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Why People Believe in Evil

Posted By: Randy GageFebruary 16, 2011

Last post I said that we like to label the world as evil, because that takes the responsibility for our own destiny off our shoulders.  (Of course churches love trotting out the concept of the devil or Satan for similar reasons.)  If you want to become healthy, happy and abundant, you must recognize that the universe is inherently good.

The person of faith doesn’t give up when challenges present themselves.  Instead they move forward, knowing that a brighter path is ahead.  To do anything else is to buy into the mind viruses of lack and evil.  For those that don’t have faith in the triumph of good are sure to attract circumstances that appear as evil.  If you don’t elevate good, you elevate evil.

Think how many people you know who have given up on success and talk endlessly about the injustices they have suffered at the hands of others.  Every time you’re around them they regale you with stories about their cheap boss, bitch ex-wife, or crooked partner that ripped them off.

They delude themselves into believing that they are all innocence, trust and honor, and that everyone else is evil and manipulating.  They explain how they would be just as rich, successful and happy as others, had they not been so giving and unselfish.  They revel in the victimhood.

These professional victims can no longer distinguish between good and evil because their faith in human nature and the goodness of the universe is dead.  They forget perhaps the most important words in prosperity consciousness:

You don’t see things as they are.  You see them as you are.

Once you buy into the victim mindset, you see nothing but injustice, misery and pain in your path.  You fancy yourself a noble, heroic individual, fighting the forces of evil, always coming up just a little bit short.  (Which serves to convince you even more how virtuous you are.)

Of course this is the ultimate mind virus, what literary teachers call “the hero’s journey.”  This timeless theme has been interwoven through literature from the time of Greek mythology until pop culture staples of today such as Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, John Grisham novels and House on FOX.

When you get infected with this mind virus you see yourself only as innocent suffering and the rest of the world ruled by evil.  It gives you a warm, fuzzy feeling all the time, except that you’re always broke, unhealthy, and unhappy.  What this really is, is simply low self-esteem, looking for a validation of worthiness.

When you decide that you no longer care to be a victim, you start to see the equity in the world.  And then you see good where now you see evil, justice where previously you saw injustice, and order where you used to see chaos.  You realize you don’t have to overcome others, you must simply overcome yourself.

Ain’t it great!

-RG

83 comments on “Why People Believe in Evil”

  1. Yeah Randy.. it IS great!

    When I was working in a mortgage business office I was surrounded by people who ran the victim beliefs. And guess what? I never bought into it. And it was this that eventually made me come to the conclusion that everyone in that business felt it was the circumstances that were making it difficult rather than their beliefs. Thank God I woke up and exited the business. Taking a loan application never gave motivated me to jump out of bed in the morning, anyway!

    Now I live my Purpose and am developing a company that will transform people globally! It's about living my dream.

    So thanks again. You're always so inspiring and I'm grateful for your daily insights!!

  2. House? Am I wrong in thinking that you were a fan of House? What happened? Maybe it was someone else.

    Since reading your book I am pretty sensitive to that Hero's Journey meme, but I have to say that I haven't really noticed it in House. Although, the patient does always get worse before they get better, so maybe that is it?

    1. Actually I don't usually watch House but I think Hugh Laurie's acting is beyond brilliant. And it's an interesting show, trying to guess the malady of the week. But it's riddled with lack programming.

      Remember the greedy billionaire drug company owner who bought the hospital and wanted to slash costs, even if patients died? Lots of sub plots like that to feed your mind viruses. And House is the ultimate little guy, fighting the forces of evil.

      -RG

  3. Randy - another fantastic post from you... it is absolutely amazing how you are able to create these words of wisdom day after day...and please don't ever stop -

    Thank you for all that you do!

  4. Randy-poignant as usual. I find my mind is inherently in the "good" space for the majority of the pieces of my life. The thing that gets me totally off track is the fear that builds up for my children as result of the evil that rears its head in the media and then compounded with prophecies such as 2012. That stops me cold and can completely cripple my day. Then I get further concerned that I'm "attracting" that and I get more freaked out. I try to "redirect" but I haven't found an exercise that sticks yet. Thoughts??

      1. I haven't read a newspaper in years, and I haven't watched the news on TV in over a year. It's amazing, I still learn everything I need, and I'm not constantly bombarded by stupidity each morning. Talk about a win-win 🙂

        1. Hi Christian,

          I'll join you on this one: do not won TV, do not read newspapers, etc. Have not missed anything so far, but surely have much less stress and silly thoughts in my life.
          Example, I call my mother - and we live in different countries - and the first things she agitatedly starts telling me is if I have seen what strong snowfalls they have in America and how many this and that bad things happened because of that, etc., etc. She is agitated, worried, stressed, i.e. runs a lot of negative emotions through her system. So I ask her "Mom, you live on a different continent, tens of thousands kilometers away from that place, how does being so stressed and agitated about it help solve their problems? But more importantly how does that affect you?".

  5. Love the line, " you don’t have to overcome others, you must simply overcome yourself". I have come to realize more and more that when pursuing a goal/dream/passion, the biggest obstacle we face is ourselves!

  6. Hey Randy! You hit this one on the head! Evil is nothing more than the spirit of error. I always tell myself over and over again "Nothing real can ever be threatened." Keep spreading the good word!

  7. Sorry but I don't see the Hero's journey as a meme.
    I have read somewhere (Joseph Campbell, perhaps?)that the Hero's journey actually referred to the internal struggle each person has to undergo in order to achieve true self-knowledge.
    I do not recall that any Hero's journey taught that the Hero came up short and blamed society for his failure. The Hero was always a Hero and accepted responsibility for his actions and not a blamer.

    1. Actually in this context, the hero's journey is the ordinary person facing extraordinary challenges and overcoming them. When people have worthiness issues, they continually create challenges to try and feel worthy.

      -RG

  8. Randy,
    Great post!!!

    You mix guilt, fear, worthlessness, absence of intellect, and you got yourself a recipe for evil.
    The story of Adam and Eve is a great example. So they ate the apple from the tree of knowledge and gained understanding of good and bad, and that, according to organized religion was evil. Apparently men are not supposed to use their mind but simply be obedient mindless sheep.
    It goes further, to punish the men for such act, God made them get out there and support themselves, which apparently means that productivity is an evil thing as well. Does it mean that living of someone else's efforts is a good thing?
    Sex apparently is also evil, well, enjoyment of it is...Yet, somehow men are supposed to multiply.
    Later, Christ was murdered, and people were told that he died for their sins, for the sins of the evil people. Therefore, giving people some guilt and the motivator for blind obedience.
    Organized religion teaches that humans must suffer here on Earth for the promise of after death eternal bliss. To add a little dose of fear, people are taught that if they do not believe in a certain religious theory, then they will go to Hell. And ironically every religion has the same story - their beliefs are the truth...
    People are taught that they are not worthy of things they have. People are taught not to question the most idiotic theories, by calling them the Truth.
    To that, let's add TV News and movies filled with rape, rage, murder, robbery, natural and man-made disasters, and other mind destructive stuff. And in intermissions, which are getting longer and longer, let's have commercials offering all kinds of medicines for the diseases you don't have, but after watching the symptoms, chances are that you will develop them.

    When people are taught that they are born evil, and if they refuse to analyze and question that statement, then they will be evil. It's easy to accept things without questioning, laziness of the mind seems to be popular. It takes great effort to think and grow.

    Evil is not a mystical entity, it's man-made. Actions taken without any thought process, believing without questioning, lack of intellectual effort, beliving in having something for nothing, expecting something for nothing, lack of will power are the causes of evil mind set.

      1. That was me. I totally agree with your point. I am not religious myself, even though I had a great pressure since I was a teenager to "accept" religion. Then, years later, I was psychologically pressured to "change" religion (but there was nothing to change^))). I believe into GOd, Universe, or whatever you call this Force, this Energy. But I intutitevely stayed away from a religion. I'm not saying that religion is bad. It just happened in my case that people who surrounded me and tried to force into religion used it to justify thier own "sins", stupid behaviour, and to make others feel and think less of themselves. As a teenager, I felt disgusted. It was so obvious, so arrogant. Now I see even more reasons to stay away from an organized religion. The things you mentioned in your post, for example. there was a period in my life when I longed to be a part of something bigger than myself, something like religion. I just couldn't find the right place to start from. No I see that my religion is in my heart. I make my own rules in my life, and God|Universe|Universal Mind or whatever I call IT, is always with me, like with any other person. I didn't not turn my face away from Him|Her by not choosing a religion. I just chose my own way to accept and to be a part of Universe. Your comment reminded me again that I made the right choice in my case (which does NOT mean that everybody should leave thier religon behind. It was my individual scenario, and I'm sure the are millions of stories when religion did and does help people). I made it intuitevely and right now I'm so happy that I chose this path.

      2. Actually, let me add and clarify something. I do NOT think that any religion is bad or eveil. I can find thousands of reasons to "traditionally" accept any known religion. I just think that often people use religion to justify their unethical behaviour and to get power, while putting other down. One of my friends once said : "I love God, I admire the religion as it is. I just don't like when other people or government tries to stay between me and God and to make me believe that they are the "chosen" ones. They are making up some rules and force people to follow them uner the name of God." I agree with her point. I love talikng with religious people about God when I see that their belief system makes them see themselves and all others as worthy and respnsible human beings. Otherwise, I stay away from it.

        1. Imagine if everyone in every religion believed only in the actual Truth of their religion..and let the other stuff go. I think as soon as we start looking to try to transform others in a form of control...that we are stepping away from own own work.

          This is hard to remember sometimes though. For me, when I see others with low self esteem (not saying that I don't have my own bits in there...)and I see them ruminating, agonizing over their situations, suffering, my heart breaks. I want to help them so much...but it seems impossible...any thing I have said up to this point has been taken as uncaring.

