Rather than addressing these questions individually, I think it would be better to explore the matter in general. Most of us have a mound of unstated assumptions around such basic concepts and we need to deal with them up front. We can deal with more specific issues in the comments, or perhaps in another post.<\/p>\n
The nature of good and evil is ultimately a question of philosophy, not of the \u201con the ground religion\u201d that I practice and write about. But it is good for ordinary people to wrestle with these issues, even if we don\u2019t have the depth of knowledge that professional philosophers can bring to the conversation. I have no special expertise in this matter and I certainly carry no authority in the field of philosophy. But I think about these things, and thinking in public is a good thing.<\/p>\n
Any question of philosophy or ethics has to start somewhere \u2013 I start with animism. In particular, I start with the animistic principle that all living things are not things but persons<\/em> with their own inherent value and autonomy. Our ideas about good and evil must include non-human persons. Raccoons, wolves, trees, and rivers all have the right to do their own things for their own reasons.<\/p>\n If our ideas about good and evil deal only with humans, human needs, and human desires, they will be incomplete. We are neither the center of the universe nor its head. We are simply part of Nature \u2013 as is every other person<\/em>.<\/p>\n The very phrase \u201cgood and evil\u201d implies a binary dualism. Something is good or it is evil. It\u2019s day or it\u2019s night. It\u2019s black or it\u2019s white. The monotheistic religions have made this worse with their idea of God and the Devil \u2013 a God of Good and a God of Evil. Pick a side\u2026 and it\u2019s very clear which side you\u2019re supposed to pick.<\/p>\n But where in Nature do we see dualism? Yes, there\u2019s day and night, but there\u2019s also dawn and dusk. There are nights when the moon is so bright it might as well be day, and then there\u2019s artificial light. There\u2019s black and white, but there\u2019s also a whole rainbow of colors. As a polytheist, I see not one God or two Gods but many Gods.<\/p>\n We have an evolutionary urge to reduce things to binary decisions: can I eat this animal or will this animal eat me? But life as we actually experience it is rarely so simple, and trying to reduce complicated situations down to a binary decision often causes more harm than good.<\/p>\n Good and evil is not as simple as good or evil.<\/p>\n If good and evil cannot be settled with a simple dualistic approach, perhaps we can solve the problem by narrowing the scope from the universal to the individual. We instinctively understand that what\u2019s good for the wolf is bad for the deer, and vice versa. Perhaps good and evil can only be understood from the standpoint of the person experiencing it.<\/p>\n The problem with relativism is that it shuts off inquiry and debate. \u201cThis is good for me and it doesn\u2019t matter what anybody else thinks.\u201d What\u2019s bad for the wolf may be good for the deer\u2026 until the predators are removed, the population exceeds the carrying capacity of the environment, and starvation sets in. The problem of good and evil cannot be settled by oversimplifying it.<\/p>\n Philosophical relativism is far more complicated than this \u2013 you can argue that what I\u2019m doing here is philosophical relativism. But relativism as it\u2019s commonly understood is a lazy and inadequate answer to a difficult problem.<\/p>\n Appealing to the law in questions of philosophy is always problematic \u2013 the law is no reliable gauge of good and evil, or even of right and wrong. But the law around killing other humans illustrates our intuitive understanding that intent matters, even when the outcome is the same.<\/p>\n If you intentionally kill someone, you\u2019ll be charged with murder. If convicted, in Texas there are two possible sentences: life in prison, or death.<\/p>\n If you have no intention to kill someone, but you\u2019re behaving in a reckless manner (if you are \u201caware of but consciously disregard a substantial and unjustifiable risk\u201d) and they die because of your actions, you\u2019ll be charged with manslaughter. If convicted, in Texas the sentence is between 2 and 20 years in prison.<\/p>\n If someone breaks into your home and threatens your life and you kill them, this is considered self-defense \u2013 you have committed no crime. The presumption is that you had no intent to kill the invader, but that lethal force was required to stop them.<\/p>\n In all three circumstances, you have killed another person. Intent makes the difference between walking away free, spending a few years in prison, or dying in prison.<\/p>\n This becomes relevant when we begin to consider the nature of evil. We understand that life is hard and uncertain \u2013 sometimes bad things happen. But when someone causes harm on purpose, we see it differently.