War is not inevitable

[Guest]

Yes, I make a distinction between real evil and the garden variety of the rest of us that "just want our own way" but it only takes a few when the rest of us can't or won't stand against them.

And BC: I think the inherent nature of mankind to do wrong instead of right has been proven so thoroughly over our history that to deny it's reality is preposterous. Those who do are, IMO, either in denial or they want to assign some, as you put it -"external" motivator to it. I believe it comes from within us. Ask anyone who's watched a child in their "terrible twos". Self will run riot is what it's about.

Behaviour is a response to conditioning, circumstances and certain biological imperatives. It is not a response to some magical force which compells us to behave in certain ways. There is no devil tempting us and drawing us execorably to do wrong. If we chose to live in a more equitable world the circumstances which make people wrong others would diminish - though not disappear.

A belief in original sin allows people to deny personal responsibility for the wrongs they do to others - the "now look what you made me do syndrome". I have seen the corrosive effect it has on people of a religious belief who refuse to face up to the personal flaws they have and the hurts they cause to others, preferring to leave it up to God to judge their behaviour.

Br Cornelius

[+and-then]

Behaviour is a response to conditioning, circumstances and certain biological imperatives. It is not a response to some magical force which compells us to behave in certain ways. There is no devil tempting us and drawing us execorably to do wrong. If we chose to live in a more equitable world the circumstances which make people wrong others would diminish - though not disappear.

A belief in original sin allows people to deny personal responsibility for the wrongs they do to others - the "now look what you made me do syndrome". I have seen the corrosive effect it has on people of a religious belief who refuse to face up to the personal flaws they have and the hurts they cause to others, preferring to leave it up to God to judge their behaviour.

Br Cornelius

Explain the mechanics of it any way you like. The truth is still apparent that evil exists in the world. It has never gone away, no matter how enlightened mankind has tried to become and since past is generally prologue I'd say that the overwhelming expectation for the future of mankind is a continuation of conflict and war. At least until we are finally at the brink of annihilating ourselves. Some will no doubt die with the words or thoughts damning people of faith but it won't really matter much then, will it?

[Mr Right Wing]

http://collapseofind...vilization.com/

Br Cornelius

What about the role of the leadership in war?

A powermad leader will take a prosperous nation into a conflict regardless of it being stressed by a lack of resources.

[Guest]

Explain the mechanics of it any way you like. The truth is still apparent that evil exists in the world. It has never gone away, no matter how enlightened mankind has tried to become and since past is generally prologue I'd say that the overwhelming expectation for the future of mankind is a continuation of conflict and war. At least until we are finally at the brink of annihilating ourselves. Some will no doubt die with the words or thoughts damning people of faith but it won't really matter much then, will it?

The term Evil is a subtle on which shifts the balame from the perpetrator. If someone carries out an attrocity against another then that is what it is - an act of an individual against another. No-one or nothing is to blame other than the individual who committed the crime. No innate quality of human nature made them do it - it was a product of circumstances and choice.

Supposedly it was God who made the Pope order the crusades and the consequent death of 100,000's of individual civilians. I prefer to blame the Pope.

Br Cornelius

Br Cornelius

[+and-then]

The term Evil is a subtle on which shifts the balame from the perpetrator. If someone carries out an attrocity against another then that is what it is - an act of an individual against another. No-one or nothing is to blame other than the individual who committed the crime. No innate quality of human nature made them do it - it was a product of circumstances and choice.

Supposedly it was God who made the Pope order the crusades and the consequent death of 100,000's of individual civilians. I prefer to blame the Pope.

Br Cornelius

Br Cornelius

I understand what you are saying and I don't question your logic. As humans we are free agents. We choose our paths but we also have proven over millennia that those choices gravitate to the destructive. For me, evil is simply a description of behavior that knowingly harms or destroys another. I have never believed that people can justifiably blame God for their choices.