I had
read in the newspaper that a geologist went to a flea market and saw a man
selling various stones. He immediately recognized one of the stones to be
an extremely large aquamarine; as I remember, it weighed 50 pounds. He
asked the seller how much he wanted for it. The seller – not knowing its
worth – said for the geologist to name a price. The geologist said ten
dollars which the seller agreed to. As it turned out, this stone was the
largest aquamarine ever found and was worth many millions of dollars! Was
what the geologist did, EVIL? He had the power of superior knowledge; did
he MISUSE that power? Or is this just business?
Iguess many definitions are relative. I define EVIL as taking advantage of a postion of power and I think knowledge is power. (what if the seller were retarded?) To me a sin is an evil deed. And also, to me a ‘crime’ is defined by society as such. I feel that many evil deeds (sins) are not crimes. I asked this question because I wondered what most people think. Such an act would bother my conscience – referring to the person talking about what is in one’s mind. However, some people will steal or kill and it will not bother their conscience. I wonder what standards we should aspire to, regardless of whether the act is legal or not.
Using one’s superior knowledge to take adavantage of another is a sin. All sins are "evil" but to different degrees, I expect. What the man did was steal; that is taking somebody elses property without paying a fair price.
It was probably "legal" but still "evil"…or a sin. For example, killing children is "legal" in the United States, but it’s also evil. God has a much higher moral standard than does mankind. I guess that’s why He’s God!
If the buyer had told the seller that the piece was worth millions of dollars, and the seller still said $10.00 was a fair price, then it would have been an honest transaction.
All people have a moral obligation to teach the truth to others. Knowledge is power given from God and is not to be used for selfish purposes.
September 24th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
He took advantage of the guy, yeah, but it wasn’t "evil". If you think it was, define evil.
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September 24th, 2009 at 4:01 pm
I would say it was just business. The person selling the stones should have educated themselves more on the stones they were selling.
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September 24th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
no the only evil that exists is in the heart of the person who thinks what was once called evil exsists
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September 24th, 2009 at 4:51 pm
Not evil; No harm or criminal activity evident. Seller said name your price, Buyer did. Case closed.
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September 24th, 2009 at 5:31 pm
I think it was misled and full of selfishness, but not necessarily evil.
Evil is something that hurts the person more than cheating him out of money, how could it have been completely evil if the seller didn’t even know what it was he had? If the geologist held him at gunpoint and stole the big rock, I think that would be more evil than simply cheating the poor guy out of a lot of cash.
But in the grand scheme of things, I’m sure it’s a ’sin’ equal to all the others.
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September 24th, 2009 at 5:53 pm
I agree. The man should have educated himself before putting the rocks/gems on the market. We have internet/libraries and all sorts of ways to find out information so I believe it’s the seller’s own ignorance of the value of the very product he was selling.
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September 24th, 2009 at 6:26 pm
I think it was evil in a way, because that was a very selfish act, even if the man was ignorant he could have given him so much money and even if he gave 5% of what he got, it would have made the uneducated man happy and would have changed his life, so yes, i think its an uncharitable and selfish act and hence evil in a way!!! A business which does not bring any gain to the people involved is not a sound business!
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September 24th, 2009 at 6:55 pm
I think the buyer was filled with greed and what he did was wrong. lets just pray that he is filled with remorse and goes back and makes it right. Greed is sin and sin is evil.
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September 24th, 2009 at 7:32 pm
Using one’s superior knowledge to take adavantage of another is a sin. All sins are "evil" but to different degrees, I expect. What the man did was steal; that is taking somebody elses property without paying a fair price.
It was probably "legal" but still "evil"…or a sin. For example, killing children is "legal" in the United States, but it’s also evil. God has a much higher moral standard than does mankind. I guess that’s why He’s God!
If the buyer had told the seller that the piece was worth millions of dollars, and the seller still said $10.00 was a fair price, then it would have been an honest transaction.
All people have a moral obligation to teach the truth to others. Knowledge is power given from God and is not to be used for selfish purposes.
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September 24th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
It is similar to the parable of the guy who buys a field because of the natural resources on it.
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In the open market, the value of anything is what the next person pays for it.