I am tired of hearing people say "Duhhh,Money is the root of all evil", it is bull shit.money didn't creat it's self,people made money which makes people the root of all "evil".And if you believe in a god then YOU believe god created People which makes the hermaphrodite upstairs the root of all evil.Hahahaha just thought i would point out that if god exhists then god is a hermaphrodite, if god truly made us in his/her image that is.What the fuck?
Root of all evil?
- Thread starter Thomas
- Start date
People are the root of all evil, money(or the concept atleast) and religions sheep herding are merely catalysts, but it's not exactly a news flash..
Even though I'm a Christian I'd have to say that religion is the root of all evil. Observe these documentaries of the same title.
Note: Dial up is going to take you a very, very, very long time.
http://www.edworx.co.uk/The-Root-Of-All-Evil-Part-1.zip
http://www.edworx.co.uk/The-Root-of-All-Evil-Episode-2.zip
Enjoy. It almost turned me into an atheist (certainly points out how weak my faith is at times).
Note: Dial up is going to take you a very, very, very long time.
http://www.edworx.co.uk/The-Root-Of-All-Evil-Part-1.zip
http://www.edworx.co.uk/The-Root-of-All-Evil-Episode-2.zip
Enjoy. It almost turned me into an atheist (certainly points out how weak my faith is at times).
Well I don't think evil exists in the religious sense of the word, but you could say that people are the root of all 'evil. Although that would suggest that to have 'evil' you first need people, which is silly. Therefor people would not be the root of all evil, but this alledged 'God'.
Although don't be so ignorant to assume that religious ideologies don't often bring this out in abundance, and make the problem of 'evil' in people worse. Having 'God' on your side gives the group mentallity a huge ego and leads to all sorts of problems.
Although don't be so ignorant to assume that religious ideologies don't often bring this out in abundance, and make the problem of 'evil' in people worse. Having 'God' on your side gives the group mentallity a huge ego and leads to all sorts of problems.
Samcdkey:
Yet could good come from no-desire?
Yet could good come from no-desire?
Prince_James said:
No-desire is not possible. That is why we have morality.
Morality is the essence of self-control. Self-control means regulation of desire, the ability to consider the wishes of others before your own, the ability to distinguish between what is right for yourself and for all, and to make hard choices when self gets in the way of all.
And morality, in India is an result of spiritual growth. A man must know himself before he can know others. Spirituality can be based on any philosophy, though most Indians do not distinguish spirituality from religious philosophy. Religion is the way to know yourself through God, to learn what the ideal is and to try to achieve it in daily life. A man who can capture his self and lose all desire is said to have achieved Nirvana or fulfilment.
Buddhism which is an atheistic philosophy, is based on attainment of Nirvana
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nirvana
Most Indians, however, accept the presence of God (Brahman), as a consciousness beyond human understanding. Similar to the concept of God in Islam, Brahman is pure knowledge, an infinite being, an infinite bliss, an infinite consciousness. But because we are trapped in the illusion of our desires (Maya), we are unable to capture the essence of Brahman and we convert it to a more recognisable concept of Ishvar (a god). We give shape and qualities to God to bring him within the scope of our comprehension. Since human beings are always in the grip of Maya, and are limited by our ignorance, our material, observable world and our bodies in understanding the Brahman, this results in weaknesses which are expressed as emotions. A lack of control over our weaknesses, in addition to the fascination with Maya, moves us further away from Brahman and results in evil.
Buddhism which is an atheistic philosophy, is based on attainment of Nirvana
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nirvana
Most Indians, however, accept the presence of God (Brahman), as a consciousness beyond human understanding. Similar to the concept of God in Islam, Brahman is pure knowledge, an infinite being, an infinite bliss, an infinite consciousness. But because we are trapped in the illusion of our desires (Maya), we are unable to capture the essence of Brahman and we convert it to a more recognisable concept of Ishvar (a god). We give shape and qualities to God to bring him within the scope of our comprehension. Since human beings are always in the grip of Maya, and are limited by our ignorance, our material, observable world and our bodies in understanding the Brahman, this results in weaknesses which are expressed as emotions. A lack of control over our weaknesses, in addition to the fascination with Maya, moves us further away from Brahman and results in evil.
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Money as 'the root of all evil' is a misunderstanding of 1 Peter 6 verse 10
A reasonable translation is 'For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil' (NIV). Note that it is loving money not money itself and it is also 'a root of all kinds of evil' not 'the root of all evil'.
The Message version below should make it clearer still. Note that this is addressed to christians and refers specifically to those leaders who wanted wealth from their position (parallels with certain modern day 'evengelists' here).
