What defines "evil"?

[Airyaman]

How do we know when a thought, word, or action is "evil"?

[Happy Evolute]

When it fails to consider the other person as a person.

[Fit2BThaied]

Answering this question posed by the OP elsewhere, "So why do so many Christians fail to follow Torah Law? Please don't give me the "new covenant" answer. Same god, never changes. Jesus, same yesterday, today, and forever.  That is why I ask the question "How do you know what qualifies as 'godly'?" The bible leaves many things out IMHO. What about smoking marijuana in places of the world where it is legal? What about going 120 MPH on the Autobahn..."

Sorry, but there is a new covenant, precisely because the permanently divine and immutable Jesus decided to change the rules, without changing Himself.  The fact that the essence of the Godhead is immutable is the very thing that gives it the power to change the rules.  But thaks for asking.

[jill]

It's not "What" defines evil but "who".

Evil is in the eye of the beholder....be it an individual or a community. 

[QuestionMark]

You asked why Christians fail to observe the Torah Law. The same reason David failed to observe the Torah Law when he ate the bread of presence, and all the High priests when they worked on the Sabbath. Because it's not the human interpretation of the letter of the law that is important, it's the spiritual law. Are we doing what the will of God is? That is the question.

In reality, when you face judgment, there is no lawyering. You can't pull technicalities. It's all about intent. The Torah showed this, but not clearly. As time went by God clarified the law, and manifested it in increasing power.

[Airyaman]

If it feels right, do it? How is this any different than any human approaches life? 

[catwixen]

Evil is a word with religious connotations. Evil does not exist in the real world. Evil was used as a description for an opposition to Godly actions....
I never use it to describe what people do. People are bad or good. They destroy or create. Even a serial killer or pedophile I would not call evil because it denotes some supernatural interference, which I do not believe.

[IrishMauddib]

Airyaman,

This is a good AND a bad question. It is good because it is interesting and can spark a long discussion. It is bad because it is a little too general. You would need to specify if you are talking in religion, in day to day life, in morality itself…. I could go on for hours.

The problem being of course that a general question gets a general answer and then people go on for hours comparing exceptions.

Since no one here has bothered to provide any evidence for a god or a supreme moral law giver then Jill here has given the best answer so far.

We decide together as a species what is moral. No other moral law giver has been shown to exist except us. We come up with the concepts of morals, what is moral and what is not.

“Evil” therefore is just what is contrary to the socially decided moral norm.

However as I said the question is too general. This is retrospective “evil” labelled after a moral norm is established. During the establishment of the moral norm “evil” would refer to those actions or outcomes we wish to avoid while creating the moral norm.

So clearly, as good a question as it is, you really need to clarify exactly what it is you are asking.

[Airyaman]

Airyaman,

This is a good AND a bad question. It is good because it is interesting and can spark a long discussion. It is bad because it is a little too general. You would need to specify if you are talking in religion, in day to day life, in morality itself…. I could go on for hours.

It was a spin-off of another thread. I'm trying to do my part in not derailing threads with other topics.

Since the title of this site is "Is God Imaginary" I would suppose the religious approach would be the predominant one.