tell GOOD & EVIL

 GOOD & EVIL

How can we define what is good and what is evil? Are there universal indicators behind, within, or consequent upon an action by which one can determine whether it was a good or an evil act? How can one tell whether a person is good or evil? The scriptures of the world's religions and famous people provide a variety of answers to these questions.


You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? So, every sound tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears evil fruit. A sound tree cannot bear evil fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will know them by their fruits.

Christianity. Matthew 7.16-20

 
Consequences are unpitying. Our deeds carry their terrible consequences, quite apart from any fluctuations that went before--consequences that are hardly ever confined to ourselves.

George Eliot

Hear and understand: not what goes into the mouth defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.... Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and so passes on? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a man.

 Christianity. Matthew 15.11-20 

By doing good we become good.  

 Jean-Jacques Rousseau

How can activity be good or wicked? That which is performed with good intention is good; and that which is performed with evil intention is wicked.... That which purifies the soul or by which the soul is purified, is merit--producing a happy feeling. That which keeps the soul away from good is demerit--producing an unhappy feeling.

Jainism. Pujyapada, Sarvarthasiddhi 6.3

An act or the result of an act is considered good when it fulfills God's purpose of creation.

unificationism, wolli kangron, principle of creation 4.3.2  
Is there a "righteous man" who is good and a righteous man who is not good? He who is good to Heaven and good to man, he is a righteous man who is good; good to Heaven but not good to man, that is a righteous man who is evil... But a wicked man who is evil to Heaven and evil to man, he is a wicked man who is evil; he who is evil to Heaven but not evil to man, that is a wicked man who is not evil.

 Judaism. Talmud, Kiddushin 40a
 
And verily We shall try you until We know those of you who really strive and are steadfast, and until We test your record.

 Islam. Qur'an 47.31 
 No creature shall be harmed for one's own sake, one's own enjoyment. All depends upon the purpose; not even a blade of grass shall be cut without a worthy purpose. What is called sin becomes a merit if it is done for a higher purpose, even as what is considered uplifting becomes a force for binding if done in disregard of the higher Truth. Rightly used, rightly directed, the very means of fall become the means for rise....
[In Tantric ritual] wine is not to be taken as wine nor flesh as flesh; nor is it permissible to partake in the ceremonies as a mere human animal ridden with greed and desire. The wine is the Shakti, the Divine Energy; flesh is the Shiva, the Divine Substance, and he who partakes is none other than Bhairava himself, the Divine Enjoyer. The bliss that arises when all these three are fused in the consciousness of the worshipper is real Release. Bliss is the intimate form of Brahman and it is there installed in each individual body; wine brings out, releases into manifestation this indwelling Bliss... and awakens the sense of godhood which unties the knots of life. To be otherwise, to do otherwise, is simply to be drunk.

 Hinduism. Kularnava Tantra 5 
The first group of passages define good and evil by their fruits. A good person or a good deed bears good fruits; and an evil person or an evil deed produces evil fruits. From the fruits, the person's heart and sincerity can be known. Among the good fruits, of special importance for their traditions are the Confucian Five Happinesses and the Christian Fruits of the Spirit.

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Second are passages which define good and evil by purpose and intention. Purpose may mean to follow an objective standard: the Dhamma or the will of God or Way of Heaven. Or, intention may be known inwardly and intuitively. Defining good and evil by purpose or intention permits one to know good or evil even when the result is not visible. But since intention is often hidden, it may have to be brought to light by testing, as in the final selections.

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