          Here is when I have to remember to do my own work...if we are all energetically connected...then when I access my own areas of low self esteem and work with that, by elevating myself I automatically bring elevated energy into their lives. And I don't have to say a word of contradiction to do it.

          1. It is the love within that transforms one another so if your words are said with an attempt to control...than they are words with lack, without love. Loving words liberate. The only difference is in the sayer...not the words. Because intent behind words have power. The same words have the power to liberate if the sayer has love and curse if the sayer has lack.

            that just came as a side note...:)

    1. Victoria,

      You made a lot of great points in your comment to Randy. But I must say, I noticed a few discrepancies with your views on "organized religion". Clearly, for the most part you were talking about christianity.

      First off, it means little to me when I hear people call themselves "christians". Every doctrine has its hypocrites, so what matters most is whether or not that person actually walks the walk.

      But, from a biblical standpoint, most of your conclusions aren't entirely accurate. I'm not sure if you've ever read the bible before, but I think you should give it another go. Just for better understanding, and more accuracy. It's a great read, just from a historical standpoint. Contains near 2500 prophesies, most of which have been fulfilled (which kind of freaks me out). 40 authors, written over a 1500 yr timeframe.

      For instance when you state that sex, and the enjoyment of it, is evil. Clearly not true, as the apostle paul writes in Hebrews 13:4 - "Marriage [is] honourable in all, and the bed undefiled.."

      A few more of your quotes:

      ----
      "Organized religion teaches that humans must suffer here on Earth for the promise of after death eternal bliss"

      "People are taught that they are not worthy of things they have."

      "People are taught that they are born evil"
      ----

      Im not really sure what you're referring to here. It doesn't sound biblical, so you might be referring to Islam, which I'm in no position to comment on. And if you are referring to christianity, this is why I would suggest you read the book again.

      I quote you: "Later, Christ was murdered, and people were told that he died for their sins, for the sins of the evil people. Therefore, giving people some guilt and the motivator for blind obedience."

      I think ultimately you have a lot of questions about Christianity. You should sit down with several people and try to figure out all the answers to your questions. Jesus died to make people feel guilty?? If a preacher told you that, you should find him and slap him.

      I'm no scholar. I repeat... In no way, shape, or form am I a scholar. I know very little, actually. I've just read the book, and do my own thinking.

      Christianity and Jesus Christ could have easily been disproved over the past 2,000 years. The man had many enemies. But over the past 2,000 years.. not even one of his enemies has been able to bring forth his bones, or tell me where his remains lay. Not even google seems to know =]

      Anyway, I really only intended to address the word Evil, and whether or not God exists.

      Philosophically there are two things we need to bear in mind. Whenever someone raises the issue of evil, they are implicitly also positing the existence of good. When you say something is evil, you assume something is good. When you assume something is good, you assume there is a moral law... by which to differentiate between good and evil. And if you assume a moral law, you must ultimately propose a moral law giver. But that's who most questioners or atheists are often times trying to disprove and not prove. Because if there's no moral law giver, there's no moral law... and if there's no moral law, there's no good. If there's no good, there's no evil. The question really self-destructs in terms of an objective rule in by which to measure good and evil. The question in fact affirms that a moral framework exists in life.

      Anyway, I think there is one thing Randy and I can agree on. People who say "the devil made me do it" are, for a lack of better words, confused.

      Aristotle said it well when he said "I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies; for the hardest victory is over self."

      And Jesus himself said it even better when he said "He who rules his spirit has won a greater victory than the taking of a city."

      Peace and love..

      Now, back to the hustle!

      -Noel

      1. Hi Noel (the day on which Christ was born),
        It's invigorating to be challenged!

        I am on the same page with you when someone tells me that they are "Christian", especially a "good Christian". When I hear that, I know that the person is hiding behind the label, and instead of walking the walk, just talking the talk.

        You are right - the Bible is a great book. In my view, the Bible is the book of instructions, but hence it was translated, interpreted and changed so many times, one should take great care in sorting what was written to help men, and what was written with intention to control and manipulate their mind.
        You see, the one of the greatest tools of manipulation are fear and quilt. You install eather or both into man's mind, and you have full control of that person or masses.

        In reference to sex, how do you interpret that Adam and Eve became aware of their bodies and learned shame?
        The subject of marriage is a totally different animal. Clearly, people by nature are promiscuous, so the idea of monogamy was added via marriage.

        In reference to suffering. On my way to California, I was sitting next to a woman who was a Christian. We talked for over three and a half hours, for two of which she was telling me that if I will not accept Christ as my saviour - I'll end up in Hell. She was insisting that I must be saved. I didn't argue with her, but did ask her if she felt that she deserved good things in her life. Her answer was - no, explaining that she was sinful and imprefect.
        So I told her that I don't believe in Hell, or sin, that I deserve everything great in life, and that I am happy and love my life. Her response to that was that I made up my own truth, and that the only Truth is in the Bible. That led to my next question, what was the difference between her Bible and others. She stated that only her Bible is the Truth. So there, nothing more, nothing less...
        Now, to me this does not make sense. For instance, another Christian doctrine insists that their Bible is the Truth; that there is no soul; that certain amount of people (male) will go to Heaven, and the rest of the believers will stay on Earth, which will resemble the Gardern of Eden. This organized religion also endures suffering, as well as acceptance of human imperfection and sinful human nature.
        Being told that humans are imperfect and sinful, means that humans are bad. Bad is evil, and that is their message. Ironically, the word "sin" means something other than wicked and against religious rules.

        In reference to guilt - According to the Bible, why did Jesus die? For the sins of others?
        But let's see it from another point of view. Jesus was an extraordinary human. Unfortunately he was teaching something that contradicted a certain doctrine, therefore had to be destroyed. He was tortured and died on the cross for his beliefs. After that, people were told that he died for their sins. But he didn't simly die, he suffered unimaginable pain for a very long time.
        Now, let's dissect it. What would motivate people to be good and to do the right thing, even though, deep down inside they didn't want to. For instance, someone is in the marriage that is not working, is destructive to both parties, but they stay together in misery because the Bible said so. But just because the Bible instructs to stick it out, what would motivate someone to suffer so? Well, Jesus suffered great pains for you, the sinful one....And if that is not a guilt trip, I don't know what is.

        Noel, I know that your feathers are ruffled by my comments. Understand that I am not attacking Christianity or any other religion. In reality, people have to believe in something to stay on the right path. Even if it's the dot on their wall, which they call God, and it gives them purpose - then let it be.
        My point is that people must use their mind. Clearly it's in our heads for a reason. Otherwise people will do terrible things for several virgins in Heaven.

        Now go and get busy living!
        But before that, would you please tell me how you were able to post your picture?

        Victoria

        1. Hey Victoria. When you comment, there's a link that says "upload a photo to use with your comment"

          Don’t worry you didn’t ruffle my feathers. You could talk smack about Christianity all day long and probably not ruffle my feathers. Just don’t talk smack about my mama! haha. I was actually really happy to see a response from you, and I was smiling the entire time I was reading it.

          I don’t really understand why some Christians walk around condemning others either. I love intelligent discussions. There are some “Christians” out there that I wouldn't even want to stand next to on the day of judgement. They don’t fully understand their own belief.

          “Out of 100 people, 1 will read the bibe, 99 will read the Christian.”

          I quote you: “My point is that people must use their mind. Clearly it’s in our heads for a reason. Otherwise people will do terrible things for several virgins in Heaven.”

          I guess I agree with you. I don’t fully understand the concept behind it, so I won’t touch on that. I haven’t fully read the Koran, so I can’t really touch on those things either. I did learn some interesting things though. For example, there are some things that the Koran says about Jesus that were true. It tell us that Jesus was virgin born. It doesn’t even give that privilege to Muhammad himself. But, the Koran cleary states Jesus wasn't crucified, even though secular history proves he was, secular historical documents from Lucian, Tacitus, josephus and many more others all confirms Jesus’ crucifixion. People don't even need the Bible to know that Jesus was crucified. But anyways, that’s for another time.

          Let’s take a look at the bible.

          You start off with the scriptures and ask yourself the question. Here there are 66 books, by nearly 40 diff authors, over a 1500yr time-frame. That are books on history, books on philosophical thinking, books on theological thinking, and systematic thinking. Now, if the bible made several assertions one after another that you found out to be FALSE, either historically, or philosophically, or existentially, and you keep on seeing this type of consistent contradiction and failure, then you have my permission to believe “I cannot really trust this document, as it’s not in keeping with the way I see history and reality.”

          Me personally, I'm fascinated about the miraculous aspect of the bible.

          Let me give you an example of this: The book of Daniel is written in the late 500’s before Christ, and yet when you study the Book of Daniel, you begin to see the specifics of a fantastic prophecy. He talks about a massive empire that will come into being and how that empire will be divided into 4, and that empire will be led by a strident, strong he-goat from the West who’ll be marching several nations under foot, but shall be suddenly cut off and his empire will be divided into 4. Those 4 then emerge into 2, and those 2 blend into 1. When you take the Book of Daniel, written late 500’s BC and put it ‘pro forma’ onto Alexander the Great’ in the 300’s BC, you see the stridency of Alexander.

          Suddenly cut off in his 20’s, 4 kingdoms emerge, given to his 4 generals. Those 4 (Ptolemaic kingdom of Egypt, the Seleucid Empire in the east, the Kingdom of Pergamon in Asia Minor, and Macedon) come into the 2 two empires and that emerged them into the Roman empire. Centuries before- to be so specific in prophecy is amazing.

          You go to the prophecy of Zechariah , who describes the crucifixion of Christ, ”They shall look upon Him whom they have pierced and weep as a mother weeps for her only sons. You go to the prophecy of Isaiah and see how the Christ is going to suffer. Immediately you see the supernatural.

          So, when you take the miraculous element, you take the historical element; you look into the Scriptures and you see there is an authenticity and it all points to one perfect person.

