Defining Religious Language: Good and Evil

Good and Evil are reflections of human perception, through a particular lens of human moral judgment.

There is no universal metaphysical nature to Good and Evil. They do not equate to divine beings. They do not have metaphysical locations (i.e. Heaven and Hell). They do not inherently have divine nature. Good and Evil do not have existence outside of the human equation.

Good and Evil are the names we give to a certain kind of human perception… they are a judgment we make that connects with our deepest held values, ideals, principles and beliefs. When we determine that something is “Good”, we do so because in a profound way that something upholds and illuminates our deepest held values and principles. When we determine something to be “Evil” we do so because in a profound way that something detracts and contradicts our deepest held values and principles.

Good and Evil have no existence outside of human perception through a particular lens of human moral judgment. If humanity were to cease to exist, then there would be no perceptions being made, no judgments being made, no values being held, no ideals being espoused, and no principles to be articulated. Without humanity, Good and Evil would not only have no reason to exist, they would have no way to come into existence.

This is a dangerous idea, because misinterpreted it can be used as an excuse for moral relativism, for believing that Good and Evil are unimportant because they have no “real” inherent nature… that they are solely “in the eyes of the beholder”. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

This human-centered understanding of the nature of Good and Evil actually places a greater burden on us with regards to Good and Evil, because the responsibility for what is Good and what is Evil rests solely with us. We cannot pawn responsibility for seeing Good come into the world upon God, and we do not have a devil on whom to blame what is Evil in this world. There is not a Divine Dividing Line (scriptures, commandments, etc.) to tell us where the line lies between what is Good, what is Evil, what is neither, and what is both.

What Evil exists in the world, we create and we recognize, through a process of moral judgment based upon our most deeply held values, principles, ideals, and beliefs. What Good exists in the world, we create and we recognize through a process of moral judgment based upon our most deeply held values, principles, ideals, and beliefs. These are not necessarily the values, principles and beliefs we espouse, but rather the ones that are obvious within us by the choices and decisions we make. It may be that the key to seeing what our most deeply held values, principles and beliefs are, is the judgments we make of what is Good and what is Evil.

Therefore it matters, it matters deeply, what we believe. It matters what those around us believe. It matters what those we do not agree with believe. It matters what myths and stories our societies rest on, as they shape our cultural mythos.

When we disagree on whether something is Good, Evil, neither Good nor Evil, or both Good and Evil, what is at conflict in that difference of perception is often not our understanding of the event, but the lens of values, ideals, beliefs and principles through which we make moral judgments. What is good to me may be evil to someone else, because the values and principles we hold are radically different.

Therefore, and this is another dangerous idea, what I believe to be good is ultimately relative to me. What I believe to be evil is ultimately relative to me. The foundation, the only solid foundation for the judgments I make of what is Good and Evil are the values, principles, ideals, and beliefs upon which that judgment rests, not the judgment itself. What is of ultimate importance, then, is not the judgment of whether something is Good or Evil, but the foundation of values, principles, ideals, and beliefs upon which that judgment rests.

It matters deeply what we believe… because from that belief is our worldview shaped. From that worldview come all of the perceptions and judgments we make in the world.

So, if Good and Evil find their nature in human centered perception and judgment, and if that nature is inherently relative to the individual making the judgment, what purpose to they have in the world? A deep and abiding purpose. Perceptions and Judgments of Good and Evil are the connection of our deepest selves with the world around us.

The judgments that something is positive or negative, of benefit or detriment, whether something is good (little g) bad, neutral or both good and bad are based upon facts, an assessment of the situation, and the human capacity for reason. Sometimes these judgments are (and rightly should be) based upon our emotions and our preferences. I make the situational judgment that driving on the highway with the flow of traffic is good, but driving against the flow of traffic is bad. I am not deeply spiritually invested in this judgment, because it does not profoundly call upon my values, principles, ideals and beliefs to make it.

In a similar example, I do not like the Detroit Red Wings hockey team. I do not like them because they have embarrassed my Colorado Avalanche hockey team several times in the playoffs. This is completely an emotional judgment I have made, and one I am not ashamed of at all… in fact, I’m quite proud of it. I stand by my Av’s, and root for anyone who is playing against the Red Wings. But the Red Wings are not Evil, because though I love watching hockey, it does not deeply and profoundly call upon my values, principles, ideals and beliefs.

Genocide is Evil. Torture is Evil. Proselytizing those who do not wish to hear the message of a particular church is Evil. These perceptions and judgments, among others, are Evil to me, because they do deeply and profoundly call upon my values, principles, ideals, and beliefs.

Committing to living in religious community is Good. Standing against injustice as you perceive it is Good. Placing yourself at risk for the benefit of others is Good. These perceptions and judgments, among others, are Good to me, because they do deeply and profoundly call upon my values, principles, ideals, and beliefs.

We judge what is Good and Evil in this world… and with that authority comes responsibility for all that is Good and Evil in this world.

Click here for a sermon on a closely related topic, entitled “From Whence Does Good and Evil Come?”

 Click here to read the other essays in the “Defining Religous Language” series.

Yours in faith,

 David