Word: evil
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Gnostic cosmologies would overturn biblical traditions. The God of the Old Testament became evil incarnate. For if Satan could tempt Jesus with earthly power and riches, did that not mean that the world was Satan's to give? In time, Jesus would be the spirit of the serpent in the Garden of Eden, giving Adam and Eve a chance to escape from their dastardly creator with a taste of the fruit of the tree of knowledge...
...letter concludes "that it takes a special attraction to the evasion of moral responsibility toward one's fellow human beings...to declare there's a statute of limitations on acts of extraordinary evil, whether or not they were committed by one's ancestors." While I wrote of the desirability of the forgiveness of sins (a spiritual matter), I concur that there should be no legal statute of limitations for the individual perpetrators of such evil deeds (a worldly matter), and that history should always recognize past evil acts for what they are. I reiterate my position that one bears...
With this responsibility in mind, we felt that it was important to participate in the creation of this statement against terrorism, to recognize and condemn injustice and to cooperate with other campus organizations in an open-minded attempt to raise awareness of the injustice and evil of terrorism. The Harvard Islamic Society does not hesitate for a moment in adding its voice to the chorus of voices that condemn terrorism. Moreover, our condemnation represents a firm belief that since all violence against innocent human beings is wrong, certain violent acts cannot be selectively condemned, while others are ignored...
Almost any definition of evil stipulates that crimes against children are uniquely satanic. The 20th century has also learned to recognize evil in the violent eruptions of nonentities: an absolutely insignificant man bursts out of the rented room into sudden, violent, gaudy, world prominence. Tiny cause, titanic effect--this is the social equivalent of splitting the atom. When Nonentity massacres Innocence, an especially horrible fission occurs...
Carter tries to extricate himself from the swamps of moral relativism by postulating that some ideas are, after all, just plain evil, and as examples of such genuine, integrity-destroying evil, he offers racism and genocide. Thus the Nazi operative couldn't be a man of integrity, no matter how much "discerning" he engages in, because genocide is just, well, over the top. But evil, in Integrity, seems a pretty makeshift deus ex machina. If, for example, racism is such a self-evident no-no, then why not sexism--including any attempt to restrict women's reproductive choices...