Inte i ett ting eller hos en annan person. Evil can take many forms. We can find it everyday in newspapers, on TV and in meeting with other people. Where does evil come from, one might ask oneself. In the four world religions there are descriptions of evil that might seem easy to understand. But there is a deeper understanding to what is written. Every religion has a perception of ethics and moral, of living a good life and what you have to do to achieve that life. There are also in every religion stories with examples of how morals and ethics take shape.
All these stories are important for each religion and they can be of assistance to describe for the unversed how the religion looks upon the question of what is good and what is evil. Islam has the story of Karbala in which the brave and just Husayn fought for what was good against the evil and malicious Yazid and in which just a few of his family and friends survived martyrdom in the end.
And then there is Hinduism and the story of the divine Ram, Ramayana, who embarks on a great journey to purify the world from evil after being bereaved of his crown as crown prince by a stepmother with evil intensions and ultimately kills the evil demon Ravan.
And finally we have Buddhism and the story of the young prince Siddhartha who, after being presented to the human reality with agedness, sickness and death, chooses to try to find the right path and who ultimately becomes Buddha.
Through literary studies the answer to the question formulation of this essay unfolds and the conclusion that the evil in these stories is to be found in ignorance and in the lack of devotion and faith. And that man must search within herself to find the source of evil and to learn how to fight evil. Not in an object or another person. Katz, Marc, Associate Professor.
