I used to believe some people were evil.
My definition of evil being that the person was totally devoid of conscience,
possessed by a desire to cause harm, and composed entirely of pure negativeness.
As time has gone by, I've gained some knowledge and understanding of people's feelings and behaviour, in general, and I have given up the above belief.
Instead, I think some people behave in ways that make them appear to fit my definition of evil, but they themselves, are not evil. There is some good in every person, even those who behave in the worst ways.
They do have good qualities but their behaviour often poses a barrier for others to see those qualities. Their childhood environment may have repressed all mention of anyone's good qualities, or a psychological defect, or illness, may override most everything else, so the person behaves immorally/evilly/consciencelessly/harmfully/negatively-- as a result, as if possessed or unable to change. The good person in there gets stifled.
A person's morals do not define what is inside the person, or define their feelings, because those morals must be learned, and the value of them must be learned, and that learning is separate from feelings. Morals are not part of us from birth. Behaving immorally is behaviour, not a genetically definable trait, as far as I know, and there is nothing concrete to be located or isolated for treatment.
People who behave in evil ways may know the difference between right and wrong but for whatever reason, they get better value out of behaving wrongly. They haven't learned the value of behaving morally correctly, or they make a choice to behave immorally due to any number of events, circumstances and/or thoughts/urges. We all have immoral thoughts and feelings sometimes, or face events, or are in some circumstance that tempts us to behave immorally. Some people choose the wrong path a lot more often than others.
To know their feelings, we would have to be inside there somehow and actually feel what they feel. That is impossible but the next best thing is to imagine and try to empathize or put ourselves in their shoes. I find it difficult to do sometimes because the behaviour is so nasty but it's doable with effort.
Without knowing the value of behaving mostly morally correctly, with an abusive environment in which to grow, or with a mental illness that is defining/confusing/upsetting their thoughts, I don't imagine that person having a whole lot of good feelings.
If their thinking is bad, they feel bad things, and they more often behave badly. They may be totally unaware that they have a problem.
If the person has been diagnosed, it is easier to imagine the turmoil.
If the person has never been labelled by a doctor, we can allow for the possibility that one could be given, which might clarify the behaviour patterns more clearly and make it easier to undertand the illness.
In the end, since thoughts greatly effect our feelings and then our behaviour, I have to admit that a person with such a background is probably behaving in evil ways due to circumstances beyond their control, or due to improper learning and surely, their thinking is messed up in very big ways. Some are definately making choices to behave badly, but they may not be able to choose otherwise, unless something drastic occurs to help them think healthier and make correct choices, such as a magic pill (haven't seen one of those around) or a brain transplant (which I would like too please when they get really good at doing those).
Habit is formed when people behave in however ways, over a period of time, and habit must be broken-- to effect a change in behaviour. I've recovered from some habits and I know how tough it was for me. It must be an immense thing to overcome habitually evil behaviour and very hard work indeed to change it. A great desire must exhist before any change will happen in our behaviour. A person must strongly want to change before a habit can be ended and must be aware that there is a problem that needs fixing.
A sick mind does not repair itself, it gets worse, without attempts being made to help make it better, and in some cases, even with those attempts. The info on N seems to indicate no known way to correct the problem. One may be found, some day, maybe. Who knows? Until then, I'm sticking with the idea that these people are ill, messed up, and/or incorrectly taught, with very sick thinking, but good people, who behave in evil ways, in varying degrees, due to any number of causes, or yet to be determined causes. It's a much longer, harder to grasp definition than my evil one but seems to me more accurate a description. To simplify it- the disease is evil, not the person, imo.
It would be a lovely thing if some cure could be found wouldn't it? Such a cure would put one more evil disease to rest and prevent so much pain for so many.
s
