence we have left?  Or is there a non-corporeal essence that will exist after our bodies cease functioning?

Is there any possibility to reverse death, to have a second chance at life?  And if there is, and we are convinced at another life, do we live differently than those who believe that our complete existence ends at death?

Are There Absolutes?

How can we know anything?  I mean ANYTHING?

Frankly, it is often a good policy to doubt everything.  And the more information we get, the more we doubt.  Every time someone sends me information, I want to check it out on snopes.com.  But how do I know that snopes is accurate?  We've learned that the maps we learn geography on are inaccurate, that dictionaries are changable, that encyclopedias only give one point of view.  What our grade school teachers taught us is corrected in high school and that is corrected in college and in real life we learn the issues we spent so much time on in school are insignificant (think about the various things we learned about the Pilgrims and Thanksgiving).

How can we absolutely trust any piece of information, let alone answers to big questions?  Is anything we learn actually, permanently true?  Or is it only temporarily true until the next scientific study?  Is our most firm observations and truths that we base our lives on merely guesses?  Are they only cultural artifacts that will be replaced in the next generation?

Is there anything that we can rest on as solid evidence?  Descartes claimed that the only solid evidential proof we can have is "I think, therefore I am".  But even in that, aren't there assumptions in that statement about what "I" is?  Am "I" personal?  Perhaps "I" is not an "I", meaning an individual, but an entity, a machine, or a collective?

And what if we can know nothing in an absolute sense-- does this mean that we cannot make truth claims? Is every bit of truth only able to be proceeded with "I think" or "I believe"?

Question Everything?

I have had times that my questions threatened people.  Just asking a question or exploring a topic frightened them, because they were afraid of what the answer might bring.

Are there questions that shouldn't be asked?  Are there questions that are so dangerous that they would cause the downfall of the world?  Or of a personal world?  Should we ever be afraid of questions, or of finding out the truth?

Is there a wrong time for certain questions?  Perhaps all questions are good at certain times, but not others?  Is there ever a time in our lives that we can stop asking questions-- not because we know everything (that's not possible), but because discovering truth won't benefit us anymore?

Do questions always lead to truth?  Is there a kind of question that leads to a false conclusion, just by asking it?  Is it better to ask questions or to make statements of truth, assuming we know it?  

Can we ask questions which uses a lot of time in deliberation when our time could be better spent doing something else?

Does It Really Matter?

There is a lot of discussion about whether God exists.  Does it really matter whether there is an over-arching being who is behind all things?  Does it change our character any, or change our motivation whether there is or is not a divine presence?

If there is not a God, will anyone change their minds and stop worshiping one?  If there is a God, will that change the actions of any human being, really?  Or is God just an excuse to do what we were going to do anyway?

I am not denying God.  Nor am I affirming one.  I am asking what it really matters.

Finally, is it even possible to "prove" the existence of God at all?  If there is proof, wouldn't the rational atheists be convinced?  If there is a solid proof against God, wouldn't the rational deists be convinced?  Since no one is convinced one way or another, then why discuss the subject?  Is there a good reason to have discussions as to the existence or non-existence of God?

Who Am I?

I am not the same person I was when I was a teenager.  I am not the same person I was fifteen years ago.  So is there a core to my being, an essence of my character, my self?  Am I continuous chameleon or is there something I can call "me" that never changes?  

If there is something in me that is continuous, is that my "soul"?  Can I rely on that, in that I am able to say, "This is what I am like"?

But if there is nothing at my core, if all is potentially variable, then how can the present "I" be held blameworthy or praiseworthy for anything "I" have done in the past?  If I am not that person, I should not accept the guilt of that or the honor, should I?