Of course there is!

Absolutely. look at the conditions in irag. look at the 911 bombing. these two examples should open your eyes to the forces of good and evil. Lets not forget drug dealers, that would love to hook your children on their drugs. its a constant battle/struggle, for the police to keep the evil at bay. And the biggest culprit of all...GREED! greedy politicians, greedy criminals, and greedy parents that love themselves first, before their own children. There will always be a conflict between good and evil. its still good to know that 10% of the population, is commiting 100% of the crimes. the other 90% are good people, fighting to keep our freedom, keep our safety, and keeping our society one that is cherished, by the rest of the world.

Yes, but its not a struggle between some sort of metaphysical forces "out there in the universe": its a struggle between forces within your own heart and mind. Lots of people will talk about the "forces of evil", as if they're located out in the world somewhere (or underground in Hell, I suppose). Naturally this way of thinking implies that the speaker is somehow separate from the evil: "I'm a good person, striving for Good against the forces of Evil". This kind of thinking is a wide-open admission of non-self-awareness, its basically a confession that the person does not know themselves. We all have the capacity for good or for evil, and its available at every moment. At every moment we have to make choices about how to act, and we never escape being "torn" between the alternatives with varying consequences. The wise learn to maintain a steady awareness of their own motives and thoughts so that they can be in a position to make good choices. The foolish tie themselves up with fixed rules about how to behave, and then place the label "evil" onto others who don't follow the same fixed set of rules. The confused folks who launched 9/11 believed they were fighting evil. The confused folks pursuing the nonsense in Iraq believe that they are fighting evil. Neither of these groups is doing well in the awareness department. That doesn't mean they're equally doing evil, it just means that they can't escape their own confusedness because they keep trying to eliminate the evil "out there" instead of learning the more difficult lessons of self-awareness and ego management.

This is another one of those questions where the answer depends upon the beliefs of the person answering. You will get many different answers. Christians will certainly say, "Yes." So will other monotheistic religions that ascribe to good vs. evil dualism. They refer to a cosmic struggle between personified "good" and personified "evil." Others will tell you yes, this struggle takes place in the heart of every person. I will tell you no. I believe the inner struggle is between opposing forces, but do not make a value judgement on their nature. We each struggle with achieving a proper balance of self-interest (you should take care of your health, etc) and the interests of others (you do not get to steal your friend's candy bar). Being out of balance can cause you to act in evil ways towards yourself and others. I do not believe in a cosmic struggle at all. I believe we have two forces that work in conjunction and result in the cycles of life we see around us. These are constructive and destructive forces. I do not think that either are inherently good or evil, just that they are what they are. We, as humans, tend to fear the destructive and often label it evil. My view is that the tree must fall, rot, and become soil so that the soil is fertilized with organic nutrients and more life can spring forth. So, I cannot give you an absolute answer. The answer is subjective and highly dependent upon the answerer's belief system (or lack thereof), but I hope sharing my beliefs gives you further insight into the myriad of opinions on the subject. *************************************************** Edit: I do not believe in fate, as that requires a belief in some sort of predestination and infringes upon free will. I believe we all have free will and are responsible and accountable for our own personal actions. I believe there is no forgiveness that will absolve you of the consequences of your actions. As for luck, I believe in lucky coincidences. BTW, in case you didn't read my profile...I'm Wiccan.