I Timothy 6
The Lust for Money
2-5These are the things I want you to teach and preach. If you have leaders there who teach otherwise, who refuse the solid words of our Master Jesus and this godly instruction, tag them for what they are: ignorant windbags who infect the air with germs of envy, controversy, bad-mouthing, suspicious rumors. Eventually there's an epidemic of backstabbing, and truth is but a distant memory. They think religion is a way to make a fast buck.
6-8A devout life does bring wealth, but it's the rich simplicity of being yourself before God. Since we entered the world penniless and will leave it penniless, if we have bread on the table and shoes on our feet, that's enough.
9-10But if it's only money these leaders are after, they'll self-destruct in no time. Lust for money brings trouble and nothing but trouble. Going down that path, some lose their footing in the faith completely and live to regret it bitterly ever after.
Note again 'lust for money' brings trouble. Can anyone honestly disagree with this?
There were many rich godly people in the Old Testament, (the Patriarchs for instance and obviously the good kings as well as the bad ones) but the Old Testament is clear that it is not money itself but the making of it into a god, by pursuing personal wealth as a primary aim.
Ecclesiastes 5 says this (Message Version again)
10 The one who loves money is never satisfied with money,
Nor the one who loves wealth with big profits. More smoke.
11 The more loot you get, the more looters show up.
And what fun is that—to be robbed in broad daylight?
12 Hard and honest work earns a good night's sleep,
Whether supper is beans or steak.
But a rich man's belly gives him insomnia.
13-17 Here's a piece of bad luck I've seen happen:
A man hoards far more wealth than is good for him
And then loses it all in a bad business deal.
He fathered a child but hasn't a cent left to give him.
He arrived naked from the womb of his mother;
He'll leave in the same condition—with nothing.
This is bad luck, for sure—naked he came, naked he went.
So what was the point of working for a salary of smoke?
All for a miserable life spent in the dark?
After looking at the way things are on this earth, here's what I've decided is the best way to live: Take care of yourself, have a good time, and make the most of whatever job you have for as long as God gives you life. And that's about it. That's the human lot. Yes, we should make the most of what God gives, both the bounty and the capacity to enjoy it, accepting what's given and delighting in the work. It's God's gift! God deals out joy in the present, the now. It's useless to brood over how long we might live.
Words as true in 2006 as three thousand years ago!
Jesus repeats the same message in Matthew 6 (Message Version)
A Life of God-Worship
19-21"Don't hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse!—stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it's safe from moth and rust and burglars. It's obvious, isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.
22-23"Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar. If you pull the blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have!
24"You can't worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you'll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other. You can't worship God and Money both.
25-26"If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don't fuss about what's on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.
27-29"Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.
30-33"If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
34"Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.
In Matthew 19 Jesus is engaged in conversation by a rich man,
Matthew 19 (Message Version yet again!)
16Another day, a man stopped Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?"
17Jesus said, "Why do you question me about what's good? God is the One who is good. If you want to enter the life of God, just do what he tells you."
18-19The man asked, "What in particular?"
Jesus said, "Don't murder, don't commit adultery, don't steal, don't lie, honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as you do yourself."
20The young man said, "I've done all that. What's left?"
21"If you want to give it all you've got," Jesus replied, "go sell your possessions; give everything to the poor. All your wealth will then be in heaven. Then come follow me."
22That was the last thing the young man expected to hear. And so, crest-fallen, he walked away. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and he couldn't bear to let go.
Note that the man was a hypocrite since there was no way he had actually carried out all the commandments correctly (no more than anyone else), but also he wanted to hold on to all his money. He loved his wealth and Jesus knew this. Jesus again makes clear that there's a choice between pursuing a a good spiritual life where the love of God and people drives you to work for other people or you can pursue a life selfishly focused on personal material gain. They are mutually exclusive. The latter course of action is a source of all kinds of trouble both for yourself and others and that's not a bad definition of 'evil'.
kind regards,
Gordon.
A reasonable translation is 'For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil' (NIV). Note that it is loving money not money itself and it is also 'a root of all kinds of evil' not 'the root of all evil'.
The Message version below should make it clearer still. Note that this is addressed to christians and refers specifically to those leaders who wanted wealth from their position (parallels with certain modern day 'evengelists' here).
I Timothy 6
The Lust for Money
2-5These are the things I want you to teach and preach. If you have leaders there who teach otherwise, who refuse the solid words of our Master Jesus and this godly instruction, tag them for what they are: ignorant windbags who infect the air with germs of envy, controversy, bad-mouthing, suspicious rumors. Eventually there's an epidemic of backstabbing, and truth is but a distant memory. They think religion is a way to make a fast buck.
6-8A devout life does bring wealth, but it's the rich simplicity of being yourself before God. Since we entered the world penniless and will leave it penniless, if we have bread on the table and shoes on our feet, that's enough.
