Tony Atkinson
2 min readAug 4, 2022

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While I admire your ideas and the way you put them, I do find flaws.

In the first instance, I find no definition of evil, except as that which causes suffering.

But a while a natural disaster causes suffering, it isn't evil. It is simply the operation of the laws of physics, chemistry or whatever. There is no malice, and while the results for people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time can range from unpleasant to tragic, there is no evil involved.

Evil, to me, is the choice to perform actions which run counter to the generally-accepted ideas of proper behaviour prevalent in the time and culture a person lives in.

Most cultures have a prohibition on murder, for instance. This is generally because those in power wish to retain exclusive control of the power of life and death, so that only their agents can kill with impunity. Patriarchal cultures place strictures on sexual activity, particularly for women, becuase 'mummy's baby, daddys' maybe'. Tribal, warlike and imperial cultures often make rules against same-sex relationships because they need everybody to be busy about making babies.

There are damaged people who are driven to harm others because of mental illness and past trauma. There are twisted people who make others suffer because they can -it's mostly about power.

Anthropomorphic gods are concerned with evil, free will, the necessity of suffering and so forth. Transcendent gods are as unaware of these issues as they are of us. In order to be rid of evil, we must either abolish the individual, or transcend humanity.

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Tony Atkinson
Tony Atkinson

Written by Tony Atkinson

Snapper-up of unconsidered trifles, walker of paths less travelled by. Writer of fanfiction. Player of games. argonaut57@gmail.com

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