The Choice of the Topic
Good and evil are the binaries that seem to be in some form present in every person’s life. It is fascinating how diversely they could be represented and explained in different cultures. The relationship between good and evil forms the basis of moral behavior. Almost every person in one way or another comprehends the meaning of those words and associates them with certain actions, words, or situations. Society also plays a significant role in shaping the concepts of good and evil in order to maintain stability, control, and orderly behavior. For many, religion still stays the beacon that defines one’s view of these concepts. Due to the fact that most people associate themselves with one or another system of beliefs, it is paramount to study how they perceive these concepts through their religious paradigms.
The Concepts of Good and Evil and their Significance in the Context of Religions
Good and evil are the concepts that represent what is forbidden and what is favoured. Almost every child is taught what is right and what is not. These concepts changed with time and changed significantly, sometimes one becoming the other. Interestingly, the ancient religious scriptures have not changed. Nevertheless, it was the people who underwent alterations. At certain times Christians, for example, considered it a good action to kill thousands of pagans and lead bloody wars against Muslims to claim the Holy land. Nowadays it would be deemed inconceivable to the Christian community to try and reclaim it from Judaists. What was right, moral, and good in mediaeval times becomes bad now. The fundamental values, however, that are developed at the dawn of humanity, the primal unchanged knowledge of good and evil is what lies at the basis and what needs to be studied.
In the beliefs of various indigenous tribes, good and evil appear in a continuous struggle for power and dominance over a person and have the ability to influence one’s decisions. Tribal forms of society also left an imprint on their vision stating that outsiders were inherently evil until proven otherwise. In Hinduism, good and evil are significant in a manner that they influence the people’s underlying motives. Karma, being the concept that includes action and intention that leads to certain consequences, induces a view of life that leads people to care about what they do and with what intention they do it. Christianity seems to have a more rigid set of views on good and evil. For Christians, good and evil are defined in literal form and are rather explicitly stated in the ten commandments. The opposition between God and Satan, even more, underlines the strong dependence of Christianity on these concepts (Cheung, 2014). The same applies to Judaism since the religions have nearly the same origin. The belief in the Second Coming and the imminence of punishment for evil deeds seem to have significant meaning for Judaists.
In Buddhism, however, good and evil are less important and not given a central place. Buddhists believe that this duality must be conquered by unity achieved through Śūnyatā, where the understanding of them is vague and insignificant. In this life, however, good and evil must both minimize human pain (King, & King, 2013). Daoism and Confucianism also do not center their views on good and evil. However, it does not mean that they are unimportant for these religions. By teaching a person to see past these categories, Daoism seems to let him or her achieve a higher level of being. Confucianism teachings see family as one of the main sources of good and evil placing a higher value on upbringing as either a pillar of stability or chaos.
In the Shinto paradigm, the opposites are viewed as something natural yet inherently, a person is considered to be good. It defines the outlook of this religion on humans, being another creation of nature. In Zoroastrianism, the place of good and evil are not clearly defined. However, it does teach people to be decent because if they do not the punishment will follow (Fisher, 2014). Good and evil beings are represented by demons and spirits and the opposition between them.
Good and Evil in Real Life
In my life, good and evil have a significant meaning. My family does not actively practice any religion. I was taught what good and evil are through my actions and words or those of other people. When I grew older, I started to further my understanding of good and evil over the course of my life. What seemed binary earlier started to transcend the borders of good and evil. In my neighborhood, several people practice Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity. Though we never spoke about what is bad or what is good, we all think that any stressor that breaks the comfort of our neighborhood, a loud noise, for example, is considered evil to some degree. Labeling things in that manner happens instantly, automatically on a mundane level. However, reflecting on it causes a person to reassess it.
References
Cheung, V. (2014). On Good and Evil. New York, NY: Lulu Press, Inc.
Fisher, M.P. (2014) Living Religions. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
King, W. L., & King, W. L. (2013). Buddhism and Christianity: Some bridges of understanding (Vol. 8). London, UK: Routledge.