Date: Thu, 30 May 2002 14:03:14 -0400 (EDT)
From: Michael Straight 
Subject: Re: (urth) TBOTSS and colonialism

On Thu, 30 May 2002 matthew.malthouse@guardian.co.uk wrote:

> For example a death by smallpox is tragic in a humanist view, but not
> evil. It's just one of those chances that might happen.  It takes some
> additional input - such as the belief in a deity and a directed purpose to
> such an eventuality - to make such a death an evil.
> 
> So we (humanist or deist alike) consider murder wrong. To kill with intent
> is evil.  To cause death inadvertantly is not, however tragic.

I think the Christian way of expressing this is that death by smallpox is
evil (one of the evils unleashed by humanity's estrangement from God) and
murder is sinful.

The humanist equivalent is probably that death by smallpox is bad and
murder is evil.

Thus the confusion about the word 'evil'.

-Rostrum


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