          Bruce Metzger who is a scholar from Princeton, made the comment…he said, “After you take the 20,000 lines of the New Testament, it is safe for any scholar to say there’s at least a 99.6% accuracy. No ancient document, NONE! Has the kind of document support that the Bible has, over 5,000 documents.”

          So when you got this kind of documentation, this kind of accuracy; and that kind of person in Jesus Christ, I think you got pretty compelling evidence. And I begin to see why people take Christ so seriously.

          Much Love!
          -Noel

    2. I agree with almost everything you say Victoria. Except, although my Mom would agree with you, that movies, T.V. News and other forms of entertainment cause mind viruses. Of course they do, but let's not throw out the baby with the bath water. News also has it's positive aspects, like it keeps us informed(just as you say though, we have to be diligent in our thinking and not buy into everything).

      Also, CNN and other coverage of the Revolution in Egypt may have helped to prevent violence against the protesters. So some good came from that news.

      I also don't agree that Christ came only to die for our sins, but for some it may give hope. I guess what I'm really saying is sometimes it is about perspective.

  9. Randy...hmm...I believe in evil because I DO think it's real, just as I believe GOOD is real. They are forces that oppose each other, equal at times and very unequal at others. People choose evil and inflict it on others. People choose to prey upon others. I believe there is a concept of justice that as a society we should embrace. Evil must be opposed. I do concur that much of the victory comes from how you live your own life. But the evil choices and actions many take require opposition. And I think one of the messages of the Bible says it best, overcome evil with good. That's a really good virus to spread to a lot of minds.

  10. yes i was getting into this habit of thinking the world is inherently bad and I caught myself before it got out of hand. I would seek out and read bad news, conspiracies, doomsday articles. but i realise if i just know about them, i cant do much, and its not going to make me a better person. i realised i have to focus on being a strong person, so i can help myself and then if i wanted help the world, if the world needed helping anyway. sometimes trying to 'save the world' was just distracting myself and proscastinating on the issue of me and my problems. better to solve the world problems than my own i would say. the world needs me more than i need myself i would think. this was hiding from the truth. now i try hard to tackle my problems head on and stay true.

    1. "sometimes trying to ‘save the world’ was just distracting myself and proscastinating on the issue of me and my problems" exactly! so many of us do this sometimes!!

  11. I used to like being in victimhood and looking like a "hero" sometimes. I even can say that victimhood was equal to childhood in my mind. I felt powerless, not loveable, not worthy. I just didn't realize that on a conschous level. I saw a difference when I grew out of this state of mind, and I never want to go back. However, I must admit, that being a victim had its own "sweet bonuses". You could feel cozy, surrounded by caring people, who felt bad for you and wanted to help. being a vicitim, you feel powerless, and wait, just wait for someone strong to come and lead you into your "brighter" future. That's because "victims" are afraid to make mistakes and to take responsibility. When you are in a state of victimhood, you don't feel worthy and can't forgive yourself when the choices you make are not perfect. While others can make a mistake, and you don't mind. Victims believe that others can make things better, so they let them take charge.

  12. HELLOW SIR,
    THANKYOU VERY MUCH FOR ALL THE INFORMATION..THE HILIGHT OF YOUR MESSAG..

    "You don’t see things as they are. You see them as you are."

    EVERY DAY FOR HALF AN HOUR ATLEAST IF WE PRACTICE FORGIVENESS AND BLESSINGS TO EVERY ONE INCLUDING SELF,WILL DO WONDERS..

  13. To touch on just one thing you said in this post and something I am starting to notice more and more about the "victim mindset".

    Many times, many of us, myself included, when we talk about something that we don't do well, something we would like to improve on, we often will say "you do this because..." instead of "I do this because..." We find ourselves, as I heard it called, in the "teachers mindset" (and I truly believe we are all teachers whether directly or not). And this is where the issue lies. We don't own up for our crap. We don't say "I". We know it but we don't say it. Even at times, we will hide it and go into what is called the "no man land" where we say "we are not that fat" or "it wasn't that bad".

    Sometime that victim mindset is not blaming people or society but rather deflecting it or minimizing it.

    Evil may very much exist somewhere out there. Or perhaps it what people call evil. Whatever it is. End of the day, it is our character, our very being, not where we come from, that defines.

    Rock on!

  14. I am not a man of faith, I see the world as it is, some is good, some is evil.
    I made a choice to surround my self with the good and do whatever I can to fight evil (I am big on animal rights).
    When I made bad choices, and I made a few, I did not try to blame anyone, and become a victim. I did one thing only and it's taking personal responsibility.
    The mistake is defining the world as good or evil, we need to define ourselves as good and act accordingly.

  15. The post saying "When people have worthiness issues they continually create challenges to try and feel worthy" hit me deeply. I work very hard, and run myself ragged, that is why....because I am trying to prove myself worthy...and failing misreably because I am so overworked and overwhelmed. The harder I try, the worse I feel. I try to do it all, be it all, always there for everyone....because I have such a low self esteem, I feel if I can just do more for *family* they will appreciate me, will love me, will...on and on it goes. I try to buy their love not with money (have 0) but with doing things for them. Then feel worse because I can't always meet those demands. Wow, what a statement of why things go wrong....I create my own failure...then panic because I can't be or do enough to *earn* their caring. Don't getme wrong, they all do love and care for me,,,but I feel like such a failure...myself because I'm always letting someone down, or don't have this or that right. Wow,
    Thanks,

  16. First of all, that picture is scary. Maybe instead of you in the pope hat, like that other post, you could have superimposed some devil horns on yourself(I would have really enjoyed that one good sir).

    What? We believe in evil because of George Lucas and JK Rawlings? Are you sure? Maybe the heroes journey could also be one of those absolute truths. I think it is one of those primordial archetypes. We all have these archetypes within us, they can teach us or harm us I suppose. But, the reason those stories are so popular is not because of our lack programming, but because they are filled with so many universal truths.

    If someone acts out the heroes journey as you say, then yes that is problematic. But is it possible, that one could act out a heroes journey in a positive way? What if a person ends up saving themselves in the end? I think it could happen.

    Please don't disparage these lovely works of art without admitting some of the good mind viruses they spread as well. Star Wars has lots of wisdom to share with the world, so do some of the other stories. We can use our critical thinking, and not allow ourselves to be infected with mind viruses and still enjoy these stories. Stories, even ones with cultural themes that are better left behind, can teach us something. Mind Viruses are only contagious if you are a willing host, and besides these messages fall on everyone in a different way. Boy let me tell you. I was in a book club once with a group of ladies, and when we started talking about the book we read, I could swear some of them had read a whole different story than me. Perspective. Literature is meant to be analyzed and interpreted otherwise it doesn't mean all that much.

    The church told me I had original sin, well I didn't believe it. You don't believe it. We need to think critically and find the truth for ourselves that's how to protect against mind viruses.

    You are right though Randy, if you change your perspective from negative to positive, you view everything differently. You do see the justice, love and goodness. However, evil is still there, and it is still a force to be dealt with. I think the more positive and whole a person becomes, the more they work to undo evil and the real injustices. Because evil and injustice do exist, and so do real heroes. People without negative mind viruses can discern real evil and injustice, it does not mean they do not exist.

    Turning your back on all things negative to avoid lack programming is avoidance behavior. I think when you are really healthy you can face these things and work to make the world a better place. Although there is a time and place for everything, if one isn't ready to deal with the negativity the should definitly limit it.

    Are you not a hero Randy? Don't you think mind viruses are evil? You spend much of your time trying to debunk them, so there is more love in the world. Doesn't that make you a hero? I think so, someone who goes out and tries to bring love in the world is a hero. When you do this you are fighting something, what do you think it is? So, I think you are on a heroes journey, the way I like to look at heroes journeys. Heroes are people who combat evil and bring love into the world, lets all do that. Let's start a new kind of heroes journey.

    Labeling the world as evil is not something I have ever done, even in my darkest days. But, I still get the idea of using the excuse that it is something outside of us that is responsible for our problems. But what do you think about people who blame themselves for everything? That happens too.

    1. Actually I love Star War, Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. I do watch some shows or read some books with negative mind viruses. I just try to be conscious of them to negate their effects.

      And there are positive memes as well. Unfortunately there are just more negative ones floating around these days. But when we control our own programming we are fine.

      -RG

      1. Really you think there are more negative than positive memes around now. I feel really sad about that, I was thinking our memes were getting more positive. 🙁

        I have been so happy about Egypt, what a brilliant message to the world. They freed themselves without our help and without the use of violence. Somewhere in heaven I keep imagining Martin Luther King Jr. with a big smile on his face. Your statement kinda bursted my bubble a little.

        I don't think all those stories have more negative memes than positive. Really.

  17. Okay, I still don't know if I get your post.

    I think evil things do happen sometimes to people who are prosperous and good. Why? Who the hell knows.

    I just watched "Roots", and I don't think the native Africans were asking to be slaves. And, I tell you what, that sure looked evil to me. I mean these people were put in shackles at gun point. What did the Africans do wrong? Were they all on a heroes journey gone wrong?

    How about Ruben "Hurricane" Carter? That was an injustice he did not bring on himself. As it turns out, he sure wasn't going to buy into victimhood, but he was a true victim.

    Evil doesn't always just eminate from within, and people who see the world as good definitly have bad things happen, but I guess they way they deal with can elevate good or evil. Is that what you are trying to say?

    For instance even though Kunta Kinte became a slave, by another's doing, which is evil. Ultimately he elevated good because he remained true to himself and left a positve legacy for his family, and as it turns out the whole world?

    By the way, don't you think Kunta Kinte was an impoverished slave but also very prosperous? I do.

    How many people really see the universe as inherently evil?

    I think in most of the hero journey stories in literature the hero overcomes his own challenges and outside challenges to become victorious. Which Characters on a heroes journey just see the world as Evil?

    1. I'm not saying bad or even horrific things don't happen. They do. What I'm saying is that Infinite Intelligence is good and it's only when we turn away from our nature that evil exists.

