The Evil Isn't Islam - 2 flaws

Submitted by Kim H (United States), Sep 29, 2006 at 11:30

John, I liked your article but have 2 comments to add:

1. Appease means to "make peace with". GW Bush has done much more than that with religion. He actively encourages it's growth. He doesn't condone religion, he champions it.

2. As if the first wasn't picky enough, I submit that reasonable people should no longer use the word Evil at all. Like it or not, the word Evil will always carry a religious connotation. To understand this subtlety, think about this example:

A hypothetical person, Joe, has lived a good life, helping others at every opportunity. He then kills a man in order to rob him. I find it hard to label that murderous act as Evil. Perhaps he was desperate or crazy at the time, but to label the act as Evil implies that he was somehow inspired by forces greater than himself, perhaps Satan. Evil implies a certain sense of permenance or immortality of intention--not a single sad act of a desperate man.

Regardless, eliminating the word Evil from conversations such as this would at least secularize the vocabulary. Do you agree, or am I starting to sound like an overly PC vocabulary Natzi? Even Richard Dawkins used the word in the title of his BBC documentary Root of All Evil, and he was against religion and much better informed than myself.

Perhaps I define Evil too narrowly or simply fear that the word means more to most believers. Evil implies Sin. What do you think?

Kim

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