The Atheists will Guide

@bigdoggproblem said
Speaking as a human, I can admit that my own feelings of guilt are often made worse by the displeasure that others show to me! I should think that it is a common component of guilt.I've felt guilt merely by imaging the potential displeasure of others. Who among us hasn't done a bad thing and then realized that it's going to make someone unhappy, and felt guilty?

These are the kind of interactions/experiences that are continually updating or tweaking or examining or testing our moral compasses.

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You'd have me condemn comments I haven't read, had no interest in reading and that no longer exist?

Do you have me pegged as the Lord Almighty?

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If it helps, I don't approve of any comments from anyone which shows a flippancy toward suicide.

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I nominate you to be a Moderator.

@avalanchethecat said
The case that immediately springs to mind is that of Dennis Neilson. While his childhood was certainly not perfect, he was not subjected to conditions particularly unusual for the time. His actions later in life, however, certainly seem to have a quality that might be reasonably considered 'evil', don't you think? Apart from his deeply unsavoury (see what I did there? ...[text shortened]... demonstrate obvious insanity. Do you not think the term 'evil' could be applied to a man like this?

There are many causes for a person going 'evil', as they like to call it.
A mind can be twisted, unbalanced and snapped in all sorts of ways -- seeking revenge for an injustice; anger at society; sexual frustration; social rejection; being bullied; a chemical brain imbalance; a brain defect from genetic damage ... etc. And then we have the standard sociopaths which are quite common in positions of power and politics.
Furthermore, a researcher in an interview about 2 yrs ago found that nearly all of the mass shooters were on anti-depressant medications; but this bit of news was apparently suppressed and never heard again.

Now take any one or more of these factors and you have a potential ticking time bomb.

@bunnyknight said
There are many causes for a person going 'evil', as they like to call it.
A mind can be twisted, unbalanced and snapped in all sorts of ways -- seeking revenge for an injustice; anger at society; sexual frustration; social rejection; being bullied; a chemical brain imbalance; a brain defect from genetic damage ... etc. And then we have the standard sociopaths which ...[text shortened]... eard again.

Now take any one or more of these factors and you have a potential ticking time bomb.

Of course. As it happens, I agree with you, but for the sake of the argument; which of these causes would you think applied to Neilson? Certainly you could find countless others with similar backgrounds, none of whom felt compelled to murder and partially consume their fellow men. What in him was different? He certainly seems to embody evil, do you not think?

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The comments were made in this thread in the early hours of the morning (GMT). I joined the thread 4 or 5 hours later and did not read the (many) posts I had missed. FMF telling everyone about it in the GF did not have me come running here to read it. Why should I? On what planet is it relevant to me?

You seem to have me pegged as the moral godfather of the forums.

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Am I my brother's keeper?


Edit: And how many times? My biggest adversary is Ben Affleck.