Do you believe people can be evil?

[Sunriseinwonderland]

I'm an older person. My only memory of my parents whom I have not seen for some years is of their evil. I have no happy memories of them. Their house has a dreadful atmosphere. Instant doom as soon as you walk in the front door. They have never done anything but suppress me and hate me. They never miss an opportunity to put me down. On a big birthday recently they said they had a big gift for me then sent me nothing. I should never have fallen for that. I know what they are like. I believe evil is a complete absence of love, creates an atmosphere of fear and oppression. I fled 600 miles to get away from them and still they find ways of getting at me.
I say the prayer to the Archangel Michael everyday and do my absolute best to create love in my home. I ptay regularly and I think faith was the only thing that saved me as a child. They objected strongly to my faith and refused to allow me to go to church as a teenager. It feels better living so far away but I have to be careful they don't get at me.

I'm not mentally ill by the way. I had treatment for PTSD after leaving home but have regular treatment. I have a responsible job in the public sector working with vulnerable people.

I don't beleive there is one straight answer to that, I think some people may be and no one would ever know, other people are perfectly 'normal' then something happens to trigger something and they can become evil

Some people have perfect childhoods and parents and turn put evil, others have the worse childhood in the world and turn out 'normal'

And a million things in between

Not in a religious sense, or in the sense that evil is a thing that they fundamentally are.

People do terrible things, but I think the cause for that is psychological not otherworldly. I think attributing it to 'oh well they must be evil' stops us looking for and identifying the actual cause of this behaviour. If we can better pinpoint what causes it we've more chance of stopping it/rehabilitating people so I think 'evil' is quite an unhelpful label really.

I don't think anyone is wholly evil- no. Just like none of us are totally good and light.
We are all shades of grey.
Even Hitler loved animals and was a vegetarian.

I remember reading an interview with a Broadmoor inmate in the wake of the Jamie Bulger murder. The man said that his earliest memories and actions were evil, and he had committed some terrible crimes growing up and as an adult.

He said that when he was caught and sentenced, he felt relief as he knew that he couldn’t commit any more evil acts.

So yes, based on that and other knowledge that I have learnt along the way, I do think that people can be evil. But some people, it necessarily all, have some level of insight into their actions.

I think 'evil' is a very emotive word. But it just means the opposite of good. Like @speakout, I don't view anyone as wholly evil. We are human, we are a mixture of good and bad, do good things and also make mistakes.

People do terrible things, but I think the cause for that is psychological not otherworldly. I think attributing it to 'oh well they must be evil' stops us looking for and identifying the actual cause of this behaviour. If we can better pinpoint what causes it we've more chance of stopping it/rehabilitating people so I think 'evil' is quite an unhelpful label really.

@NuffSaidSam, I don't think regarding the cause of terrible things as otherworldly' necessarily does stop us looking for and identifying psychological causes. Simply because, in the spiritual sense, what is spiritual manifests physically.

A lot of psychological rehabilitation involves therapy which accepts thought turns into actions, can cause stress which can manifest physiologically in the brain and body. It also explores the effect of environment upon people's thoughts.

Spirituality affects thoughts. Spirituality in a group of people involves culture or Zeitgeist (spirit of the people) which can have a greater affect in its momentum than the individuals involved.

Yes, but I do thankfully think true evil people are very, very rare and likely usually caused by an absence of love in their own early years and childhood leading to lack of development of empathy. But there again, evil parents can produce kind, caring, self aware children so it can't solely be down nurture.

Speaking of your parents, I'd be interested to learn more about the psychology of when two people with twisted minds meet and fall in love, like Ian Brady and Myra Hindley or Fred and Rose West; how they find each other like magnets and their evil grows into something much bigger.

At least you managed to escape and start a new life on your own terms.

Your parents are narcissistic abusers. Stop all contact even the birthday ones they use birthdays to get it.

Change phone address email just block period.

Alternatively if your research so you can recognise and observe patterns. And not get suckered into this shite.

Yes I believe some people are evil. To me, evil is hurting someone and enjoying it , because you know what you are doing to others and are consciously aware.

It sounds like you've been through the mill OP and very sensible to keep your parents at arms length. In terms of evil, it's a tough one. I believe some people are more drawn to it or influenced by it, but I'd like to hope that nobody is beyond redemption.