The Official Website of Michael Corthell

''The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.''  - Edmund Burke by Michael Corthell There is a time when the good amongst us must stand up for what’s right, even when it's risky, but that moment usually comes only after evil has already been well entrenched and has become widespread. Countering evil may be an essential thing, but it isn’t the first problem. The real problem is that it matters only after countless mistakes have already been made. And if those first mistakes had not been made, great fights against evil just wouldn’t be necessary. People do end up supporting evil sometimes because they don’t want to make up their minds at all - they don't want to think. They desire safety, they want to avoid criticism and vulnerability, so they hold to the middle of the road to avoid all risks. The majority wouldn’t initiate murders by themselves, I truly believe that, but in the name of duty, loyalty, unity, and/or the greater good,...

“Even if all I did was stay away... it's still the best thing I ever did in my life.” ― Beverly Donofrio Life's Warning Label: Live your life, but harm no one. What you give out will be returned to you threefold. Who is like God? Do Good and Be Good!

“If you put good apples into a bad situation, you’ll get bad apples.” ― Philip G. Zimbardo The perception of what is good or evil can be manipulated, that is, it can be made a grey choice and almost every person can be pressured by external forces to be immoral in their actions.

''Everything pleasurable in life requires some amount of sacrifice or suffering to obtain it.'' Even in pleasure there is suffering, because we understand that pleasure ends and the cycle of pleasure-pain begins again. I make sense of it this way; It's all about balance. The Universe, that is all that there is, is a life force in and of itself that can only survive as a unit by continually balancing itself. We and all living things mirror this life force. All is one; we are all connected indeed. Life matters. The Universe is a life force and all we do is for that life. We call it love. '''Balance' is a good feeling caused by being whole and complete. It's a sense of harmony.''  

by Michael Corthell What we are looking at in this article is theodicy .  Theodicy in its most accepted form, is an attempt to answer the question of why a loving God permits the manifestation of evil in the world. The short answer is theological; to teach lessons. The long answer is human. It is philosophical, convoluted and even seemingly incoherent. ''Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.'' — Helen Keller The atheist argues that if God exists, then theodicy is just scattered and incoherent and that the amount of suffering seems to be much greater than that is needed to do the job of being the contrast to goodness. And, it should follow that the more suffering there is, the more good there would be in proportion, but this is a normal for a non-believer having no Faith...

If we want positive things to happen, we should do positive things to make them happen. Voting for good, positive, empathic people is part of ensuring a better country, and a better world.  Bad people don't give a damn about good people  —  they care about themselves  —  they care about turning good people into bad people  —  they enjoy the pain caused in doing so.  Nothing comes from nothing and evil doesn't birth good.

We know that our enemies will mistreat us, acting in unkind ways. We guard against being disrespected and shield ourselves against hateful words that are thrown at us like rocks — that’s what our enemies do, they try to hurt us. We are sometimes caught off guard by the actions of our enemies, but these actions are never unexpected. Our enemies wouldn’t be enemies if they were nice and supportive...right? Friends on the other hand, and by friends I mean all good people, are a different story all together. We expect them to do right, to have our backs. Otherwise good people often enable bullies and even seditionists to thrive by remaining silent in the face of the bad person's actions. It's either fear or apathy but the result is the same — silence is consent. Never forget that or this: “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” ― Dietrich Bonhoeffer * *  Dietrich Bonhoeffer   was arrested in Apr...