Do you consider yourself good, evil, or a mix of both?

I thought defining good & evil would help me decide

Good
In most contexts, the concept of good denotes the conduct that should be preferred when posed with a choice between possible actions. Good is generally considered to be the opposite of evil.

Evil
morally wrong or bad; immoral; wicked: evil deeds; an evil life. Synonyms: nefarious, vile, base, corrupt, vicious, depraved, iniquitous, sinful.

By those definitions my self evaluation I determine I am a good person.
 

Knight said:
I thought defining good & evil would help me decide

Good
In most contexts, the concept of good denotes the conduct that should be preferred when posed with a choice between possible actions. Good is generally considered to be the opposite of evil.

Evil
morally wrong or bad; immoral; wicked: evil deeds; an evil life. Synonyms: nefarious, vile, base, corrupt, vicious, depraved, iniquitous, sinful.

By those definitions my self evaluation I determine I am a good person.
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I feel the same. I'm good and have never considered myself evil. I don't look to kill or injure other people, I don't find any pleasure in mocking the disabled or making life difficult for those who are already struggling.

I don't steal or destroy other people's property, etc. I'm more prone to feel concern for someone or some animal and try to help them, I never look to make their situation worse or take advantage of their vulnerabilities.

I'm very tolerant of others, and feel no desire to criticize or harshly judge. I will always try to avoid being victimized by some evil person, but standing up for myself or defending myself or my family/property does not make me evil. Life is good, and I'd like to not have mine endangered by an evil person. ☮️
 

Cornhusker said:
I don't think I'm either one.
The older I get the more I try to be a better person, but that's probably a selfish thing since I try to be better to make myself feel good about all the regrets in my life.
I tell myself I should be more giving, more helpful and caring, but I have a ways to go on that.
I was at my ex's aunt's funeral and a lady I'd never met before came up to me, introduced herself and said "I've heard you are very kind".
Not sure who told her that.
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In my experience the hardest thing we need to do is to forgive ourselves.

Memories of past sins, especially cruelties to others, have a way of rising up from time to time to torture us. Recovering alcoholics are encouraged to seek out people we have offended against, to confess, and if possible, to make amends. This is not easy, and many people shy away from this step on the road to recovery.

However, without confronting our own sinfulness directly we can never be free of our own guilt. All we can do is bury it deep within our psyche where it tends to fester.

By the way, simply bragging about our sins is not the way to peace of mind. Deep down we realise that we have something rotten inside that we haven't dealt with. We need contrition to begin to move forward with a cleansed conscience.
 
MACKTEXAS said:
The question reminds me of the story of "Two Wolves", from a legend of unknown origin, framed as a grandfather passing wisdom to a young listener. The elder describes a battle between two wolves within one’s self, using the battle as a metaphor for inner conflict. When the listener asks which wolf wins, the grandfather answers "whichever one you feed".
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I love that parable. I have often used it myself when teaching Sunday School. Life lessons like this one can be found in every religious tradition. Good and evil are characterised by positive and negative traits, and both are found within each of us.

Here it is in full - Two Wolves - Virtues For Life

An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy.

“It is a terrible fight, and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.” He continued, “The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”
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Unless you have some really weird secret lives none of you are evil! Evil as it is usually thought of these days is saved to describe murderers and rapists. When juries decide for capital punishment they usually look for aggravating circumstances like crimes against children or disabled people and the use of torture. So nobody here is evil evil.

Sinful? Yes, all of us. As Martin Luther said, "If we say we have no sin then the truth is not in us." Luther taught his followers to pray: "We have sinned by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart, we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves."

So no, I have not loved my neighbor as myself (you should see the giant political flag covering his garage door.) The hardest part for me is that "what we have left undone" bit. I can be very lazy. Example is my friend who is in a nursing home. I've visited her several times but not enough.

I'm not evil but I have a long way to go before I reach good.
 
To some people, I must be an 'Evil' person for what I did for 24 years of my life.
They let me know this in many ways.

Never felt I was evil, but using the common definition and using the 'Moral' part,
I can see how people would see this (and me) as 'Evil'.
 
Della said:
Unless you have some really weird secret lives none of you are evil! Evil as it is usually thought of these days is saved to describe murderers and rapists. When juries decide for capital punishment they usually look for aggravating circumstances like crimes against children or disabled people and the use of torture. So nobody here is evil evil.

Sinful? Yes, all of us. As Martin Luther said, "If we say we have no sin then the truth is not in us." Luther taught his followers to pray: "We have sinned by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart, we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves."

So no, I have not loved my neighbor as myself (you should see the giant political flag covering his garage door.) The hardest part for me is that "what we have left undone" bit. I can be very lazy. Example is my friend who is in a nursing home. I've visited her several times but not enough.

I'm not evil but I have a long way to go before I reach good.
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Good post. I like the contrast between evil and sinful.
 
The wording on this question certainly causes a lot of different answers. The opposite of good? Bad. (Wrong but not quite as much as evil is wrong.) The opposite of evil? Holy. *I am going by biblical definitions not a dictionary*

Am I evil? No. I do bad things sometimes because I am a human being with sinful flesh and am not always strong enough to overcome that. But I feel conviction and do repent.

Am I holy? I strive to be every waking hour of every single day. I want to live as Jesus gave us an example. But He was God in human form, and I am simply human in human form so I fall short a lot. :/

Am I good? No. Left to my own devices I would most likely break the Lord's commandments, hurt others intentionally, enjoy carnal things and be completely selfish. Praise God for sending the Holy Spirit to indwell me.

Am I bad? No. I have a past that I am ashamed of; where I broke the Lord's heart. I did 'bad' things. (still do occasionally) But, I am actively trying not to. Trying to live the commandments and walk with God. When I err, I repent.
 
I have intently harmed people and that was evil and I could do it again if I choose to. I try to love everything unconditionally in all aspects of my life, the good, the bad and the evil. If I fail at that, I need to get my priorities straight by loving more than before.

Each moment is an opportunity to be the person you want to be. if you behave badly that is who you want to be. No judgement here, everyone has a place in life, and yours might be that of a dick. That doesn't mean I don't love you.
 
I think in my younger life I was bad and a bit mean but not evil, though some may say different. Fortunately I matured and recognized my bad side and have spent my life squashing that aspect of me and trying to be and do good, and I believe I've been successful.

But you know what? Sometimes I still doubt myself, I still sense that nasty little shit in me, and it both frightens and shames me.
 
C50 said:
I think in my younger life I was bad and a bit mean but not evil, though some may say different. Fortunately I matured and recognized my bad side and have spent my life squashing that aspect of me and trying to be and do good, and I believe I've been successful.

But you know what? Sometimes I still doubt myself, I still sense that nasty little shit in me, and it both frightens and shames me.
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My story is similar, I inherited a sharp tongue and a smart mouth from my Mother.

Sometimes I believe that people have been sent to test me and sometimes, I’m sorry to report, I still fail.
 
fuzzybuddy said:
Being "Good" or "Evil" is a value judgement people make. It's "Evil" to kill 10 other humans, but killing 10 humans in a war is considered a "Good" and even heroic. The act of killing is neither good nor bad, it just is. But it's our interpretation of the killing, which determines if an act is good or bad to our eyes. A person can do an act, which some would judge as "good", and which some would judge as "evil". When someone does acts that are against the norms of a group's morality, we judge those acts as "Evil". Good and Evil are judgement calls.
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True. And the scale can also be tipped for some if there are no consequences.
 
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