      -RG

  18. Randy..

    Wow what a post. Control what you can control and leave the rest to the people who live their lives in the riight or wrong world..

    You live your life in the 100% self control world and things happen as they should...

  19. Ok since accepting or becoming aware of my Memes and studying and accepting abundance and prosperity. I really have to say the subject hit home I was blaming evil and fighting the forces, something occurred to me.

    If you truly believe in OPPISITES up down, left right, light dark, then it isn't really good evil, it is substance or absetence or events or void it is how YOU precieve that event or substance.
    Again it's not that there isn't bad events or hateful, ones but how you perceive it and what you attract to yourself.

  20. I was doing some thinking about this. As a former sailor and ship driver, this relates to an effect on water as the hull and keel pass through it. This is called "frictional wake." It's not just the ship that moves forward. There is an energy on the water that is created which starts the water, closest to the hull at the keel and aft of the keel, moving forward so that the water is moving with the ship, not against it. I believe that this "frictional wake" effect is true for us as well. If we keep moving forward and evolving, we create a frictional wake of energy that moves forward with us. If we sit and stagnate, we create no energy, thus leaving ourselves vulnerable to forces around us. Always move forward, evolve, and create a frictional wake for your own prosperity, happiness, and peace.

  21. I was doing some thinking about this. As a former sailor and ship driver, this relates to an effect on water as the hull and keel pass through it. This is called “frictional wake.” It’s not just the ship that moves forward. There is an energy on the water that is created which starts the water, closest to the hull at the keel and aft of the keel, moving forward so that the water is moving with the ship, not against it. I believe that this “frictional wake” effect is true for us as well. If we keep moving forward and evolving, we create a frictional wake of energy that moves forward with us. If we sit and stagnate, we create no energy, thus leaving ourselves vulnerable to forces around us. Always move forward, evolve, and create a frictional wake for your own prosperity, happiness, and peace.

    1. Great video Randy.

      It is what you focus on, you will get. And of course, every focus should be on a positive outcome, for example, "I will be 185lbs by December 2011" instead of "I don' want to be fat anymore" because what happens is we focus on what we manifest as you say it. It is like telling someone not to think of an elephant, but by saying elephant, you are already thinking of it.

      And also, I would like to say, I am glad there is "evil". I am glad they are there. Not because I want them there but rather it gives me something to fight for. Something worth fighting against. For me it can be to get people fit and not fall into the life of obesity. Or it can be to fight against "average". Or perhaps it can be the fight against bullying. It gives people the fire to fight. To do something about it. To change it.

      The question is though, and I am wondering about this, if there was nothing bad in the world, if there was nothing to fight for in the world, would people be great, wealthy, healthy, passionate, and full of prosperity? Or will they just be average because they don't have the fight in them?

  22. Evil is simply the ABSENCE of light. You don't call the darkness "evil"...you just turn on the light. And guess where the light is? Jesus said it: "YOU are the light of the world." So to the degree you are the light that you are, you turn on the light of understanding, joy and peace. I'm sure the literalists...who haven't lack biblical depth will understand this; but it doesn't make it less true!

  23. I totally disagree, if I am interpreting Randy properly, that evil does not exist, only the perception of evil. I could not disagree more. Evil is real. It walks and talks and is clearly defined in the bible. I don't know about you, but I choose to believe God on this one. I would agree that most victim minded people do manifest their own impressions of evil but let there be no mistake, the devil does exist and one of his favorite ways to get people is confusion by letting us think of an outcome in another way. Its how he got Eve, by manipulating the truth and presenting another scenario which offered Eve a different perspective. Wow, Randy, you really shocked me with this one.

    1. I agree Mary-Ellen that there really is evil, and to deny it is dangerous, because we might not know it when we see it. (I don't like the Adam and Eve virsion of evil though, puts the blame on Eve)

      I think they maybe are just talking about it in a different way (I think). I certainly hope so. I don't think Randy is denying there is evil. In the comment he left to me above he said "it is only when we turn away from out true nature evil exists". So, I guess he is admitting at least that people can commit evil.

      Anyway, yeah I'm not so sure there isn't a devil and demons out there. Could be. My church taught me that too. I remain skeptical, but I don't rule it out either, in fact, I think they do exist.

      Do you ever read M. Scott Peck? We had to read his book "People of the Lie", which is his version of what evil is, in the existance of God class. It is really good. My instructor had us read this book, because whenever you talk about God you have to deal with the concept of evil and why and how it exists. It is fascinating, this subject.

      I like the fact that I think Randy is saying not taking responsibility for ourselves, brings about evil. My word evil, not his. I think this is one way we commit evil.

      Otherwise, I am totally with ya lady.:)

      1. Glad you get it Annie. I agree there is always room for misinterpretation. I'm referencing to his original blog comments with my opinion. Hope you are doing great and god bless.

        1. Thanks Mary-Ellen, I don't know if I get it or not. But, I was thinking the same way you were at first, but now I think he is saying something about peoples belief that evil in the world is holding them back, when really it is themselves. Not that evil doesn't exist. Although, it isn't that clear, and your right it is confusion and lies that create opportunities for evil.

          Oh I'm not saying Randy is evil or his post. Just that if someone took it to mean there is not evil, that it is just in our minds, that would be an unfortunate error. I think, and I don't know if I am right, that he is talking about one specific mind virus that causes people to hang on to their victimhood by blaming things on evil. The mind virus is the belief that the unfounded forces of evil and injustice are holding one back when really the evil one is seeing is just imagined. Not that evil isn't out there, just that sometimes a person uses it as an excuse as to why they cannot get ahead, instead of seeing their own responsibility for the problem or problems.

          For example, when I was in my twenties I had a really old car, and during a bad snow storm a man ran into the back of me and my car was destroyed. The insurance company only gave me a few thousand dollars to replace my car, but it was worth so much more to me. So I spent all this time fighting with this man's insurance company so sure was I that it was entirely evil, and I even made one of agents cry. I felt terrible. I told my therapist what happened, and do you know what she said? That's how insurance works why don't you just go out and buy yourself another car. So I did, and that was that. It wasn't so terrible, and here I was thinking I had to destroy the entire car insurance world because it was evil. Did I have a point? Oh yes, I saw evil and injustice and instead of just going about my business, and getting a new car I decided I had to take on the evil insurance companies. It wasn't the insurance companies fault I had an old car. (But as a special side note, there is definitly evil lurking in insurance companies, just not in this case).

          I can think of another example that happened to me more recently, but because it involves this blog I will not write about it. 🙂

          Having written all this now, I could be completely wrong. I could be right. I may be crazy, I may just be the lunatic your looking for. What is that? Oh it's a Billy Joel song, love that guy.

          One more thing I will say on this topic. Life has a lot of gray, and it could be in any given set of circumstances both real and imagined evil. So sometimes, and I will venture to guess a lot of times this is the case. But still taking resposibility for oneself and seeing the truth (which to me is goodness)will without a doubt set a person on the right path.

          Anyway, Mary-Ellen I believe in Evil with a capital E, as well. So I am with you there, and I don't think anyone should say it does not exist, if so they are laboring under a delusion in my opinon. Take Care Mary-Ellen, and God Bless you too.

          1. I can look back on my earlier days too Annie and recall some, take on the world for truth moments as well. What I learned was that anything you draw negative attention or energy to grows. That's part of the challenge for me with engadging on this blog at times. It focus's often on what is wrong and draws attention to it. I always recall Mother Theresa saying that she would not attend a war rally when asked to participate but that if there was a peace rally she would be there. If we focus on evil we get more of it. If we focus on peace we bring more of it into the world. I understand the importance of cleaning house where our lack programming and disempowering beliefs are concerned but I have found that I eliminate a lot more of those negatives by not focusing on them and paying attention to where I am going, not where I have been. There is a great book, and thank you for the book reference also, called in the now by eckart toll. Excellent material if you are of the mind that living in the now and projecting forward is a much healthier, effective way to eliminate our baggage. Evil exists and sadly always will until the last day and since none of us know when that will be, I choose to live in today and positively focus my thoughts on good and not evil.

          2. Thanks Mary-Ellen, That is a brilliant way to engage the world! To stay positive and live in the present. I will look for that book, in fact, my friend gave me a book by that same author and I have not read it yet. I need to get reading.:) Glad you are still around here Mary-Ellen.

            Annie

  24. You know...I am not sure why but ever since I was a kid I have rejected the idea of evil or Satan.

    I think I just inherently felt that whenever someone was talking to me about those things that they were trying to manipulate me.

    I was never sure why someone would choose to use the concept of evil to try to move a person when the concept of LOVE is so much more appealing.

  25. I never thought of House as on a hero's journey, he knows he's a jerk sometimes, drove himself into a psych ward in season 5 because of it... and I don't think that billionaire plot line was anti-money, rich or whatever... just House wouldn't bow down to him and much hilarity ensued...

  26. Randy who is that guy in that photo? A friend of yours? Anyway, I'm still not sure I entirely understood your post today, but it sure was fun to discuss!

    PS. You said "And then you see good where now you see evil." What would Freud say? 🙂 I think, and this may be the only thing I am right about today, that you meant to say "And then you see good where once you saw evil.". If I am incorrect you need to write a new post to explain this very ambiguous statement. Cheers.

  27. ao the Malcolm X's, Martin Luther Kings, Gandhi's or any fighter of injustice were wasting there time or full of meme's? Come on Randy get out of the New Age Bull crap and come back down to earth. I know your rich but come on brother!!!!

  28. Its funny how rich white new age males are always taling about there is no evil, let go of the past, you attract your bad conditions, etc.. Where evil white men have down most of the documented horrific things on theis planet past and present. Stop letting your peeps off the hook.

  29. As Always Randy Excellent Post!

    I have a hard time to decide which I like better, your insights or the comments from all who read and dare to share, really both sides are one of a kind!

    When we know that FEAR is False Evidence Appearing Real, then is it safe to conclude
    EVIL is Every Virtual Intelligence Lost?

