Evil, this was a much more accepted term a couple of hundred years ago than it is now. As the human race has progressed, it just had no time for evil. All of a sudden, everyone knew that there was no such thing as evil. Oh it was talked about in the bible, but people felt that these were just illustrations meant to teach a morality lesson. But what is true and what isn't true about evil. Some people think that evil is still with us, but it is cloaked in a very sophisticated cover. They feel that evil is trying to look more like good. Indeed if we look around at different people today, some of us see them as evil. I was reading an article the other day where the author clearly denoted that some of our leaders are evil. I am not talking condemning people for doing bad things. I am talking about the anti Christ, or pure evil, the devil. These are feelings that most of us have forgotten about or just don't believe anymore.

How can we know if a person is evil. or mentally ill? That is a very tough question to answer. We could take the question a step further and ask if evil itself is a mental condition? Some think that since there is no evil, it is only an old wives tale, and anyone that seems evil has to be mentally ill. Can mentally ill people perform acts that are impossible for normal people to do? There have been some very famous exorcisms conducted where many witnesses saw things that seemed impossible on their face. Hey when people start floating into the air while attacking you viciously in several different voices, it tends to make a believer out of you. People have been thrown across rooms while conducting these things without being physically touched, but so much for exorcisms. Back to the question, how can you tell if evil exists in a person? I personally think that if they plan pain and suffering or are at least indifferent to it and/or cause death, without regard to the people that this is happening to, then you have an evil person. This definition not only applies to mass murderers, but can apply to others such as world leaders for example.

Some psychiatrists avoid the word evil. They feel that it no longer indicates the clinical, but it is more of a moral judgment. Maybe there is nothing wrong with a moral judgment, in certain cases? Some life long professionals that deal in particularly terrible crimes have become convinced that evil is among us and that the only explanation for some of these gruesome crimes had to be evil. How could Hitler sit back knowing that millions of people were being exterminated? Plans were drawn up at the highest levels of Nazi government to eliminate races of people. The mentally ill were too much of a bother, so they would kill them. Prisoners were to be worked to death and caused to turn on one another. Medical experiments were conducted that maimed and killed thousands. I don't think that there is anyone out there that believes that Hitler and his cronies were mentally ill. They were pure evil, dark sinister, murdering evil.

Today we have a lot of name calling and a lot of opinions as to who is evil. Your evil, no your evil. We hear this time and time again. I wonder if there can be two evil forces opposing each other? Traditionally everyone thinks of evil as one force and everyone that is evil is united in it. I would like to propose a different view of evil. A view that might have many different forces, each in themselves being evil, that are ar war with each other. The goal is to cause as much chaos and destruction among the human race as possible. To back up this opinion one just has to witness two terrorist groups fighting each other. I actually hate to use the term terrorist group because it depends what side you are on, when you indicate which groups are terrorists. I think we use the term too broadly. If a group is setting off bombs in public places that group is certainly terrorist by any definition. Is a group like this evil? They don't think so and sometimes quote a religious parable to substantiate their actions. How they can do this and think that they are carrying out God's work is beyond me. While individuals may truly believe that they are doing holy work, there is an evil force behind it, but they are too blinded to see it. When you are constantly indoctrinated from childhood and told bad is good and you will get heavenly rewards for murder, you begin to believe it.

What about politicians can they be evil? Some will say that they are all evil, this is ridiculous. It does seem to be true that they get tainted after they are in office for awhile, especially those in Washington. That is because of the system we allow to exist. Money flows and everybody knows! It seems that we want this or we would have done something about it. Taking this a step further, this does lead to corruption which could lead to evil. I am not saying that corruption is good, no crime is good, but you can be bad without being evil. Evil is the final step of bad. This step allows you to have no conscience, to be able to destroy people and things for your benefit or the benefit of your associates. These kind of people usually surround themselves with people that are like themselves. Look at the people that Hitler surrounded himself with. The same could be said for Joseph Stalin.

To be evil you don't have to be a Jeffrey Dahmer, but I am sure that if evil does exist, he was it. He killed at least 17 males and ate them. I think the fact that he was able to plan these murders so carefully was an indication that this was not a mental illness, but evil incarnate. When Dahmer went to trial, he told the judge that he had urges that he couldn't control. Never the less, the judge ruled that he was sane. Did this mean that the judge thought that Dahmer was evil, perhaps?

Do we come across evil in our every day lives, but is it so well hidden that we don't notice it? I guess it depends what one does for a living. People that are employed by police forces, or in the criminal justice system may see a lot of evil. People in politics may see a different type. It is easier to spot evil among criminals than among politicians. Also, the lower on the political rung one is, the less evil he may encounter. One has to wonder if there is a correlation with large sums of money and evil in politics? Both seem to come to those that move higher and higher up the political structure.

So is evil a true human condition. Psychologists will say no, but people with life experience may say yes. For what it is worth, I think that true evil does exist and that we have to be constantly on the lookout for it.