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AIBU?

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Original poster

Do you believe evil exists?

195 replies

MariaAngustias · 17/01/2021 15:59

So, I am not a religious person, I am a sceptical agnostic. I never really thought about good and evil until I had the experience of meeting someone who emanated... well evil. It seems a bit embarrassing to say it but that is the only way I can describe it.

I was working for the NHS in a very run down area, a lot of patients came from a local Bail hostel and some had done some hideous things - I treated a murder and got on with him fine, felt sorry for him actually cos of the circumstances around what happened and his utter genuine remorse, had a few paedophile patients who, whilst I knew what they did was vile, did not give me the creeps at all. I had also worked in the drug service and come across people who had done some shocking things but nothing really phased me and I saw these people as human beings who had taken a bad path in life . Then.

We had a patient come to us from the hostel and he had an appointment with me. He was an old man with a stick and looked quite pathetic and harmless but he made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end and filled me with such dread and horror. He looked at me as though he was trying to read my mind and said really creepy stuff like 'I showed children how to kill animals' and seemed to be playing with me. In the end I asked another person to come in the room with me and she said she felt it too and we both could not wait to get him out of the room. We were both so shaken and I just said 'I have met pure evil'. I still believe I did and it is the only time that has ever happened in my life.

WTF was it?

OP posts:
JovialNickname · 17/01/2021 23:56

I've seen evil too, I believe it does exist.

But if you believe in evil you have to believe in goodness too, and I think the two can coexist in this world (albeit not in the same body/space sometimes).

DramaAlpaca · 17/01/2021 23:58

Quite simply, yes.

formerbabe · 17/01/2021 23:59

I don't know but that sounds absolutely petrifying

lunalulu · 18/01/2021 00:10

Yes absolutely.

I've seen it.

The weird thing is, when it comes out in someone, it always looks the same, whoever it is in.

queenofSI · 18/01/2021 00:12

yes of course

Userzzz · 18/01/2021 00:12

Yes I believe it. I just finished watching the Night Stalker on Netflix and that man was pure evil. Killed anyone he could get his hands on in every which way. There are a lot of evil people out there.

SemperIdem · 18/01/2021 00:13

Not my story but I once read on here a poster was dog sitting for her friend and one of the dogs go loose and ran into the woods behind the house.

I’m not generally of a nervous disposition but that story made me feel so uneasy, it plays on my mind still.

GreenyApples · 18/01/2021 00:21

Psychopathy. I think you met a true psychopath.

Akire · 18/01/2021 00:23

Yes there was someone on news earlier and yes you could see evil in his face. Think had been found guilty or dead wasn’t paying much attention, just his face.

Stompythedinosaur · 18/01/2021 00:28

I don't believe in evil as in this innate quality that people just have. I used to be a forensic nurse and have worked with my share of people whove committed serious crimes, and been involved in assessing psychopathy too. Even the people who have done the most terrible things still had different elements to who they were.

I do think that some people are so damaged that they cannot be fixed.

NoOneOwnsTheRainbow · 18/01/2021 00:30

I came across one once. I was working in a call centre and I felt it down the phone. Honestly petrified me. I was shaking by the end of the call and I'm usually rock-steady. It lingered in my mind. I ended up leaving that job soon after.

DM1209 · 18/01/2021 00:36

Yes.

I see it everyday in my profession, the depravity of man kind.

I also finished watching The Night Stalker yesterday.

But with evil, there is good and light and I put more belief in this aspect.

Janonomouse · 18/01/2021 00:47

No, I dont believe evil (or good) exist, other than as labels we apply to other people's behavior.

AnaisNun · 18/01/2021 00:57

Yes. I do believe people have an “essential” nature. And some people are what we could call “evil”. I think I’ve seen it a few times - and not necessarily where you’d expect either.

Also agnostic (leaning to atheist... not sure how to square that off)

Also to the poster up thread- you’re thinking of the Savernake Forest story. Which chills me every time I read it- and in itself makes me think it must be true.

KathleenTurnerOverdrive · 18/01/2021 01:07

I don't think 'evil' exists, people and their actions are the products of a combination of their genes and their upbringing. People do good or bad things, but 'good' and 'evil' don't exist as 'forces'.

Whichname98 · 18/01/2021 01:19

Yes without a doubt. But I always like to think that good always outweighs evil.

Laurapink0 · 18/01/2021 01:20

I’m a Christian. I definitely believe evil exists but I don’t believe that any evil people beyond saving exists

Whichname98 · 18/01/2021 01:20

*didn't mean to write 'always' twice

Diddumz · 18/01/2021 01:34

Copied from my post on another thread -

I had a bad feeling about I met at a social event. Seemed pleasant enough, but I found out afterwards I he was a convicted paedophile.

I worked for a woman who was dishonest, narcissistic, devious and cruel. She was outwardly charming, but abused so many people. A psychopath, I'm sure.

I've got a cousin who is a very wicked man. He's a serial conman and thief and has destroyed so many innocent lives. He has spent most of his life in prison. The worst thing he did was to clear out his eight year old nephew's bank account.

I was friends with a woman for a while. She was very cruel. More malicious than anything.

So, yes, I have met evil people.

SkedaddIe · 18/01/2021 01:50

Evil? Yes in each and every one of us.

Pure evil? No.

On the other end of the spectrum I think small children are as close to pure good as is possible. I've always known children are innocent but being a parent and spending so much time with my own dd made me realise how perfect and unspoilt by the world she is.

There have been a few times when I've seen the negative in a situation and she's been oblivious or positive. It's really stands out because we mostly think the same and have similar personalities, but it's clear she's a kinder and nicer version of me. It was very bittersweet when I realised that.

AdultHumanFemale · 18/01/2021 01:57

Err... nope.
Fucked up people exist, not "evil".

Pyewhacket · 18/01/2021 02:16

Yes, absolutely : Shipman, The Nazi’s, Manchester bombing, Ian Brady & Myra Hindley, Venables & Thompson, Charles Manson

Dazzband · 18/01/2021 02:21

I've just finished watching the Night stalker documentary on Netflix. Really not a good at this time of the night, but my goodness he was evil, very frightening stuff.
I've just read about his childhood aswell! It's scary!

Tinkerbell456 · 18/01/2021 02:22

I think that truly evil people are rare, but do exist. Otherwise good people have been known to commit evil acts though, that are completely outside their normal character.

SkeletorAttack · 18/01/2021 02:29

I agree with PP - that the way we see 'evil' manifest is through behaviour such as cruelty, brutality, intimidation, malicious acts etc.

I do not believe people are evil, but do evil things. I do also believe that people are multifaceted (even the most cruel people can be charming or even kind in some circumstances or to certain people) and many are supremely damaged.