    Be me it works best when I stop thinking and start feeling, and from that passion within, take actions. The mind is a powerful tool, but like any other machine it only does what we allow it to, so be careful what you feed your machine!

    Keep the Fire Burning:)

    Cya,
    Rock

  30. This post and all comments give me a real food for thought. It's fascinating to see fidderent opinions that come from different angles and to find out something new inside myself. Thank you all, for sharing! Randy, thanks for this opportunity!

  31. I don't believe in evil as an entity, I do believe that some people do evil things. It doesn't mean they are evil people just people with a lot of imbalance in their life.

  32. Hi Randy

    What's real? Does a force exist? Can animals be either evil og good? I would deny the latter. Is misfortune or destructivity caused by a force?
    Evil arise in language.
    Some humans are evil or act evil we say.
    Another line of thought is: things happen. An individusl or a society does something. The action has it's effect. We humans attach meaning to the actions based on the effects. One label is: it's evil. The label arise in language. Does evil exist in reality? What has objectivism to say about this matter?

    Love and Respect - Pierre Leyssac, cph

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  • 83 comments on “Why People Believe in Evil”

    1. Yeah Randy.. it IS great!

      When I was working in a mortgage business office I was surrounded by people who ran the victim beliefs. And guess what? I never bought into it. And it was this that eventually made me come to the conclusion that everyone in that business felt it was the circumstances that were making it difficult rather than their beliefs. Thank God I woke up and exited the business. Taking a loan application never gave motivated me to jump out of bed in the morning, anyway!

      Now I live my Purpose and am developing a company that will transform people globally! It's about living my dream.

      So thanks again. You're always so inspiring and I'm grateful for your daily insights!!

    2. House? Am I wrong in thinking that you were a fan of House? What happened? Maybe it was someone else.

      Since reading your book I am pretty sensitive to that Hero's Journey meme, but I have to say that I haven't really noticed it in House. Although, the patient does always get worse before they get better, so maybe that is it?

      1. Actually I don't usually watch House but I think Hugh Laurie's acting is beyond brilliant. And it's an interesting show, trying to guess the malady of the week. But it's riddled with lack programming.

        Remember the greedy billionaire drug company owner who bought the hospital and wanted to slash costs, even if patients died? Lots of sub plots like that to feed your mind viruses. And House is the ultimate little guy, fighting the forces of evil.

        -RG

    3. Randy - another fantastic post from you... it is absolutely amazing how you are able to create these words of wisdom day after day...and please don't ever stop -

      Thank you for all that you do!

    4. Randy-poignant as usual. I find my mind is inherently in the "good" space for the majority of the pieces of my life. The thing that gets me totally off track is the fear that builds up for my children as result of the evil that rears its head in the media and then compounded with prophecies such as 2012. That stops me cold and can completely cripple my day. Then I get further concerned that I'm "attracting" that and I get more freaked out. I try to "redirect" but I haven't found an exercise that sticks yet. Thoughts??

        1. I haven't read a newspaper in years, and I haven't watched the news on TV in over a year. It's amazing, I still learn everything I need, and I'm not constantly bombarded by stupidity each morning. Talk about a win-win 🙂

          1. Hi Christian,

            I'll join you on this one: do not won TV, do not read newspapers, etc. Have not missed anything so far, but surely have much less stress and silly thoughts in my life.
            Example, I call my mother - and we live in different countries - and the first things she agitatedly starts telling me is if I have seen what strong snowfalls they have in America and how many this and that bad things happened because of that, etc., etc. She is agitated, worried, stressed, i.e. runs a lot of negative emotions through her system. So I ask her "Mom, you live on a different continent, tens of thousands kilometers away from that place, how does being so stressed and agitated about it help solve their problems? But more importantly how does that affect you?".

    5. Love the line, " you don’t have to overcome others, you must simply overcome yourself". I have come to realize more and more that when pursuing a goal/dream/passion, the biggest obstacle we face is ourselves!

    6. Hey Randy! You hit this one on the head! Evil is nothing more than the spirit of error. I always tell myself over and over again "Nothing real can ever be threatened." Keep spreading the good word!

    7. Sorry but I don't see the Hero's journey as a meme.
      I have read somewhere (Joseph Campbell, perhaps?)that the Hero's journey actually referred to the internal struggle each person has to undergo in order to achieve true self-knowledge.
      I do not recall that any Hero's journey taught that the Hero came up short and blamed society for his failure. The Hero was always a Hero and accepted responsibility for his actions and not a blamer.

      1. Actually in this context, the hero's journey is the ordinary person facing extraordinary challenges and overcoming them. When people have worthiness issues, they continually create challenges to try and feel worthy.

        -RG

    8. Randy,
      Great post!!!

      You mix guilt, fear, worthlessness, absence of intellect, and you got yourself a recipe for evil.
      The story of Adam and Eve is a great example. So they ate the apple from the tree of knowledge and gained understanding of good and bad, and that, according to organized religion was evil. Apparently men are not supposed to use their mind but simply be obedient mindless sheep.
      It goes further, to punish the men for such act, God made them get out there and support themselves, which apparently means that productivity is an evil thing as well. Does it mean that living of someone else's efforts is a good thing?
      Sex apparently is also evil, well, enjoyment of it is...Yet, somehow men are supposed to multiply.
      Later, Christ was murdered, and people were told that he died for their sins, for the sins of the evil people. Therefore, giving people some guilt and the motivator for blind obedience.
      Organized religion teaches that humans must suffer here on Earth for the promise of after death eternal bliss. To add a little dose of fear, people are taught that if they do not believe in a certain religious theory, then they will go to Hell. And ironically every religion has the same story - their beliefs are the truth...
      People are taught that they are not worthy of things they have. People are taught not to question the most idiotic theories, by calling them the Truth.
      To that, let's add TV News and movies filled with rape, rage, murder, robbery, natural and man-made disasters, and other mind destructive stuff. And in intermissions, which are getting longer and longer, let's have commercials offering all kinds of medicines for the diseases you don't have, but after watching the symptoms, chances are that you will develop them.

      When people are taught that they are born evil, and if they refuse to analyze and question that statement, then they will be evil. It's easy to accept things without questioning, laziness of the mind seems to be popular. It takes great effort to think and grow.

      Evil is not a mystical entity, it's man-made. Actions taken without any thought process, believing without questioning, lack of intellectual effort, beliving in having something for nothing, expecting something for nothing, lack of will power are the causes of evil mind set.

        1. That was me. I totally agree with your point. I am not religious myself, even though I had a great pressure since I was a teenager to "accept" religion. Then, years later, I was psychologically pressured to "change" religion (but there was nothing to change^))). I believe into GOd, Universe, or whatever you call this Force, this Energy. But I intutitevely stayed away from a religion. I'm not saying that religion is bad. It just happened in my case that people who surrounded me and tried to force into religion used it to justify thier own "sins", stupid behaviour, and to make others feel and think less of themselves. As a teenager, I felt disgusted. It was so obvious, so arrogant. Now I see even more reasons to stay away from an organized religion. The things you mentioned in your post, for example. there was a period in my life when I longed to be a part of something bigger than myself, something like religion. I just couldn't find the right place to start from. No I see that my religion is in my heart. I make my own rules in my life, and God|Universe|Universal Mind or whatever I call IT, is always with me, like with any other person. I didn't not turn my face away from Him|Her by not choosing a religion. I just chose my own way to accept and to be a part of Universe. Your comment reminded me again that I made the right choice in my case (which does NOT mean that everybody should leave thier religon behind. It was my individual scenario, and I'm sure the are millions of stories when religion did and does help people). I made it intuitevely and right now I'm so happy that I chose this path.

        2. Actually, let me add and clarify something. I do NOT think that any religion is bad or eveil. I can find thousands of reasons to "traditionally" accept any known religion. I just think that often people use religion to justify their unethical behaviour and to get power, while putting other down. One of my friends once said : "I love God, I admire the religion as it is. I just don't like when other people or government tries to stay between me and God and to make me believe that they are the "chosen" ones. They are making up some rules and force people to follow them uner the name of God." I agree with her point. I love talikng with religious people about God when I see that their belief system makes them see themselves and all others as worthy and respnsible human beings. Otherwise, I stay away from it.

          1. Imagine if everyone in every religion believed only in the actual Truth of their religion..and let the other stuff go. I think as soon as we start looking to try to transform others in a form of control...that we are stepping away from own own work.

            This is hard to remember sometimes though. For me, when I see others with low self esteem (not saying that I don't have my own bits in there...)and I see them ruminating, agonizing over their situations, suffering, my heart breaks. I want to help them so much...but it seems impossible...any thing I have said up to this point has been taken as uncaring.

            Here is when I have to remember to do my own work...if we are all energetically connected...then when I access my own areas of low self esteem and work with that, by elevating myself I automatically bring elevated energy into their lives. And I don't have to say a word of contradiction to do it.

            1. It is the love within that transforms one another so if your words are said with an attempt to control...than they are words with lack, without love. Loving words liberate. The only difference is in the sayer...not the words. Because intent behind words have power. The same words have the power to liberate if the sayer has love and curse if the sayer has lack.

              that just came as a side note...:)

      1. Victoria,

        You made a lot of great points in your comment to Randy. But I must say, I noticed a few discrepancies with your views on "organized religion". Clearly, for the most part you were talking about christianity.

        First off, it means little to me when I hear people call themselves "christians". Every doctrine has its hypocrites, so what matters most is whether or not that person actually walks the walk.

        But, from a biblical standpoint, most of your conclusions aren't entirely accurate. I'm not sure if you've ever read the bible before, but I think you should give it another go. Just for better understanding, and more accuracy. It's a great read, just from a historical standpoint. Contains near 2500 prophesies, most of which have been fulfilled (which kind of freaks me out). 40 authors, written over a 1500 yr timeframe.

