The Evil in my Head:

What is evil?
Action?
Thought?
Belief?
Or a combination of all three?

In their separation can any of these be evil?
History would tell us, yes.
Actions in an evil regime don’t always come from an evil belief set or an evil thought. Sometimes, some would say most of the times, evil happens because one person with the “evil thoughts” and the “evil beliefs” create a system and that system then either forces or compels a “normal person” though what is a normal person is a question that I have no answer to, to do evil actions.
Is an executioner evil?
Or perhaps a better question is, is an executioner always evil?
Let’s tone it down more.
Taking someone’s liberty, confining them to a single location, monitoring their entire existence and forcing them to follow a simple, exhausting and mentally torturous routine for long extended periods of time.
This sounds like an evil action.
But would we say a state jailer is an evil person.
We say that jailers are evil in evil regimes but not in others.
What separates them.
The actions of both are similar.
Both believe in a system separated from their own existence. The fairness of that system, whether it does real justice, whatever that is, and whether it is a good system is something that they have mo control over. They are told, some would say inculcated, that the system is good.
Armed with that belief and surety of purpose they then do their duty.
They take away someone’s liberty.
Subject them to an existence of misery.
Then later, the world changes and we come to them and say, “you are evil” because the system you followed was evil.
Their actions weren’t evil were they?
They were strictly following orders. Doing their duty. Acting out a role that society had told them was a just and righteous course of action.
But we all know about the evils that men who are simply following orders can do.
So at this point it is easy to say that an act can be evil, based just on its context, without the presence of any underlying evil belief set or any immediate thought that we would state as evil.
For them it was just a file to be processed

So actions and the people committing them can be evil without any of the other elements present.

But what about thoughts?

If a person indulges in thoughts that are objectively evil, let us assume for a moment that there exists objective evil, then are they evil themselves.
A man who visualises harm on others.
A person fantasising about things that any normal person would be sickened b
Creating worlds where you become a tyrant, a despot and an overlord over everyone else.
Violating the boundaries of other people’s physicality, their dignity in your own mind.

A person who does all this, are they evil?

Let’s assume for a moment that this is all they do
This is a bit hard to do because there’s a direct correlation about thinking and then afterwards doing but for a moment let’s assume that this all remains inside the head of that person.
All that they do is think.
There is little if any actual impact on the world, at least not active impact.
Theres a lot of passive effects that your thoughts can have on your own behaviour but let’s put that aside for now.

Is this evil then and does it make the person evil?
Maybe it does, I think it does?

That person is belittling people around them.
Making them suffer.
Inflicting pain on them.
That it is just in their own mind doesn’t make it any less important.
Does it?

A racist is still a racist if they never act on their beliefs.
A misogynist is still a misogynist if his thoughts are limited to inside his skull.

Are they evil if they actively make sure their thoughts do not spill out on those around them?
Sometimes because they are disgusted by their own thoughts.
Sometimes because they are scared of those around them and are thus scared of consequences. .

If these thoughts do spill onto their actions then its easy to label them as evil.
But what if they don’t?
Are they still worthy of condemnation?
But then who will do the condemning?
Theres only one person who can.
The rest of the world does not know.
Theres just you.
You and your own evil.
Locked in the cloying, suffocating arena that is your consciousness.

But what does that condemnation do?
It is very rare that you change, at most you start to hate yourself.
But then why do it?
Maybe to remind you that you are evil?
Or maybe to remind that what you are thinking is evil.
To remain on guard against the darkness within you
Maybe it is just self flaggelation with no other purpose

Who knows the right path?
I dont.