I like some of the philosophical responses in this thread, especially SuaveSocialist's
Good and Evil, Yin and Yang, Light and Darkness, Nature and Nurture, Positive and Negative, Male and Female, Right and Wrong, Conservative and Progressive...... There is dualism and binary description in almost every aspect of our lives, for we need context in order to be able to see where we stand at any specific moment - whether it be existentially or in our community. We NEED the comparison, as a social animal, because without that context we feel lost. We fill that context, our grey area, with information based upon the culture in which we were raised. No matter how hard each religion tried to unify the world under one set of beliefs, they all failed. Will it ever happen? We'll wait and see.
The concepts of Good and Evil weren't invented by a religion, they already existed. Most all religions made their mark on history by suggesting their own views of good and evil, to try and give context and give humans a place within their world to scratch that existentialist itch - and within those broad religions with so much open to interpretation, different individuals made their mark on history by providing their own interpretation on the binary arguments - whether that be for personal gain or for the good of humanity.
Much like God did not intervene when the Umayyad Empire of Islam ruled over Spain with great respect and admiration for the minority religions, he likely did not command the Roman Catholic Church to stage an Inquisition hundreds of years later - in order to exterminate all other religions in the hopes of establishing a perfect Christendom.
If he does exist, why does he not help those millions of Christians today who are in perilous situations? Could it be that he does not love us? Are we not worshipping him in the right way, or are we the epitome of the wrong ideals? Has no religion ever got it right?
The most likely answer: 7 billion people will never agree on the same ideas of what is good or evil, no matter how many groups try to establish that notion upon the world through Missionary work, Imperialism and conquering. It is ethnocentric to believe that the path you walk is the righteous one.
If a lot of this doesn't make sense it is because the library is closing and I haven't proof-read it. g2g
#1 Amb-ass-ador