        For instance when you state that sex, and the enjoyment of it, is evil. Clearly not true, as the apostle paul writes in Hebrews 13:4 - "Marriage [is] honourable in all, and the bed undefiled.."

        A few more of your quotes:

        ----
        "Organized religion teaches that humans must suffer here on Earth for the promise of after death eternal bliss"

        "People are taught that they are not worthy of things they have."

        "People are taught that they are born evil"
        ----

        Im not really sure what you're referring to here. It doesn't sound biblical, so you might be referring to Islam, which I'm in no position to comment on. And if you are referring to christianity, this is why I would suggest you read the book again.

        I quote you: "Later, Christ was murdered, and people were told that he died for their sins, for the sins of the evil people. Therefore, giving people some guilt and the motivator for blind obedience."

        I think ultimately you have a lot of questions about Christianity. You should sit down with several people and try to figure out all the answers to your questions. Jesus died to make people feel guilty?? If a preacher told you that, you should find him and slap him.

        I'm no scholar. I repeat... In no way, shape, or form am I a scholar. I know very little, actually. I've just read the book, and do my own thinking.

        Christianity and Jesus Christ could have easily been disproved over the past 2,000 years. The man had many enemies. But over the past 2,000 years.. not even one of his enemies has been able to bring forth his bones, or tell me where his remains lay. Not even google seems to know =]

        Anyway, I really only intended to address the word Evil, and whether or not God exists.

        Philosophically there are two things we need to bear in mind. Whenever someone raises the issue of evil, they are implicitly also positing the existence of good. When you say something is evil, you assume something is good. When you assume something is good, you assume there is a moral law... by which to differentiate between good and evil. And if you assume a moral law, you must ultimately propose a moral law giver. But that's who most questioners or atheists are often times trying to disprove and not prove. Because if there's no moral law giver, there's no moral law... and if there's no moral law, there's no good. If there's no good, there's no evil. The question really self-destructs in terms of an objective rule in by which to measure good and evil. The question in fact affirms that a moral framework exists in life.

        Anyway, I think there is one thing Randy and I can agree on. People who say "the devil made me do it" are, for a lack of better words, confused.

        Aristotle said it well when he said "I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies; for the hardest victory is over self."

        And Jesus himself said it even better when he said "He who rules his spirit has won a greater victory than the taking of a city."

        Peace and love..

        Now, back to the hustle!

        -Noel

        1. Hi Noel (the day on which Christ was born),
          It's invigorating to be challenged!

          I am on the same page with you when someone tells me that they are "Christian", especially a "good Christian". When I hear that, I know that the person is hiding behind the label, and instead of walking the walk, just talking the talk.

          You are right - the Bible is a great book. In my view, the Bible is the book of instructions, but hence it was translated, interpreted and changed so many times, one should take great care in sorting what was written to help men, and what was written with intention to control and manipulate their mind.
          You see, the one of the greatest tools of manipulation are fear and quilt. You install eather or both into man's mind, and you have full control of that person or masses.

          In reference to sex, how do you interpret that Adam and Eve became aware of their bodies and learned shame?
          The subject of marriage is a totally different animal. Clearly, people by nature are promiscuous, so the idea of monogamy was added via marriage.

          In reference to suffering. On my way to California, I was sitting next to a woman who was a Christian. We talked for over three and a half hours, for two of which she was telling me that if I will not accept Christ as my saviour - I'll end up in Hell. She was insisting that I must be saved. I didn't argue with her, but did ask her if she felt that she deserved good things in her life. Her answer was - no, explaining that she was sinful and imprefect.
          So I told her that I don't believe in Hell, or sin, that I deserve everything great in life, and that I am happy and love my life. Her response to that was that I made up my own truth, and that the only Truth is in the Bible. That led to my next question, what was the difference between her Bible and others. She stated that only her Bible is the Truth. So there, nothing more, nothing less...
          Now, to me this does not make sense. For instance, another Christian doctrine insists that their Bible is the Truth; that there is no soul; that certain amount of people (male) will go to Heaven, and the rest of the believers will stay on Earth, which will resemble the Gardern of Eden. This organized religion also endures suffering, as well as acceptance of human imperfection and sinful human nature.
          Being told that humans are imperfect and sinful, means that humans are bad. Bad is evil, and that is their message. Ironically, the word "sin" means something other than wicked and against religious rules.

          In reference to guilt - According to the Bible, why did Jesus die? For the sins of others?
          But let's see it from another point of view. Jesus was an extraordinary human. Unfortunately he was teaching something that contradicted a certain doctrine, therefore had to be destroyed. He was tortured and died on the cross for his beliefs. After that, people were told that he died for their sins. But he didn't simly die, he suffered unimaginable pain for a very long time.
          Now, let's dissect it. What would motivate people to be good and to do the right thing, even though, deep down inside they didn't want to. For instance, someone is in the marriage that is not working, is destructive to both parties, but they stay together in misery because the Bible said so. But just because the Bible instructs to stick it out, what would motivate someone to suffer so? Well, Jesus suffered great pains for you, the sinful one....And if that is not a guilt trip, I don't know what is.

          Noel, I know that your feathers are ruffled by my comments. Understand that I am not attacking Christianity or any other religion. In reality, people have to believe in something to stay on the right path. Even if it's the dot on their wall, which they call God, and it gives them purpose - then let it be.
          My point is that people must use their mind. Clearly it's in our heads for a reason. Otherwise people will do terrible things for several virgins in Heaven.

          Now go and get busy living!
          But before that, would you please tell me how you were able to post your picture?

          Victoria

          1. Hey Victoria. When you comment, there's a link that says "upload a photo to use with your comment"

            Don’t worry you didn’t ruffle my feathers. You could talk smack about Christianity all day long and probably not ruffle my feathers. Just don’t talk smack about my mama! haha. I was actually really happy to see a response from you, and I was smiling the entire time I was reading it.

            I don’t really understand why some Christians walk around condemning others either. I love intelligent discussions. There are some “Christians” out there that I wouldn't even want to stand next to on the day of judgement. They don’t fully understand their own belief.

            “Out of 100 people, 1 will read the bibe, 99 will read the Christian.”

            I quote you: “My point is that people must use their mind. Clearly it’s in our heads for a reason. Otherwise people will do terrible things for several virgins in Heaven.”

            I guess I agree with you. I don’t fully understand the concept behind it, so I won’t touch on that. I haven’t fully read the Koran, so I can’t really touch on those things either. I did learn some interesting things though. For example, there are some things that the Koran says about Jesus that were true. It tell us that Jesus was virgin born. It doesn’t even give that privilege to Muhammad himself. But, the Koran cleary states Jesus wasn't crucified, even though secular history proves he was, secular historical documents from Lucian, Tacitus, josephus and many more others all confirms Jesus’ crucifixion. People don't even need the Bible to know that Jesus was crucified. But anyways, that’s for another time.

            Let’s take a look at the bible.

            You start off with the scriptures and ask yourself the question. Here there are 66 books, by nearly 40 diff authors, over a 1500yr time-frame. That are books on history, books on philosophical thinking, books on theological thinking, and systematic thinking. Now, if the bible made several assertions one after another that you found out to be FALSE, either historically, or philosophically, or existentially, and you keep on seeing this type of consistent contradiction and failure, then you have my permission to believe “I cannot really trust this document, as it’s not in keeping with the way I see history and reality.”

            Me personally, I'm fascinated about the miraculous aspect of the bible.

            Let me give you an example of this: The book of Daniel is written in the late 500’s before Christ, and yet when you study the Book of Daniel, you begin to see the specifics of a fantastic prophecy. He talks about a massive empire that will come into being and how that empire will be divided into 4, and that empire will be led by a strident, strong he-goat from the West who’ll be marching several nations under foot, but shall be suddenly cut off and his empire will be divided into 4. Those 4 then emerge into 2, and those 2 blend into 1. When you take the Book of Daniel, written late 500’s BC and put it ‘pro forma’ onto Alexander the Great’ in the 300’s BC, you see the stridency of Alexander.

            Suddenly cut off in his 20’s, 4 kingdoms emerge, given to his 4 generals. Those 4 (Ptolemaic kingdom of Egypt, the Seleucid Empire in the east, the Kingdom of Pergamon in Asia Minor, and Macedon) come into the 2 two empires and that emerged them into the Roman empire. Centuries before- to be so specific in prophecy is amazing.

            You go to the prophecy of Zechariah , who describes the crucifixion of Christ, ”They shall look upon Him whom they have pierced and weep as a mother weeps for her only sons. You go to the prophecy of Isaiah and see how the Christ is going to suffer. Immediately you see the supernatural.

            So, when you take the miraculous element, you take the historical element; you look into the Scriptures and you see there is an authenticity and it all points to one perfect person.

            Bruce Metzger who is a scholar from Princeton, made the comment…he said, “After you take the 20,000 lines of the New Testament, it is safe for any scholar to say there’s at least a 99.6% accuracy. No ancient document, NONE! Has the kind of document support that the Bible has, over 5,000 documents.”

            So when you got this kind of documentation, this kind of accuracy; and that kind of person in Jesus Christ, I think you got pretty compelling evidence. And I begin to see why people take Christ so seriously.

            Much Love!
            -Noel

      2. I agree with almost everything you say Victoria. Except, although my Mom would agree with you, that movies, T.V. News and other forms of entertainment cause mind viruses. Of course they do, but let's not throw out the baby with the bath water. News also has it's positive aspects, like it keeps us informed(just as you say though, we have to be diligent in our thinking and not buy into everything).

        Also, CNN and other coverage of the Revolution in Egypt may have helped to prevent violence against the protesters. So some good came from that news.

        I also don't agree that Christ came only to die for our sins, but for some it may give hope. I guess what I'm really saying is sometimes it is about perspective.