9-10But if it's only money these leaders are after, they'll self-destruct in no time. Lust for money brings trouble and nothing but trouble. Going down that path, some lose their footing in the faith completely and live to regret it bitterly ever after.
Note again 'lust for money' brings trouble. Can anyone honestly disagree with this?
There were many rich godly people in the Old Testament, (the Patriarchs for instance and obviously the good kings as well as the bad ones) but the Old Testament is clear that it is not money itself but the making of it into a god, by pursuing personal wealth as a primary aim.
Ecclesiastes 5 says this (Message Version again)
10 The one who loves money is never satisfied with money,
Nor the one who loves wealth with big profits. More smoke.
11 The more loot you get, the more looters show up.
And what fun is that—to be robbed in broad daylight?
12 Hard and honest work earns a good night's sleep,
Whether supper is beans or steak.
But a rich man's belly gives him insomnia.
13-17 Here's a piece of bad luck I've seen happen:
A man hoards far more wealth than is good for him
And then loses it all in a bad business deal.
He fathered a child but hasn't a cent left to give him.
He arrived naked from the womb of his mother;
He'll leave in the same condition—with nothing.
This is bad luck, for sure—naked he came, naked he went.
So what was the point of working for a salary of smoke?
All for a miserable life spent in the dark?
After looking at the way things are on this earth, here's what I've decided is the best way to live: Take care of yourself, have a good time, and make the most of whatever job you have for as long as God gives you life. And that's about it. That's the human lot. Yes, we should make the most of what God gives, both the bounty and the capacity to enjoy it, accepting what's given and delighting in the work. It's God's gift! God deals out joy in the present, the now. It's useless to brood over how long we might live.
Words as true in 2006 as three thousand years ago!
Jesus repeats the same message in Matthew 6 (Message Version)
A Life of God-Worship
19-21"Don't hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse!—stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it's safe from moth and rust and burglars. It's obvious, isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.
22-23"Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar. If you pull the blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have!
24"You can't worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you'll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other. You can't worship God and Money both.
25-26"If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don't fuss about what's on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.
27-29"Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.
30-33"If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
34"Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.
In Matthew 19 Jesus is engaged in conversation by a rich man,
Matthew 19 (Message Version yet again!)
16Another day, a man stopped Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?"
17Jesus said, "Why do you question me about what's good? God is the One who is good. If you want to enter the life of God, just do what he tells you."
18-19The man asked, "What in particular?"
Jesus said, "Don't murder, don't commit adultery, don't steal, don't lie, honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as you do yourself."
20The young man said, "I've done all that. What's left?"
21"If you want to give it all you've got," Jesus replied, "go sell your possessions; give everything to the poor. All your wealth will then be in heaven. Then come follow me."
22That was the last thing the young man expected to hear. And so, crest-fallen, he walked away. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and he couldn't bear to let go.
Note that the man was a hypocrite since there was no way he had actually carried out all the commandments correctly (no more than anyone else), but also he wanted to hold on to all his money. He loved his wealth and Jesus knew this. Jesus again makes clear that there's a choice between pursuing a a good spiritual life where the love of God and people drives you to work for other people or you can pursue a life selfishly focused on personal material gain. They are mutually exclusive. The latter course of action is a source of all kinds of trouble both for yourself and others and that's not a bad definition of 'evil'.
kind regards,
Gordon.
No, but without God telling atheists what controls there are on sex, or what land he has promised to his chosen people or 'power' from organised religion, there is less repression and conflict.
Look at what America and the Middle East are getting up to. Are we seriously to believe that countries like Sweden with 80% atheism and a secular democracy would get up to similar nonsense that can be seen in large groups of religious fundamentalists?
There is no such thing as evil. Morality is subjective.
Even if it were not, people aren't evil, they're just stupid. Money, thuswise, is just not evil either. However, money, being an inanimate object, cannot be judged of having a relative low or high intelligence because it never had any in the first place. Money is good. It enables me to get stuff, and I like stuff.
Even if it were not, people aren't evil, they're just stupid. Money, thuswise, is just not evil either. However, money, being an inanimate object, cannot be judged of having a relative low or high intelligence because it never had any in the first place. Money is good. It enables me to get stuff, and I like stuff.
Thomas said:
I will give you the actual Bible Quote
1 Timothy 6:10
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
So it is the LOVE of money that is the root of all KINDS of evil.
greediness has lead to much suffering in this world, No it is not the root of all evil but greed for money is the root of all kinds of evils. Corruption, exploitation, theft, fraud ect. The list goes on.
Whole nations are sold into debt slavery by corrupt leaders, because of the greed of world banks demand for interest payments, Children go hungry in nations that export food to rich countries because of the greed of men.
All Praise The Ancient Of Days