The Yin Yang of Evil and Good: A Taoist Perspective

[totoro]

if God is all...

if God is all powerful and all good then there would be no evil in the world,
but there is evil in the world,
therefore God is not all powerful or all good
(don't know who wrote this)

but in taoism (the yin yang symbol), it means that everything has an opposite side of it. male and female, long and short... etc. so if there is God to take the good side of it there should be evil also.

but a taoist(don't know who) say that if we didn't compare things with each other. then we will live a happy life. for example if we didn't compare good and bad, there will not have good or bad.

but what i mean here is that the taoist contradict with taoism. i don't understand that. or maybe i misunderstand the meaning what the taoist said. but i see that what he said is quite straight forward.

 

[Moetasim]

We can't compare God with the things and concepts which are actually His own creations. God is above all this. He is who controls U who knows what is coming in your mind and what will be coming in your mind. God is immortal so we can't compare Him with the things which have to perish with time. This sense of good and bad is his own creation just for your easiness that you differentiate between right and wrong. To discuss such things, I think, one has to be GOD!

 

[totoro]

i don't think that god is in control of my mind. if we are to compare good and bad... we will start to dislike something because it's bad for us. i agree with what the taoist said... it's because we will live in perfect harmony if we didn't compare things.

i like this word: i rather be a simple person than an extraodinary talented man.

 

[heusdens]

Why isn't this posted in the religion section?

btw. God, good and evil are all human inventions. they don't exist as such.

 

[newton1]

Originally posted by heusdens
Why isn't this posted in the religion section?

btw. God, good and evil are all human inventions. they don't exist as such.

maybe you never read any about taoism
the chinese word "tao" is a philosophy
but taoism now very different with before
i feel very strange why the taoism now change the ideal
anyway
the book "tao de jing" is quite interesting
there had many ideal of philosophy

 

[heusdens]

Originally posted by Newton1
maybe you never read any about taoism
the chinese word "tao" is a philosophy
but taoism now very different with before
i feel very strange why the taoism now change the ideal
anyway
the book "tao de jing" is quite interesting
there had many ideal of philosophy

THIS BELONGS IN THE RELIGION DEPARTMENT.

 

[newton1]

Originally posted by totoro
i don't think that god is in control of my mind. if we are to compare good and bad... we will start to dislike something because it's bad for us. i agree with what the taoist said... it's because we will live in perfect harmony if we didn't compare things.

i like this word: i rather be a simple person than an extraodinary talented man.

yes
if we never compare anything
the world will be harmony
but i feel the taoism have a litter passivity
if we follow this ideal
maybe the world will not progress

 

[kyle_soule]

Originally posted by Newton1
maybe you never read any about taoism
the chinese word "tao" is a philosophy
but taoism now very different with before
i feel very strange why the taoism now change the ideal
anyway
the book "tao de jing" is quite interesting
there had many ideal of philosophy

This is the very reason that God and Religion is a sub-directory of Philosophy, all religion is philosophy (in practice).

Now, to address the idea of there must be a God for evil also, in fact, there is. Satan is powerful, like a God. There can only be one all powerful GOD though, so to have a God of evil and good is impossible.

 

[Mentat]

Originally posted by kyle_soule
This is the very reason that God and Religion is a sub-directory of Philosophy, all religion is philosophy (in practice).

No, there is a Religioin sub-directory because Greg Bernhardt obviously doesn't want this particular branch of philosophy to be discussed in the Philosophy Forum (much like the branch of Philosophy called "Physics" also has it's own Forum), and I agree with him.

 

[totoro]

if you all think this in inside religion section, then feel free to move it.

i agree with Newton1 that taoism is a philosophy at first. but just we chinese(don't know how) change it unconciously to religion.
what i really mean here is that do you believe for everythings that appear in this world there is a opposite of it?

 

[wuliheron]

Originally posted by totoro
if God is all powerful and all good then there would be no evil in the world,
but there is evil in the world,
therefore God is not all powerful or all good
(don't know who wrote this)

but in taoism (the yin yang symbol), it means that everything has an opposite side of it. male and female, long and short... etc. so if there is God to take the good side of it there should be evil also.

but a taoist(don't know who) say that if we didn't compare things with each other. then we will live a happy life. for example if we didn't compare good and bad, there will not have good or bad.

but what i mean here is that the taoist contradict with taoism. i don't understand that. or maybe i misunderstand the meaning what the taoist said. but i see that what he said is quite straight forward.

This only appears contradictory because you are applying western ideas to an eastern philosophy and religion. Strictly speaking, Taoists do not believe in evil. They do believe in good and bad, but evil is another story.

Essentially, the western idea of 'evil' is that it is beyond the merely bad. A bad person or act can be forgiven and reconciled, but not an evil one. A bad act might be eventually viewed as a good thing, but never an evil one. For example, raping and murdering a small child would be considered by most people an evil act, irreconcilable, unforgivable and worthy of eternal damnation.

Some of the earliest legends of enlightened beings in China were that they could not be killed in battle and they had the most calm and serene smile on their face as they cut someone's head off. Because a Taoist may not see someone as beyond redemption does not mean they don't stop them from commiting such acts by any means necessary. What it does mean is that they view such actions as a sign of personal failure in some sense.

I'm a philosophical Taoist myself, so I'll try to give you my personal take on this. Instead of focusing on abstract things I might see on tv or whatever, what matters more for me is to deal with the world and people immediately around me. If someone in my neighborhood is doing bad things, I try to address the situation as best I can. If someone in my neighborhood needs help, I help.

Likewise, instead of thinking of people as evil, I just think of them as bad. It may be nobody alive today can help them stop doing bad things, but that doesn't mean it isn't possible or that they should be punished or tortured for being "evil". For many taoists, addressing problems early before they blow-up all out of proportion is critical.

As for why the world is less than "perfect" if it was created by a perfect God, that's a nonissue for me. Such ideas of perfection are entirely cultural and artificial as far as I am concerned, and are often the source of a great deal of suffering. Existence is a gift with no strings attached as far as I am concerned and it doesn't pay to look a gift horse too closely in the mouth. Instead, it pays a great deal more to focus on expressing gratitude, nurturing and caring for the gift, and just plain enjoying it as best I can.