    9. Randy...hmm...I believe in evil because I DO think it's real, just as I believe GOOD is real. They are forces that oppose each other, equal at times and very unequal at others. People choose evil and inflict it on others. People choose to prey upon others. I believe there is a concept of justice that as a society we should embrace. Evil must be opposed. I do concur that much of the victory comes from how you live your own life. But the evil choices and actions many take require opposition. And I think one of the messages of the Bible says it best, overcome evil with good. That's a really good virus to spread to a lot of minds.

    10. yes i was getting into this habit of thinking the world is inherently bad and I caught myself before it got out of hand. I would seek out and read bad news, conspiracies, doomsday articles. but i realise if i just know about them, i cant do much, and its not going to make me a better person. i realised i have to focus on being a strong person, so i can help myself and then if i wanted help the world, if the world needed helping anyway. sometimes trying to 'save the world' was just distracting myself and proscastinating on the issue of me and my problems. better to solve the world problems than my own i would say. the world needs me more than i need myself i would think. this was hiding from the truth. now i try hard to tackle my problems head on and stay true.

      1. "sometimes trying to ‘save the world’ was just distracting myself and proscastinating on the issue of me and my problems" exactly! so many of us do this sometimes!!

    11. I used to like being in victimhood and looking like a "hero" sometimes. I even can say that victimhood was equal to childhood in my mind. I felt powerless, not loveable, not worthy. I just didn't realize that on a conschous level. I saw a difference when I grew out of this state of mind, and I never want to go back. However, I must admit, that being a victim had its own "sweet bonuses". You could feel cozy, surrounded by caring people, who felt bad for you and wanted to help. being a vicitim, you feel powerless, and wait, just wait for someone strong to come and lead you into your "brighter" future. That's because "victims" are afraid to make mistakes and to take responsibility. When you are in a state of victimhood, you don't feel worthy and can't forgive yourself when the choices you make are not perfect. While others can make a mistake, and you don't mind. Victims believe that others can make things better, so they let them take charge.

    12. HELLOW SIR,
      THANKYOU VERY MUCH FOR ALL THE INFORMATION..THE HILIGHT OF YOUR MESSAG..

      "You don’t see things as they are. You see them as you are."

      EVERY DAY FOR HALF AN HOUR ATLEAST IF WE PRACTICE FORGIVENESS AND BLESSINGS TO EVERY ONE INCLUDING SELF,WILL DO WONDERS..

    13. To touch on just one thing you said in this post and something I am starting to notice more and more about the "victim mindset".

      Many times, many of us, myself included, when we talk about something that we don't do well, something we would like to improve on, we often will say "you do this because..." instead of "I do this because..." We find ourselves, as I heard it called, in the "teachers mindset" (and I truly believe we are all teachers whether directly or not). And this is where the issue lies. We don't own up for our crap. We don't say "I". We know it but we don't say it. Even at times, we will hide it and go into what is called the "no man land" where we say "we are not that fat" or "it wasn't that bad".

      Sometime that victim mindset is not blaming people or society but rather deflecting it or minimizing it.

      Evil may very much exist somewhere out there. Or perhaps it what people call evil. Whatever it is. End of the day, it is our character, our very being, not where we come from, that defines.

      Rock on!

    14. I am not a man of faith, I see the world as it is, some is good, some is evil.
      I made a choice to surround my self with the good and do whatever I can to fight evil (I am big on animal rights).
      When I made bad choices, and I made a few, I did not try to blame anyone, and become a victim. I did one thing only and it's taking personal responsibility.
      The mistake is defining the world as good or evil, we need to define ourselves as good and act accordingly.

    15. The post saying "When people have worthiness issues they continually create challenges to try and feel worthy" hit me deeply. I work very hard, and run myself ragged, that is why....because I am trying to prove myself worthy...and failing misreably because I am so overworked and overwhelmed. The harder I try, the worse I feel. I try to do it all, be it all, always there for everyone....because I have such a low self esteem, I feel if I can just do more for *family* they will appreciate me, will love me, will...on and on it goes. I try to buy their love not with money (have 0) but with doing things for them. Then feel worse because I can't always meet those demands. Wow, what a statement of why things go wrong....I create my own failure...then panic because I can't be or do enough to *earn* their caring. Don't getme wrong, they all do love and care for me,,,but I feel like such a failure...myself because I'm always letting someone down, or don't have this or that right. Wow,
      Thanks,

    16. First of all, that picture is scary. Maybe instead of you in the pope hat, like that other post, you could have superimposed some devil horns on yourself(I would have really enjoyed that one good sir).

      What? We believe in evil because of George Lucas and JK Rawlings? Are you sure? Maybe the heroes journey could also be one of those absolute truths. I think it is one of those primordial archetypes. We all have these archetypes within us, they can teach us or harm us I suppose. But, the reason those stories are so popular is not because of our lack programming, but because they are filled with so many universal truths.

      If someone acts out the heroes journey as you say, then yes that is problematic. But is it possible, that one could act out a heroes journey in a positive way? What if a person ends up saving themselves in the end? I think it could happen.

      Please don't disparage these lovely works of art without admitting some of the good mind viruses they spread as well. Star Wars has lots of wisdom to share with the world, so do some of the other stories. We can use our critical thinking, and not allow ourselves to be infected with mind viruses and still enjoy these stories. Stories, even ones with cultural themes that are better left behind, can teach us something. Mind Viruses are only contagious if you are a willing host, and besides these messages fall on everyone in a different way. Boy let me tell you. I was in a book club once with a group of ladies, and when we started talking about the book we read, I could swear some of them had read a whole different story than me. Perspective. Literature is meant to be analyzed and interpreted otherwise it doesn't mean all that much.

      The church told me I had original sin, well I didn't believe it. You don't believe it. We need to think critically and find the truth for ourselves that's how to protect against mind viruses.

      You are right though Randy, if you change your perspective from negative to positive, you view everything differently. You do see the justice, love and goodness. However, evil is still there, and it is still a force to be dealt with. I think the more positive and whole a person becomes, the more they work to undo evil and the real injustices. Because evil and injustice do exist, and so do real heroes. People without negative mind viruses can discern real evil and injustice, it does not mean they do not exist.

      Turning your back on all things negative to avoid lack programming is avoidance behavior. I think when you are really healthy you can face these things and work to make the world a better place. Although there is a time and place for everything, if one isn't ready to deal with the negativity the should definitly limit it.

      Are you not a hero Randy? Don't you think mind viruses are evil? You spend much of your time trying to debunk them, so there is more love in the world. Doesn't that make you a hero? I think so, someone who goes out and tries to bring love in the world is a hero. When you do this you are fighting something, what do you think it is? So, I think you are on a heroes journey, the way I like to look at heroes journeys. Heroes are people who combat evil and bring love into the world, lets all do that. Let's start a new kind of heroes journey.

      Labeling the world as evil is not something I have ever done, even in my darkest days. But, I still get the idea of using the excuse that it is something outside of us that is responsible for our problems. But what do you think about people who blame themselves for everything? That happens too.

      1. Actually I love Star War, Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. I do watch some shows or read some books with negative mind viruses. I just try to be conscious of them to negate their effects.

        And there are positive memes as well. Unfortunately there are just more negative ones floating around these days. But when we control our own programming we are fine.

        -RG

        1. Really you think there are more negative than positive memes around now. I feel really sad about that, I was thinking our memes were getting more positive. 🙁

          I have been so happy about Egypt, what a brilliant message to the world. They freed themselves without our help and without the use of violence. Somewhere in heaven I keep imagining Martin Luther King Jr. with a big smile on his face. Your statement kinda bursted my bubble a little.

          I don't think all those stories have more negative memes than positive. Really.

    17. Okay, I still don't know if I get your post.

      I think evil things do happen sometimes to people who are prosperous and good. Why? Who the hell knows.

      I just watched "Roots", and I don't think the native Africans were asking to be slaves. And, I tell you what, that sure looked evil to me. I mean these people were put in shackles at gun point. What did the Africans do wrong? Were they all on a heroes journey gone wrong?

      How about Ruben "Hurricane" Carter? That was an injustice he did not bring on himself. As it turns out, he sure wasn't going to buy into victimhood, but he was a true victim.

      Evil doesn't always just eminate from within, and people who see the world as good definitly have bad things happen, but I guess they way they deal with can elevate good or evil. Is that what you are trying to say?

      For instance even though Kunta Kinte became a slave, by another's doing, which is evil. Ultimately he elevated good because he remained true to himself and left a positve legacy for his family, and as it turns out the whole world?

      By the way, don't you think Kunta Kinte was an impoverished slave but also very prosperous? I do.

      How many people really see the universe as inherently evil?

      I think in most of the hero journey stories in literature the hero overcomes his own challenges and outside challenges to become victorious. Which Characters on a heroes journey just see the world as Evil?

      1. I'm not saying bad or even horrific things don't happen. They do. What I'm saying is that Infinite Intelligence is good and it's only when we turn away from our nature that evil exists.

        -RG

    18. Randy..

      Wow what a post. Control what you can control and leave the rest to the people who live their lives in the riight or wrong world..

      You live your life in the 100% self control world and things happen as they should...

    19. Ok since accepting or becoming aware of my Memes and studying and accepting abundance and prosperity. I really have to say the subject hit home I was blaming evil and fighting the forces, something occurred to me.

      If you truly believe in OPPISITES up down, left right, light dark, then it isn't really good evil, it is substance or absetence or events or void it is how YOU precieve that event or substance.
      Again it's not that there isn't bad events or hateful, ones but how you perceive it and what you attract to yourself.

    20. I was doing some thinking about this. As a former sailor and ship driver, this relates to an effect on water as the hull and keel pass through it. This is called "frictional wake." It's not just the ship that moves forward. There is an energy on the water that is created which starts the water, closest to the hull at the keel and aft of the keel, moving forward so that the water is moving with the ship, not against it. I believe that this "frictional wake" effect is true for us as well. If we keep moving forward and evolving, we create a frictional wake of energy that moves forward with us. If we sit and stagnate, we create no energy, thus leaving ourselves vulnerable to forces around us. Always move forward, evolve, and create a frictional wake for your own prosperity, happiness, and peace.

