Oct 4, 2026 · 35 min · 9 segments
So theodicy, the question of evil, is Lord Bael's jam. He loves to discuss it, or at least he thought he did. Riff sprung this on him without warning because that's how evil works. Join the guys as…
So, I want you to imagine...
That I am an alien.
I have teleported down here and made myself known to you.
And in classic biblical term, I have started with fear not.
Yeah, fear not.
Because that's always what you say first.
Yes.
And I explained to you that I come from a perfect utopian society.
There is no strife, no sadness.
Everyone has everything they need.
And I do not understand this concept of evil that you espouse that I am told it lives on your planet.
Man, where to begin? So, like...
I'm really resisting the, like you've, you've done this shit.
And I hate it because like, I immediately start answering the question and then giving my own refutation of the answer.
That's in my head, in my head as well.
I'm immediately, it's just like, all right, let's have an internal argument.
Cause like immediately my first, my first inclination would be something summarized to the effect of like evil is, you know, like doing harm, right? It's like, it's harming someone emotionally.
else um but then you know that again that just opens that door of all okay we'll define harm and then it's like well but as we're just talking in our in our pirate side a minute ago well who who gets harmed and is there grades and allowable harm right when we slaughter an animal we're harming that animal but we have to eat that animal to survive we don't have to eat that animal we could eat other things we're harming plants and the environment is that and so it's like oh my god um So, yeah, I guess before we go down this again, thank you, Philosophy 201 and 301.
Actually, probably just 101 even, or 105.
Harm would be a part of it, right? You're doing harm to another thing.
It is either another person, another creature.
Another, the world, the environment, harm is being done.
And you would probably have to quantify that or qualify it in some way with like undue harm, right? Acknowledging that nature has an order and the big fish eats the little fish and that isn't inherently evil.
So, I want you to imagine...
That I am an alien.
I have teleported down here and made myself known to you.
And in classic biblical term, I have started with fear not.
Yeah, fear not.
Because that's always what you say first.
Yes.
And I explained to you that I come from a perfect utopian society.
There is no strife, no sadness.
Everyone has everything they need.
And I do not understand this concept of evil that you espouse that I am told it lives on your planet.
Man, where to begin? So, like...
I'm really resisting the, like you've, you've done this shit.
And I hate it because like, I immediately start answering the question and then giving my own refutation of the answer.
That's in my head, in my head as well.
I'm immediately, it's just like, all right, let's have an internal argument.
Cause like immediately my first, my first inclination would be something summarized to the effect of like evil is, you know, like doing harm, right? It's like, it's harming someone emotionally.
else um but then you know that again that just opens that door of all okay we'll define harm and then it's like well but as we're just talking in our in our pirate side a minute ago well who who gets harmed and is there grades and allowable harm right when we slaughter an animal we're harming that animal but we have to eat that animal to survive we don't have to eat that animal we could eat other things we're harming plants and the environment is that and so it's like oh my god um So, yeah, I guess before we go down this again, thank you, Philosophy 201 and 301.
Actually, probably just 101 even, or 105.
Harm would be a part of it, right? You're doing harm to another thing.
It is either another person, another creature.
Another, the world, the environment, harm is being done.
And you would probably have to quantify that or qualify it in some way with like undue harm, right? Acknowledging that nature has an order and the big fish eats the little fish and that isn't inherently evil.
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