<\/p>\n This is my intuitive definition of evil: intentionally causing harm. But I\u2019m not sure it\u2019s broad enough.<\/p>\n Following the legal thread a bit further, we encounter negligence. You\u2019re texting while driving \u2013 or perhaps even while walking \u2013 and you run into someone and hurt them. You don\u2019t clear the ice off your sidewalk and someone falls and breaks a leg. You run a restaurant, don\u2019t check your food temperatures, and your customers get food poisoning. There was no intent to harm \u2013 in some cases you did nothing. But because you were negligent someone got hurt and the law will hold you responsible.<\/p>\n Again, the law is not a reliable gauge of ethics. But at a high level \u2013 particularly for things that have existed for centuries \u2013 they reflect our collective understanding of good and evil. The fact that negligence is a crime reflects our intuitive understanding that not directly causing harm isn\u2019t good enough. There are times when we have an obligation to take special care, or to render aid.<\/p>\n Failing to consider the impact of our actions and non-actions<\/em> on others is a step toward evil.<\/p>\n Epistemology is the theory of knowledge \u2013 how do we know what we know? How do we know what is good and what is evil?<\/p>\n We know what we know about good and evil the same way we know about everything else: by observation of cause and effect. As small children, we learn that treating other people well tends to make them want to treat us well, and that hitting them tends to make them want to hit us back.<\/p>\n Virtues are qualities that over time have been shown to be helpful \u2013 things like reciprocity, hospitality, honesty, moderation, courage, justice, and kindness.<\/p>\n There are many virtues, and sometimes they are in conflict \u2013 as anyone who\u2019s ever tried to be both honest and kind at the same time knows all too well. In our attempts to do good and to avoid evil, we frequently have to make hard choices that are less than perfect. And because we are human, with the perspective and limitations of humans, even our best decisions may ultimately prove to be harmful.<\/p>\n If we are wise, that leads to another virtue \u2013 humility. It demands that we recognize the limitations of our knowledge, particularly in dealing with complicated situations.<\/p>\n The Gods are (among other things) the personification of Their virtues. The Gods are good because They are virtuous, not simply because They are Gods. A commenter asked how this could be: how can virtues exist on their own? The answer is that virtues are emergent: they flow from the interactions of persons, human and otherwise.<\/p>\n There can be no hospitality in a lifeless world. There are no guests, there are no hosts, and there are no obligations from that interaction. But once we have life we begin to have interactions, which lead to the principles and practice of hospitality help that life to grow and thrive.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s as close to a definition of \u201cgood\u201d as I can get: that which promotes the growth and thriving of all persons.<\/p>\n The desire for a clear and objective source of virtue is as strong and as illusive as the desire for a binary definition of good and evil. We want things to be simple. They aren\u2019t. We deal with them as best we can.<\/p>\n Taken on their own, virtues are as close to pure good as we can get. But there are many virtues, and they don\u2019t always play well together. Values are how we weight the various virtues \u2013 they\u2019re what\u2019s most important to us.<\/p>\n As a polytheists, we understand that different people worship different Gods in different ways. Likewise, we understand that different people will have different values. It\u2019s why we have different cultures, different religions, and different political parties. Diversity \u2013 another virtue \u2013 is more than food, language, and gender identity. Humility demands that we understand our way isn\u2019t the only way, and may not be the best way.<\/p>\n Our challenge is to make sure we respect people with values different from our own, while refusing to tolerate behaviors that are harmful. This is very hard in today\u2019s polarized political environment, where the idea of compromising with the loyal opposition has been replaced with the demand to destroy your \u201cenemies.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2018\/07\/13-35-Pompeii.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nFoundations<\/h1>\n
A foundation of animism<\/h2>\n
The problem of dualism<\/h2>\n
The problem of relativism<\/h2>\n
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<\/a><\/p>\nIntent and Obligations \u2013 What Our Intuition Tells Us<\/h1>\n
A question of intent<\/h2>\n
The crime of negligence<\/h2>\n
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<\/a><\/p>\nVirtues and Values<\/h1>\n
An epistemology of virtues<\/h2>\n
Virtues and the Gods<\/h2>\n
A question of values<\/h2>\n
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