Knowing right from wrong is supposed to be easy, but sometimes, it isn’t. The difference between evil and good can be confusing because so-called good people can do a lot of bad things, but you have your conscience to help. Learn how to tell the difference between good and bad and why so-called bad people can still do good things.
Good, bad, right, wrong, what’s the difference? When you are trying to decide right from wrong, a lot of people will give you advice. Unfortunately, some of the very same people urging you to accept their definitions of right and wrong don’t always seem to do the right thing. So, if you can’t get answers from other people, who can tell you what is right and wrong? Believe it or not, you can.
What is Good?
“I’m a good person, but with many defects.”
This quote by Enrique Iglesias is perhaps one of the most honest good vs evil quotes. Good is not a state of being we are in permanently and unable to stray from. It is a series of choices we make every moment and every day. Merriam Webster Dictionary online says “something conforming to the moral order of the universe” and “ virtuous, right, commendable” in their section defining good. Good is considered beneficial, causing no harm, and making things easier, enjoyable, and helpful for those involved. Good is a desirable thing, that creates wellbeing, peace, and alleviates suffering or prevents it.
Other good things are truth and understanding. Knowing the way things really are is good because it makes us aware of what we are dealing with. In this way, the complete truth can be good even if it is upsetting. Things that support health are good. Food that does not taste great but supports health is considered good. Justice and fairness as well as equal opportunity are considered good things. Things like love, happiness, kindness, charity, and gratefulness create beneficial situations and a sense of emotional wellbeing. Good things in general are defined as things that create wellbeing, support life and healing, build relationships, and create all beneficial experiences. Good is also considered to be things that prevent all bad things. Aquarians are justice seekers.
What is Evil?
“No man chooses evil because it is evil; he only mistakes it for happiness. The good he seeks.”- Mary Shelley
Bad or evil is the opposite of anything good. Different groups of people define evil differently. Some faiths believe in an evil deity or spirit that created all bad things on earth and others believe the potential for good and bad resides in all of us. Christianity sees evil as anything that comes between human beings and their god. In the Baha’i faith, evil is just a lack of good the same way darkness is an absence of light. A scorpion is seen as evil to a human it stings, but the scorpion itself is not an evil creature, for example. In Islam, causing harm, or disobeying Allah is seen as bad. In Judaism, it is believed human beings have free will and can thus choose to do good things as opposed to bad things. But what is bad?
Besides being the opposite of good, bad things cause harm either to yourself or to others. Stealing, being abusive, taking advantage of people, neglecting your pet, or overdoing your workout because you are mad you ate candy all cause painful experiences and these are bad things. Bad things create pain, suffering, or create conflicts or divisions between us or other people. Self-loathing is also bad because it makes you hurt emotionally and compromises your relationship with yourself. Saying things to deliberately cause jealousy, confusion, or hurt feelings is also bad. Bad and evil creates negative experiences, and many believe these things can easily be avoided by making decisions to do good things instead. Virgo believes very strongly in personal accountability.
Can Bad People Do Good Things?
“There is no such thing as bad people. We’re all just people who sometimes do bad things.”- Colleen Hoover
Some people don’t believe that we are inherently good or evil, but we make choices and can do either good or bad things all the time. What about people who seem to always make bad decisions? Are they capable of good? Everyone is. One man was a notorious drug dealer, who was also a violent offender. No matter how many times he went to prison and was released, he continued committing crimes that hurt people. He also rescued two dogs and gave them a wonderful life and lived with his grandmother as she aged and helped her a lot. So, was he a good or bad person? If you asked the people he attacked, they might say he was a bad person. If you asked his grandmother or his dogs, they might say he was a good person. Some people believe there are some deeds that are so bad that, once committing them, we can never redeem ourselves or be considered a good person again. What do you think? Can people do both good and bad things, or are we all bad or all good? The First House of Astrology is the House of the Self.
What is the Greatest Evil?
Some people believe in a malevolent celestial creature that is responsible for all the bad things in the world. Ancient Egyptian beliefs said a creature called Apep sought to destroy the Sun god and keeper of order Ra. Apep sought to create disorder and destruction and embodied evil. In Christianity, Satan opposes their god and wages war against him, trapping human beings in the middle. Satan is the embodiment of evil to them. In ancient Norse religion, a race of beings called Frost Giants, joined by creatures like a giant wolf and a great serpent would wage war against the Aesir gods and are an embodiment of the forces of evil. Other people believe that a Creator made all things, and thus, nothing is completely evil.
