Is it EVIL to wish the death of someone?

[Christopherb36]

I often wish death (using my inside my head voice) on people. Who knows, I may be thinking it now.

 

[Ramindra]

In a word?

Yes!

I have read the post in question and totally share your sentiments. The poster's comments are disgusting and demand condemnation.

Asians tend to believe in the old maxim, "Be careful what you wish for" because as sure as day turns into night, your wish will come back to bite you.

 

[Christopherb36]

If you are Christian, it probably is a sin...but what isn't a sin?

 

[Rand]

If we are to believe that we are the sum of our actions and our thoughts, then an evil thought diminishes us as does an evil deed. There might be support for the "degree" of impact: an evil thought hurts x amount while acting upon that thought and doing an evil deed 3x amount.

To be a complete adult, we should have control over our thoughts as well as our actions as well as our emotions. It is unfortunate that we are a world of children.

 

[slobone]

Not if it's Rush Limbaugh....

 

[Rali_hates_Mondays]

I have never really wished death upon anyone. Sometimes it depends on the situtation and for what reasons you wish death for. For example helping a loved one, suffering from a terminal painful illness, can spare them unnecessary pain but legally it is regarded as murder.

I sense a debate about euthanasia.

 

[Lube]

As adults we certainly try to control our emotions, but we wouldn't be human if we could, totally.

I guess wishing someone is dead is a normal emotion; it's not to be encouraged, of course, but it usually dissipates quickly enough.

The problem is when it turns into a lifelong vendetta, especially against someone you know.

 

[pausanias_usa]

If anyone is having such evil thoughts, let me slip you a list of politicians!

 

[josefjosef]

why wish for what will eventually arrive; be busy with yourself and pay no attention to other irritants.

 

[Rali_hates_Mondays]

Wishing for someone to die is immoral- however I can understand if that person really antagonized you- (think of Phelps protesting at funerals). However there is a big difference between acting on their desires and just thinking of their desires. For example I'm sure there are married str8 men who we wished to have to spent one passionate night with. That is not so immoral... well maybe a tiny bit naughty. But having sex with him when he is married with a wife and 3 kids- well it gets worse.

 

[cityboy-stl]

Is it evil to wish anything? Or is the evil in the act of making it happen? Wishing death would come to a terminally ill and in pain person I do not think is evil. However euthanasia could be considered evil by some and is a question still open to debate. On the other hand, every time they show a picture of Osama bin Laden on the news I do think to myself "Why can't we kill that son a bitch!"

 

[sunshinesteve]

HELLO!!!!
Wish nothing but good for all.
We have been given the beautiful pleasure to WISH, waste not on evil what you have been given or loose your power forever.
Imagine not being able to wish for your own good.

 

[Rand]

It's amazing how many folks are replying without reading the referenced Steve Irwin post.

Thanks again.

I actually went and read the Steve Irwin post prior to posting in yours. I saw the rudeness and the hatred written in there. It is sad that these people diminish themselves in such a way.

It is worse that I have too; I have wished revenge or punishment or pain or death upon some. It is almost a society driven thought process; encouraged by movies, literature, music; but that does not excuse it or me.

 

[CountryJohn]

Re: Is it EVIL to wish the death of someone? Or even immoral?

Bottom line, I would think so.

 

[Rand]

We share a common lot, Rand, although your language suggests you are more Eastern in your perspective.

I don't think it is really due to society much more than our inner being.

At the core of it all, I imagine malice and murder are rooted in an animal instinct to conquer and survive.

So the competitive nature of our schools and sports and such have not influence on the way we think about an opponent or even another. Is everyone a possible opponent and therefore someone he want at a disadvantage? Is it not the competitive nature that causes us to say: "It is not enough for me to win, but others must lose."

As a philosophical human, I believe we are constantly at war with our animal side, not simply returning to it, but working to tame it.

In my read, naturalism is violence, originally necessary for survival, now just an expression of power.

BTW, if I'm staring at your abs, don't think I'm not focused on the discussion.

We have taken it beyond the animal; the human side is far worse than the animal. As you have pointed out, the animal does not commit intentional cruelty or inflict torture. The animal does not wish harm upon another just because of his/her attitude or clothing or such.

Sorry to disappoint, but not my abs, mine have more hair

 

[WRITERPAUL]

I've been wishing death on Jerry Falwell for some time now, but it hasn't happened yet <sigh>

 

[KennyD]

I believe in Karma .. So whatever you send out into the eathers ; you too will receive back tenfold ...
I believe that if you do, think, or say GOOD .. it shall come back to you tenfold ... If you do, say, or think BAD/EVIL .. it too, shall come back to you tenfold .
So; be careful for what you wish for .. YOU just might get it !

 

[Rali_hates_Mondays]

I've just noticed something about my second post. I put in Phelps, whose acolytes have protested at American soldiers' funerals, saying that they deserved to die for doing what they did. And then I looked at the thread about Steve Irwin and someone said pretty much the same thing! Spooky....

 

[Swellegant]

I'm having a hard time framing this idea in the terms of moral/immoral or good/evil. To me, wishing someone dead is unhealthy and a stupid waste of mental energy, but I wouldn't ordinarily think of it in terms of morality or ethics, because it is thought rather than action... and in action lies the test.

But I think that in a larger sense, it is immoral to wish others ill. I think anything that seeks to harm another, even if it's just an idea, is immoral... and if it comes out to play and results in murder, it is evil. All immorality is potentially evil, I guess, so on the same token, all immoral/evil thought is potential immoral/evil action. Though the potential is not immoral/evil itself, it is an ingredient that is better expunged before it comes into contact with the other ingredients. Like getting rid of the gun before you are inspired to use it.

In the Steve Irwin thread, a number of rather callous views on this man's death were expressed, and I think this is where the immorality of thought starts creeping out into the evil of actions: someone who feels on a verbal level (the first step from thought to action) that a person's life is worth less because he does something with which you do not agree, or merely find annoying, has set his foot on the path to believing that doing evil is sometimes justifiable... which can in some cases result in the evil actions of depriving people of life based on one's own personal beliefs.

Believing that some people's lives are worth more or less than other people's lives is the beginning of evil, is what I'm saying here.

When we bring up the question of evil and/or immoral people, I do not wish them death, or even pain: I wish them enlightenment. It's really more to the point, isn't it? Wishing the murder or torture of such people puts you on their level, and so we all end up in the same moral quagmire of believing ourselves better than someone else, believing our desires more important that someone else's.

And touching briefly on the topic of euthanasia that was brought up earlier, the difference between euthanasia and murder is the difference between extracting a painful tooth in a dentist's office and knocking someone's tooth out in a barroom brawl. It's a matter of consent that separates a crime from an act of love.

 

[Yuki Sohma]

Is it evil to wish the death of someone?

I say that "the thought of wishing something bad (such as death) to happen to another is not a good act............"

------------so----------------

Defining "evil as the lack of good" qualifies the act of wishing death upon another as a potentially evil thought..................."


May I add that --

Life must be valued above all else. I truly believe that life is so valuable, we should endeavour avoiding anything that may, within usual parameters and to a certain point, hasten death----including wishing the end of life...........

Although we may often considered one's death as tragic.....death unto itself is not tragic but a natural process of life.............