    21. I was doing some thinking about this. As a former sailor and ship driver, this relates to an effect on water as the hull and keel pass through it. This is called “frictional wake.” It’s not just the ship that moves forward. There is an energy on the water that is created which starts the water, closest to the hull at the keel and aft of the keel, moving forward so that the water is moving with the ship, not against it. I believe that this “frictional wake” effect is true for us as well. If we keep moving forward and evolving, we create a frictional wake of energy that moves forward with us. If we sit and stagnate, we create no energy, thus leaving ourselves vulnerable to forces around us. Always move forward, evolve, and create a frictional wake for your own prosperity, happiness, and peace.

      1. Great video Randy.

        It is what you focus on, you will get. And of course, every focus should be on a positive outcome, for example, "I will be 185lbs by December 2011" instead of "I don' want to be fat anymore" because what happens is we focus on what we manifest as you say it. It is like telling someone not to think of an elephant, but by saying elephant, you are already thinking of it.

        And also, I would like to say, I am glad there is "evil". I am glad they are there. Not because I want them there but rather it gives me something to fight for. Something worth fighting against. For me it can be to get people fit and not fall into the life of obesity. Or it can be to fight against "average". Or perhaps it can be the fight against bullying. It gives people the fire to fight. To do something about it. To change it.

        The question is though, and I am wondering about this, if there was nothing bad in the world, if there was nothing to fight for in the world, would people be great, wealthy, healthy, passionate, and full of prosperity? Or will they just be average because they don't have the fight in them?

    22. Evil is simply the ABSENCE of light. You don't call the darkness "evil"...you just turn on the light. And guess where the light is? Jesus said it: "YOU are the light of the world." So to the degree you are the light that you are, you turn on the light of understanding, joy and peace. I'm sure the literalists...who haven't lack biblical depth will understand this; but it doesn't make it less true!

    23. I totally disagree, if I am interpreting Randy properly, that evil does not exist, only the perception of evil. I could not disagree more. Evil is real. It walks and talks and is clearly defined in the bible. I don't know about you, but I choose to believe God on this one. I would agree that most victim minded people do manifest their own impressions of evil but let there be no mistake, the devil does exist and one of his favorite ways to get people is confusion by letting us think of an outcome in another way. Its how he got Eve, by manipulating the truth and presenting another scenario which offered Eve a different perspective. Wow, Randy, you really shocked me with this one.

      1. I agree Mary-Ellen that there really is evil, and to deny it is dangerous, because we might not know it when we see it. (I don't like the Adam and Eve virsion of evil though, puts the blame on Eve)

        I think they maybe are just talking about it in a different way (I think). I certainly hope so. I don't think Randy is denying there is evil. In the comment he left to me above he said "it is only when we turn away from out true nature evil exists". So, I guess he is admitting at least that people can commit evil.

        Anyway, yeah I'm not so sure there isn't a devil and demons out there. Could be. My church taught me that too. I remain skeptical, but I don't rule it out either, in fact, I think they do exist.

        Do you ever read M. Scott Peck? We had to read his book "People of the Lie", which is his version of what evil is, in the existance of God class. It is really good. My instructor had us read this book, because whenever you talk about God you have to deal with the concept of evil and why and how it exists. It is fascinating, this subject.

        I like the fact that I think Randy is saying not taking responsibility for ourselves, brings about evil. My word evil, not his. I think this is one way we commit evil.

        Otherwise, I am totally with ya lady.:)

        1. Glad you get it Annie. I agree there is always room for misinterpretation. I'm referencing to his original blog comments with my opinion. Hope you are doing great and god bless.

          1. Thanks Mary-Ellen, I don't know if I get it or not. But, I was thinking the same way you were at first, but now I think he is saying something about peoples belief that evil in the world is holding them back, when really it is themselves. Not that evil doesn't exist. Although, it isn't that clear, and your right it is confusion and lies that create opportunities for evil.

            Oh I'm not saying Randy is evil or his post. Just that if someone took it to mean there is not evil, that it is just in our minds, that would be an unfortunate error. I think, and I don't know if I am right, that he is talking about one specific mind virus that causes people to hang on to their victimhood by blaming things on evil. The mind virus is the belief that the unfounded forces of evil and injustice are holding one back when really the evil one is seeing is just imagined. Not that evil isn't out there, just that sometimes a person uses it as an excuse as to why they cannot get ahead, instead of seeing their own responsibility for the problem or problems.

            For example, when I was in my twenties I had a really old car, and during a bad snow storm a man ran into the back of me and my car was destroyed. The insurance company only gave me a few thousand dollars to replace my car, but it was worth so much more to me. So I spent all this time fighting with this man's insurance company so sure was I that it was entirely evil, and I even made one of agents cry. I felt terrible. I told my therapist what happened, and do you know what she said? That's how insurance works why don't you just go out and buy yourself another car. So I did, and that was that. It wasn't so terrible, and here I was thinking I had to destroy the entire car insurance world because it was evil. Did I have a point? Oh yes, I saw evil and injustice and instead of just going about my business, and getting a new car I decided I had to take on the evil insurance companies. It wasn't the insurance companies fault I had an old car. (But as a special side note, there is definitly evil lurking in insurance companies, just not in this case).

            I can think of another example that happened to me more recently, but because it involves this blog I will not write about it. 🙂

            Having written all this now, I could be completely wrong. I could be right. I may be crazy, I may just be the lunatic your looking for. What is that? Oh it's a Billy Joel song, love that guy.

            One more thing I will say on this topic. Life has a lot of gray, and it could be in any given set of circumstances both real and imagined evil. So sometimes, and I will venture to guess a lot of times this is the case. But still taking resposibility for oneself and seeing the truth (which to me is goodness)will without a doubt set a person on the right path.

            Anyway, Mary-Ellen I believe in Evil with a capital E, as well. So I am with you there, and I don't think anyone should say it does not exist, if so they are laboring under a delusion in my opinon. Take Care Mary-Ellen, and God Bless you too.

            1. I can look back on my earlier days too Annie and recall some, take on the world for truth moments as well. What I learned was that anything you draw negative attention or energy to grows. That's part of the challenge for me with engadging on this blog at times. It focus's often on what is wrong and draws attention to it. I always recall Mother Theresa saying that she would not attend a war rally when asked to participate but that if there was a peace rally she would be there. If we focus on evil we get more of it. If we focus on peace we bring more of it into the world. I understand the importance of cleaning house where our lack programming and disempowering beliefs are concerned but I have found that I eliminate a lot more of those negatives by not focusing on them and paying attention to where I am going, not where I have been. There is a great book, and thank you for the book reference also, called in the now by eckart toll. Excellent material if you are of the mind that living in the now and projecting forward is a much healthier, effective way to eliminate our baggage. Evil exists and sadly always will until the last day and since none of us know when that will be, I choose to live in today and positively focus my thoughts on good and not evil.

            2. Thanks Mary-Ellen, That is a brilliant way to engage the world! To stay positive and live in the present. I will look for that book, in fact, my friend gave me a book by that same author and I have not read it yet. I need to get reading.:) Glad you are still around here Mary-Ellen.

              Annie

    24. You know...I am not sure why but ever since I was a kid I have rejected the idea of evil or Satan.

      I think I just inherently felt that whenever someone was talking to me about those things that they were trying to manipulate me.

      I was never sure why someone would choose to use the concept of evil to try to move a person when the concept of LOVE is so much more appealing.

    25. I never thought of House as on a hero's journey, he knows he's a jerk sometimes, drove himself into a psych ward in season 5 because of it... and I don't think that billionaire plot line was anti-money, rich or whatever... just House wouldn't bow down to him and much hilarity ensued...

    26. Randy who is that guy in that photo? A friend of yours? Anyway, I'm still not sure I entirely understood your post today, but it sure was fun to discuss!

      PS. You said "And then you see good where now you see evil." What would Freud say? 🙂 I think, and this may be the only thing I am right about today, that you meant to say "And then you see good where once you saw evil.". If I am incorrect you need to write a new post to explain this very ambiguous statement. Cheers.

    27. ao the Malcolm X's, Martin Luther Kings, Gandhi's or any fighter of injustice were wasting there time or full of meme's? Come on Randy get out of the New Age Bull crap and come back down to earth. I know your rich but come on brother!!!!

    28. Its funny how rich white new age males are always taling about there is no evil, let go of the past, you attract your bad conditions, etc.. Where evil white men have down most of the documented horrific things on theis planet past and present. Stop letting your peeps off the hook.

    29. As Always Randy Excellent Post!

      I have a hard time to decide which I like better, your insights or the comments from all who read and dare to share, really both sides are one of a kind!

      When we know that FEAR is False Evidence Appearing Real, then is it safe to conclude
      EVIL is Every Virtual Intelligence Lost?

      Be me it works best when I stop thinking and start feeling, and from that passion within, take actions. The mind is a powerful tool, but like any other machine it only does what we allow it to, so be careful what you feed your machine!

      Keep the Fire Burning:)

      Cya,
      Rock

    30. This post and all comments give me a real food for thought. It's fascinating to see fidderent opinions that come from different angles and to find out something new inside myself. Thank you all, for sharing! Randy, thanks for this opportunity!

    31. I don't believe in evil as an entity, I do believe that some people do evil things. It doesn't mean they are evil people just people with a lot of imbalance in their life.

    32. Hi Randy

      What's real? Does a force exist? Can animals be either evil og good? I would deny the latter. Is misfortune or destructivity caused by a force?
      Evil arise in language.
      Some humans are evil or act evil we say.
      Another line of thought is: things happen. An individusl or a society does something. The action has it's effect. We humans attach meaning to the actions based on the effects. One label is: it's evil. The label arise in language. Does evil exist in reality? What has objectivism to say about this matter?

      Love and Respect - Pierre Leyssac, cph

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