Saturday, December 20, 2008

Good, Evil and Intention.



"for there is nothing either good or
bad, but thinking makes it so."


Hamlet (Act 2) - William Shakespeare

Many recent conversations I've had with friends have resulted in them making the determination that something was either good or evil. Each time I've heard this I've made a point of questioning them on it.

Why is it evil? What makes something evil? What makes something good?

I believe that people are ultimately good... people tend to do the very best they can with the resources and tools that they have available to them. When people feel backed into a corner, feel they have something to protect they tend to re-act - and often these reactions have consequences that may be considered regrettable.

There are people out there that honestly believe that love is evil - It disturbs me to think about the experiences one must have to have gone through to have feel that - personally I think it's simply a definition of love and a pre-constructed concept of what love should be, what a lover should be and how they should behave that they have adopted that may not necessarily be the whole picture.

A dictator can firmly believe that they are doing the right thing when they silence objectors to their rule. I'm certainly not condoning the activities that are conducted, merely suggestion that the people who order these things to happen are doing it to protect themselves, their people or whatever motive it is that they wish to hold onto their power for.

When the intention of anyone differs from something that I consider to be right behaviour or judgement I am left pondering what events and experiences built the world view they hold that promotes the will to cause harm, suffering or enslavery.

May the God of my heart grant me the strength and wisdom to make each decision today with clarity from a place of peace and love. May I be a beacon of the divine light to all I can shine upon. So mote it be.

Wishes of Peace Profound.

2 comments:

Laura said...

That is very true...some people go through their whole lives never finding love, because of a preconceived idea of how love is supposed to be. Then you have those who seem to find a negative view about everything.
I personally, don't understand it, and so constantly wonder how these people got to that point. But to be more on subject, I believe that there is good and bad sides to everything and everyone, yin and yang as the chinese call it. No person nor thing is entirely good, nor entirely evil. We are born with the ability to use both sides of our nature and it is up to the individual to decide where best to use those.
Which is where intention comes in..now, having said this, a persons good intentions may not always be viewed that way, because everyone has there own ideas as to what is good and what is evil.
I guess it all depends on your background, the way you've grown up, what lessons you've learned, etc.
What I'm trying to say, is that good and evil, are simply a view by an individual. Nothing can be entirely one way or the other, because not everything in life can be put into a box. Everyone has choices in life, and whether they are good or evil is not what is important...it's all about the intention behind those choices....

A Khudori Soleh said...

salam. nice blog