Evil is Out There

#25 EVIL IS OUT THERE

I believe evil exists separately from us. Have you ever wondered what might happen if your conscience—through no fault of your own—was captured by a demon? If, directed by an evil force, the anger and hate inside you was no longer restrained but instead loosed on others? If—without that inner voice restraining you—you could do anything you wanted to? Given our flawed, sinful nature, I think the potential for this happening exists in all of us. So we must fight all manifestations of the Devil’s work. And support harsh punishment of criminals as a deterrent. (Note: critics call this “the myth of pure evil.”)

More Information About This Worldview Theme--note this table is under construction, last update: December 2024
a heart WV Theme...		...individual <---> individual
the theme is paired with: #29B Taking Charge ==> Violence to make Choice #17 in the Choices We Make cards
this theme as presented in older version of theme structure: is this theme new to version 4?--YES
click to look at the Project Worldview Cultural Literacy Encyclopedia Related Words, Beliefs, Background articles for the above choice
Project Worldview authored discussion, Worldview Watch related issues, songs, etc.


Wikipedia articles related to this theme:
Devil	Evil		Theodicy
	The Devil in Christianity

worldview internal inconsistency related: Strongly valuing this theme and any of the themes in the list below is a contradiction:
#1A Humbly Unsure	#5A Scientific Materialism	#6A Orderly & Explicable	#6B Scientific Method
#1B Skeptic	#8A Monotheistic Deism	#10 Secular Humanism	#11A Fatalism
#7A Mysticism	#13 In Human/Computer Hands: Dancing With Systems	#14B Moral Arc of Universe/Karma/Reincarnation	#16B The Golden Rule, Village Ethic of Mutual Help
#21B Service to Others	#28B Healthy Orientation	#30 Intellectual Freedom	#32A Valuing Human Rights
#32B Culture of Tolerance	#38 Love As Family Glue	#42 Ethical Orientation	#47A The Attitudinal Fix Mentality
#47B Pacifism / Non-Violence	#102A Conscientious, Efficient	#102B Easy-Going, Disorderly, Cavalier	#202B Relaxed, Generous, Loving

More to Explore -- Worldview Theme #25: Evil is Out There

Theology: The Devil is Real by Jonathan Noyes (from Stand to Reason / Clear Thinking Christianity February 21 2023)

Eroding the Myth of Pure Evil: When Victims become Perpetrators and Perpetrators Victims by Alette Smeulers (Cambridge University Press: November 24 2022)

The Anti-Christ by Phillip Almond (evil incarnate related book review in The Economist Nov 21 2020)

"Giving the devil his due" by Jessica Wolf (Feb 2018 review of book Satan in the Bible, God’s Minister of Justice, by Henry Kelly UCLA professsor )

The Psychology of Evil –Part I by Derek Flood (July 28 2017 article posted on the Rebel God site)

“The Myth of Pure Evil” by Nathan Jennings (Jan 2017 post on Seminary of the Southwest site)

The Myth of Pure Evil and a Reason to Criticize Star Wars by Alexandra Cosma (2013 post)

Original Sin: A Cultural History, by Alan Jacobs (review of this 2008 book)

The Concept of Original Sin in American History (from Science and Theology News)

Evil: Inside Human Violence and Cruelty by Roy F. Baumeister (2006 definitive book on The Myth of Pure Evil)

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021 film: from online encyclopedia)

The Stand by Stephen King (the ultimate good vs. evil story--this good read made Rolling Stone's best books of all time list)

the Myth of Pure Evil quote (from Ray Baumeister 1996 book Evil: Inside Human Violence and Cruelty)

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"As you shop in "The Reality Marketplace" avoid spending your "reality cash" too early, before you have seen everything. "
from Coming of Age in the Global Village, by Stephen P. Cook, with Donella H. Meadows.

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