What is the Highest Good?
Many religious people believe their god is the greatest force of good in the universe. Many believe their god created everything, and intended for every living being to be happy, loved, and suffer minimally, if at all. Some of those religious people believe that a little piece of the spirit of their creator god exists inside every living organism, and that is the part of ourselves that tells us what is just, right, and good. Other people believe that human beings are not fully capable of judging good from evil. They believe that a good relationship with their god is necessary to know the difference between good and bad and only regular spiritual communication with their god can tell them what is right. Then again, some people don’t believe any gods exist at all, and they say the highest good is being kind, fair, and treating everybody well. What do you believe is the highest good?
How Much Do My Feelings Matter?
Some people believe that good things are only for other people, but that’s not fair. Nobody’s feelings are more are less important than anybody else’s. People who urge you to be completely selfless, shunning your own needs to support what they want are trying to get you to make a bad decision. If it hurts you and does not benefit anything but someone else’s selfishness, it’s not virtuous to do as they wish, even if they say it is a good thing to do. On the other hand, doing things that hurt other people to do what you want isn’t good either. To truly do good, balancing what feels good to you with what feels good to other people is necessary. To answer how much your feelings matter- they matter just as much as everybody else’s. Pisces are perhaps the most selfless Zodiac Sign.
How to Choose to Do Good
“The power of choosing good and evil is within the reach of all.”- Origen
Sometimes a decision is confusing. What would be best? If your instincts don’t immediately tell you what the best thing to do is, you can ask yourself a few questions. What decision causes harm, and which is helpful? What are the desirable and undesirable consequences of both possibilities? Will this even be important enough to even worry about or is it forgettable?
Trust Your Gut
Some people believe we have something called a conscience that lets us know what is right and wrong, but other people say our instincts do- and maybe that’s the same thing. Even if you are not an Empath, you can tell how it would feel if something happened to you, and a lot of people refuse to make decisions that cause harm to other people. Your instincts or conscience will also tell you if something is going to create problems for yourself or other people. Your instincts can be trusted to let you know if something is a good or bad decision or not.
Will it Cause Harm?
If something is going to cause harm, it’s not considered a good thing to do. However, what kind of harm will it cause? Often if something causes harm, people decide it is a bad decision, and they won’t do it. However, some decisions cause harm no matter what. If you told your mother you decided to marry someone she did not approve of, what if your mother didn’t want you to tell anybody else saying it would upset the family…what is good and what is bad? Do you decide to keep your marriage secret, hurting yourself and your spouse, or ruffle some feathers in your family? What causes more good and more bad? What do you think? Leos will not stand for being a hidden lover.
Is it Helpful?
Sometimes, decisions don’t help anybody, and these are considered bad decisions. If you are asked to give your cousin who refuses to work, and who stays drunk, a free place to live at your house with your husband and newborn child, is that going to help anybody? What if this cousin said they will go into rehab if they don’t get a free place to live, and you believe they can’t be trusted? It will make the person asking you to move your cousin in with you happy, but it won’t help your child, spouse, cousin, or yourself. So you can tell that it’s a bad decision even though somebody says it is helpful.
What Will the Consequences Be?
An easy way to decide what is right and wrong is what the positive and negative consequences of a decision will be. If beneficial outcomes will result, it is usually accepted that it is a good decision. If it causes suffering or problems, it is usually accepted that it is a bad decision. There are consequences for all the decisions we make. Think of the outcome you want and make the decision that will provide that. If making a choice makes you anxious, maybe crystals can help.
Will I Remember This?
To be fair, some small matters don’t need to be stressed over. If you feel guilty because you want to nap a little longer, in the grand scheme of things, it really won’t matter whether you do or not. If, however, you make a decision you are proud of, years down the road, you will be very glad you chose what you did. If you are trying to decide what is good, think about what course of action will be remembered as compassionate, fair, and what you want people to remember you for. Taurus never forgets a kind deed.
There are people who believe we are either all good or all bad, and we are born that way, but there are very few people who think this. Most people believe we have something called free will, or the power to do good or bad things and we decide which to do every day. Good deeds create beneficial, desirable outcomes. Bad decisions create suffering, misfortune, and chaos, and some people call these things evil. It can be difficult to decide what it takes to do good deeds sometimes, but we have the ability to ask ourselves some simple questions to help us choose what is good. Balancing what is good for ourselves with what is good for other people is an easy way to choose the right thing. You have the power to do great good or devastating harm every day. Only you can decide which to do.
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