Is Evil Unhappiness?

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Duke_of_St_Paul

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I recently read an article in which the author discusses the matter of evil according to Saint Augustine. A few points points are made concerning the nature of evil, which cite Saint Augustine, but no where is it mentioned evil to be unhappiness even though it seems such.

My reasoning for equating evil with unhappiness is derived from verses like:

*Gal. 5:14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Eph. 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us and hath delivered himself for us, an oblation and a sacrifice to God for an odour of sweetness.

James 2:8 If then you fulfil the royal law, according to the scriptures: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself; you do well. *

These are but a few verses, however they all speak of love, and love is never unhappy; true love that is, not attachment, because true love is without selfishness. And if in Truth we are happy and love is Truth then without Truth we are unhappy and go against the grain of God our Father and dwell in evil.
 
I think one can love someone and feel unhappy. St. Monica cried a ton over St. Augustine when he was in his wayward time.

Christ cried in the Gethsemani. Mary, likewise, cried untold tears.

Christ surely cried with the scourging, crowning of thorns and crucifixion.

I think a lot of new age people try to tell us that we need to feel happy all the time and if we aren’t, something’s wrong.

Feelings can also be highly misleading. Like, sometimes people are convinced they feel “in love”. Then, next week, month, or year, they are “out of love”.

Feelings are temporary, sometimes fleeting.

I think love is not that feeling of butterflies and such…which might be attraction, say. It’s more like what’s contained in the marriage vows…for better or worse, richer or poorer, sickness and health, till death do us part.

It’s a mother getting up in the middle of the night though exhausted to tend to her crying child.
 
Evil strives to keep you from being truly happy, but it is more than unhappiness.
 
Sometimes, evil can make us THINK we are happy. For example, we think we are happier in a state of sin. Otherwise, why would we do it? However, over the long haul, does it? No.

We can think while we are in a state of promiscuous sex that we are “happy” or overeating, drinking alcohol to excess, using drugs. We can confuse the euphoria of some states to happiness.

A lot of problems comes from overly relying on our emotions as our guide.
 
The catechism teaches that happiness has always been God’s plan for man; it’s part of our wholeness, our normal state, our homeostasis-and yes, love is the source of that happiness. Evil can be defined as anything that lessens or takes away from the perfection of a thing so I believe it could be correct to say that unhappiness is evil for a human being, even as some degree of it is inevitable in this life.
 
ClearWater said:
Sometimes, evil can make us THINK we are happy. For example, we think we are happier in a state of sin. Otherwise, why would we do it? However, over the long haul, does it? No.

We can think while we are in a state of promiscuous sex that we are “happy” or overeating, drinking alcohol to excess, using drugs. We can confuse the euphoria of some states to happiness.

A lot of problems comes from overly relying on our emotions as our guide.
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Clear and conclusive. 🙂
 
ClearWater said:
I think one can love someone and feel unhappy. St. Monica cried a ton over St. Augustine when he was in his wayward time.

Christ cried in the Gethsemani. Mary, likewise, cried untold tears.

Christ surely cried with the scourging, crowning of thorns and crucifixion.

I think a lot of new age people try to tell us that we need to feel happy all the time and if we aren’t, something’s wrong.

Feelings can also be highly misleading. Like, sometimes people are convinced they feel “in love”. Then, next week, month, or year, they are “out of love”.

Feelings are temporary, sometimes fleeting.

I think love is not that feeling of butterflies and such…which might be attraction, say. It’s more like what’s contained in the marriage vows…for better or worse, richer or poorer, sickness and health, till death do us part.

It’s a mother getting up in the middle of the night though exhausted to tend to her crying child.
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👍 Unhappiness is **caused **by natural evil - like disease - or moral evil - like cruelty. It is often the consequence of compassion, i.e. sharing the unhappiness of others. It is therefore a lesser evil than happiness based on selfishness but it is evil in the sense that it is dysteleological, i.e. negative, destructive and sometimes meaningless, because the purpose of life is development, fulfilment and joy.
 
fhansen said:
The catechism teaches that happiness has always been God’s plan for man; it’s part of our wholeness, our normal state, our homeostasis-and yes, love is the source of that happiness. Evil can be defined as anything that lessens or takes away from the perfection of a thing so I believe it could be correct to say that unhappiness is evil for a human being, even as some degree of it is inevitable in this life.
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👍 In other words it has negative consequences. 🙂
 
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