Yes there certainly is. In the Bible, Genesis Chapter Three is the place to look to see where this struggle began. Here is the struggle's past, and the way that it will turn out. "Soon after the creation of the first man and woman, an unseen spirit creature, Satan the Devil, challenged God’s rulership. How? By subtly suggesting that God withheld good things from his creation and that humans would fare better independent of him. Genesis 3:1-5; Revelation 12:9. Later, in the days of the patriarch Job, Satan raised another issue. Seeking to break Job’s integrity to God, Satan said: “Skin in behalf of skin, and everything that a man has he will give in behalf of his soul.” (Job 2:4) What a sweeping claim that was! By using the general term “a man” instead of the name Job, Satan brought into the arena of doubt the integrity of every human. He, in effect, asserted: ‘A man will do anything to save his life. Give me a chance, and I can turn anyone away from God.’ The victory in the battle between God and the Devil is determined by the answering of two questions: Is man successfully able to rule himself? Has the Devil managed to turn everyone away from the true God? Many of today’s politicians lament the difficulty in finding talented individuals who are qualified to serve in government. People “are annoyed by leaders who appear small at a time when the problems facing them are so big,” said The Wall Street Journal. It continued: “They are disgusted with finding indecision and corruption when they look for direction.” Will human experiments in government go on indefinitely? The prophet Daniel foretold: “In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be brought to ruin. And the kingdom itself will not be passed on to any other people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it itself will stand to times indefinite.” (Daniel 2:44) The Kingdom that the God of heaven sets up is a heavenly government in the hands of Jesus Christ. It is the same Kingdom that Jesus taught his followers to pray for. Matthew 6:9, 10) Has Satan been successful in his claim that he can turn everyone away from God? In chapter 11 of the Bible book of Hebrews, the apostle Paul names a number of faithful men and women of pre Christian times. Then he declares: “The time will fail me if I go on to relate about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David as well as Samuel and the other prophets.” (Hebrews 11:32) Paul simply refers to these loyal servants of God as a ‘great cloud of witnesses.’ (Hebrews 12:1) The Greek word used here for “cloud” means, not a detached, sharply outlined cloud with definite size and shape, but a huge formless cloud mass. What is in store for Satan? The Bible describes this future event: “[An angel of Jehovah] seized the dragon, the original serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. And he hurled him into the abyss and shut it and sealed it over him, that he might not mislead the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended.” (Revelation 20:1-3) Only after Satan is hurled into the abyss of inactivity will the Thousand Year Reign of Jesus Christ begin. What a delightful place this earth will then be! Gone will be wickedness and those who cause it. The Bible promises: “Evildoers themselves will be cut off . . . But the meek ones themselves will possess the earth, and they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace.” (Psalm 37:9 11) Yes Good will conquer evil in this all important universal struggle. Sources: The scriptures cited and the 1/15/03 Watchtower pages 4 thru 7

I believe there is, yet evil is just a word we use to describe the absence of good, or love. I have used this before, and believe it makes sense here. It is a really neat story. __________________________________________________ Does evil exist? The university professor challenged his students with this question. Did God create everything that exists? A student bravely replied, "Yes, he did!" "God created everything? The professor asked. "Yes sir", the student replied. The professor answered, "If God created everything, then God created evil since evil exists, and according to the principal that our works define who we are then God is evil". The student became quiet before such an answer. The professor was quite pleased with himself and boasted to the students that he had proven once more that the Christian faith was a myth. Another student raised his hand and said, "Can I ask you a question professor?" "Of course", replied the professor. The student stood up and asked, "Professor, does cold exist?" "What kind of question is this? Of course it exists. Have you never been cold?" The students snickered at the young man's question. The young man replied, "In fact sir, cold does not exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is in reality the absence of heat. Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-460 degrees F) is the total absence of heat; all matter becomes inert and incapable of reaction at that temperature. Cold does not exist. We have created this word to describe how we feel if we have no heat." The student continued, "Professor, does darkness exist?" The professor responded, "Of course it does." The student replied, "Once again you are wrong sir, darkness does not exist either. Darkness is in reality the absence of light. Light we can study, but not darkness. In fact we can use Newton's prism to break white light into many colors and study the various wavelengths of each color. You cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Isn't this correct? Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present." Finally the young man asked the professor, "Sir, does evil exist?" Now uncertain, the professor responded, "Of course as I have already said. We see it every day. It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil." To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is not like faith, or love that exist just as does light and heat. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light." The professor sat down. __________________________________________________ Cold and heat contradict each other. As do light and darkness. But only one is TRUE.

You have a problem young person.appears to me you don't believe in god.

More like a love hate relationship.

Yes, there is. It's happing all the time, and it's all around us in many forms. There is the struggle in your mind between doing what is right and doing what is fun. There are struggles in government, in the way people treat each other and relate to each other, in our education system, in public forums such as Answerbag, in TV and radio shows. The struggle between good and evil has been going on since the "Garden of Eden" Adam & Eve incident, and will continue until the end of time.

Not exactly. The good and evil aren't entities. They don't wrestle together. It's us who do the struggling to do good or bad and wrestle with our tendencies. Inside of us there is a struggle between good and evil.

Of course there is, there is always a struggle between good and evil, you see it everyday in the streets, you see it on tv, its all around you, just open your eyes and see.

In a way. Really it's just a bunch of idiots taking non-existant sides over an inane matter... :B