If God did not create evil, where did it come from? And why would God make human beings capable of extreme cruelty?
Evil nowadays can be defined by “acts of horror, cruelty”, seen as something that people can’t help, as if once a child is exuded from the womb they are either slapped with “good” or evil”. It’s been defined by many as something you can’t control, something you are stuck with. Evil today is dismissed and unidentified due to that very thought. Many think that the title of evil gives an excuse for the absence of motive for unspeakable crimes, when in fact evil is pure. Most victims resort to evil because simply coping takes too much energy and time. Many think that those who are evil are equally justifiably victimized due to the emotional solidity of being numb.
The article “Evil: How Can We Think About Evil”, written by Claire Carlisle, talks about the depth behind a so-called “evil person”. In the article, we question the source of evil. In Christianity, it was taught that the world is perfect … so how did evil come about? People of religion have come to the conclusion that there are two types of evil, “moral evil” and “natural evil”. But the only evil there is is the evil ethical to religious idealism.
Evil is subjective and ambiguous. Almost anything can be called evil depending on morals. The source of evil in many is the lack of energy to cope with trauma. No one can quite capture the moral significance of evil due to the many morals and beliefs that bash. In some religions, abortion is seen as evil due to the ideology that it is an alleged “murder”, whereas others believe that keeping a fetus alive when it can’t be cared for nor housed properly is the only evil done. From the conclusion of many, religious ideologies have been the main contribution to defining evil. Since the Christian doctrine of creation presents a particularly compelling question and case about evil: if the world was created by a just, all-powerful, perfectly good, then why is there any evil at all? If God did not create evil, where did it come from? Philosophers have mainly debated whether we should use the term evil in our moral, political, and thinking, or if it is obsolete and should be abandoned.
The conclusion that many have come to is that evil will always stay undefined and ambiguous as long as religious ideologies and morals continue to bash and differentiate. Philosophers like Leibniz and Epicurus have said the only solution, the simple way out of the dilemma, logically speaking, is to deny that evil is real. If there is no evil, then God has to be both good and powerful.