[Bekah]

I'd ask, only I'm not sure whether people will let me.

I have this to make clear before I write - I believe that evil is corrupted good, as a few other people have said already. Not to mention Lewis, that wonderful theologian.

Which means if you aren't stubborn and know when you are wrong, you can't be evil.

This is a contradiction in terms, at least if I understand correctly what you actually mean by this.

If you aren't stubborn, and know when you are wrong, you are not in the wrong, or evil. That is correct. It is correct simply because to not be stubborn and to know your wrong-doing is to repent. To repent literally means 'to turn around'. To turn and face God the Almighty. Which means that you are again facing the original good.

(I'm taking the liberty of not ignoring God in my posts in this thread, as I usually do in order to stay in BD - if I was kicked out and not allowed in here again, what good would I do? It cannot be talked about from an atheist or a polytheist point of view, since we would have no basis for our morals.)

But if I am correct, what you meant (I could be very wrong here, so please forgive me if I am) is that to not be stubborn or ignorant is to not be evil, without turning around. (Which obviously doesn't make sense.)

No, on second thoughts I am probably wrong here. It doesn't make sense - you can't have meant this by your statement.

Is evil caused by stubborness or ignorance?

Evil is caused by blindness to the awesome goodness of the Light. It is caused by the rejection of pure and full life. It is caused by the defiance of God when he said that there was only One Way.

I do not believe, though others may disagree with me, that evil is ignorance. A wrong action may be taken if one takes one's eyes off God (as I, unfortunately, often do) - and as long as it is without perverted intent - maliciousness, anger, lust, the list goes on - it is not wrong. However, stubborn ignorance - the refusal to believe that their action was wrong - is 'evil'. Sooner or later the ignorant person will realize that they have done an unworthy - for lack of a better word - action. This is the climax. He - let him be called Fred - can either repent, or carry on, refusing to believe that it is wrong. The latter choice is corrupted and evil.

Stubborness is born out of pride. Guess why the archangel Lucifer descended to a place of his own invention. (Lucifer is commonly known as Satan, the Devil, Old Nick, or Beezelbub. There are probably many other names for him, but I'm sure you understand who I'm referring to. His place is often called Hell.)

But not fully good. At the end he [Frodo] put on the Ring, and tried to face down the Dark Lord. At the end he gave in. Is he still good? Yes. He was more "good" than "bad." But a fully "good" person would not have given in.

Mankind - and here I'm going to include hobbits - was born with the tempter within us. He - Satan - tempted Eve, telling her that to eat the fruit of the centre tree would give her the knowledge of good and evil. In other words, she would become God-like.

Ever since she succumbed to her desire for power over innocence and unity with God, her sons and daughters have been plagued by this evil one. Even Jesus was plagued by him.

I believe righteousness consists of the direction you are facing - towards God or away from Him - rather than the regretted actions made at times when one is facing the wrong direction for a spell.

So he is still 'good'. He made a bad choice, but he regretted it.

The only 'fully good' person on earth had no mortal father. He was the Son of God, the Messiah. He was Jesus of Nazareth, and he was Jesus the Christ.

He was Teacher and Lord, and he gave his life so that the sinners of the past and the sinners of the present and the sinners of the future could be reconciled with God. And He died the most painful death invented by human beings - crucifixion. He was abandoned by God for three days so that we might never be abandoned by Him. This is, quite simply, Hell. Hell is to be without God. No physical tortues, simply to be without God.

Perhaps I have gotten a little off-topic?

"Absolute Power corrupts absolutely."

And the Ring was power.

The good guys were the ones who loved goodness and honour and beauty - all that is good, and all that is perfect, and all that is wonderful.

Did you ever realize that both Gollum and Sauron ended up mere wraiths, obsessed and eaten up by their lust for the Ring? Money and power do the same thing...

~ Elentari II