thegreatvine (original) (raw)

I've discussed this with several people over the years. I don't think I'm alone in my beliefs on this but some would argue. I bring it up now because I heard someone talking on tv last night about how evil guns are.

Only man can be good or evil. Things, whether animate or inanimate, are neither. Those peoples who want to claim things such as guns or cars or whatever are evil are willing to overlook the evilness of the person using the item.

A gun is neither good nor evil. It is an inanimate object. It can be used for evil and often is. Murder and robbery are examples of guns being used for evil. Still, it isn't the gun that is evil, it is the person using the gun. We often want to excuse the person and blame the gun. We hear excuses such as he was raised in a bad environment. He was abused as a child. He was brought up in a culture of violence. While all of those may be true, they do not excuse the fact that he was and evil person using a gun to commit an evil act.

Guns can be used for good. They provide food for the table by thinning out the animal population. Both of those are good things.

A more controversial item would be a Bible. I've discussed this in my Sunday School class. I disagree with those people who call the Bible "The Good Book". I love the Bible and respect the lessons I learn from it. However, I'm convinced a Bible sitting on the nightstand or in the drawer in the motel room is neither good nor evil. It is just a thing and has been used by man to do evil as well as good.

Using the Bible to justify slavery is an example of the Bible being used for evil purposes. It wasn't the Bible that was evil. It was the person using it. Using the Bible as a basis for how we live our lives is an example of using the Bible for good. When we use It's teachings to feed the hungry or comfort the grieving we are using the Bible for good purposes but it isn't the Bible doing the good. It's the person who takes what he learns from the Bible and puts it to use doing good.

Does any of this make sense? Do you have any examples of things that are used for both good and evil. I can think of many more. I still come back to the thought that only man is good or evil.