• Taniwha420@lemmy.world
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    9 months ago

    This is the classic theological definition of evil. Evil isn’t the anti-good, it’s the absence of good. Good is typically regarded as some kind of selflessness or care for other, so evil is basically selfishness. There’s nuance, but I wanted to support the challenge to dualistic world view.

    • Cethin@lemmy.zip
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      9 months ago

      A “theological” definition doesn’t really work in a world where there are actual gods and some of them actively want to cause suffering. The theology of D&D (and most other fantasy settings) is not the theology of Earth Christianity of the 21st century.

      • TwilightVulpine@kbin.social
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        9 months ago

        Of course. But at the same time alignment is under the domain of gods and it’s part of the cosmological structure itself. I wouldn’t think one can simply declare to be outside the purview of morality.

        • Cethin@lemmy.zip
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          9 months ago

          Of course it isn’t out of the purview of morality. It is morality. Alignment is just a simplified way of stating the morals and ethics of a character without going into detail. I’m just saying the theology we have in our world is not the theology of D&D. Evil is not necessarily describing the same thing it may in our world.

      • Taniwha420@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        Theology isn’t limited to Christianity. But hey, if you like your villains cartoony, go with the dualism!