The most critical question is "Who gets to decide what is evil or not?" The Imperium's answer would be "The Emperor, His ecclesiarchy or, in a pinch, your superiors (provided nothing they say violates the dictats of the aforementioned Emperor or ecclesiarchy)". The ecclesiarchy has ruled that chaos is evil, therefore to them it's evil. The Imperium, writing about itself, is manifestly good and therefore cannot be evil. So it can gloss gently past the sanctioned mass murder of millions of psykers to prevent the Emperor slipping into oblivion, rely on Commissars to blast the brains out of the various malcontents, rapists and psychotic murderers signed up to the Imperial Guard, and write strongly worded letters of disapproval about various military commanders who have willingly signed up to the 'other' side. Horus is the prime target of their criticism, but there are many others who ultimately chose to turn their backs on the Imperium (whether they embraced chaos or not). Our answers would most likely be drawn from complex historical, social or religious interactions. But even here, it gets tricky. Religions are, for the most part, a generally decent moral compass but every religion has its swivel-eyed lunatics, mass murderers and rapists which rise to the fore from time to time. Governments write the law on what is or isn't evil, but again tend to be remarkably flexible about applying those rules to anyone who is perceived to be a genuine threat to any particularly favoured ideology. The Famous Man On The Telly could have had a go at it, but the rather depressing series of kids TV programmes which turned out to be presented by sex pests in the UK pours cold water on that. Wherever you look, our idols have feet of clay. If you can't trust them, who can you trust? Chaos, as always, has the only true answer a much simpler answer. The only person who gets to decide what is evil or not...is you. So take your power, and do as you wish with it. That very few of the masses of humanity following chaos choose to do nice things with it says more about humanity than about chaos.
Lorgar formed the Chaplains and wrote the Imperium's holy book, the Lectitio Divinitatus. Magnus created the Librarians. Abaddon pioneered the idea of ignoring blood ties to find new brothers in a common cause - the founding principle of the Deathwatch ...and yet the Imperium calls us heretics? Bloody hypocrites, the lot of 'em.
Screw it, I'm going for it. If anyone has been looking for a chance to troll me, this is the moment, because I'm feeling invested in the conversation. Let's go real life, and about where I draw the line of evil. Not nasty, or mean, cruel, violent, self-serving, anything like that. Let's go for evil. I'm going to leave it in the spoiler. If you are squeamish, young, or have some form of trauma from a past experience, I'd recommend not reading the below. It's not detailed, it's not gory, but it might hit a few strings. Spoiler: Don't read if sensitive There's some pretty messed up people in the world. There's that moment when you have someone spread out beneath you, doesn't matter if it's rape or a violent murder, a woman, man, 6 year old child or an animal, but you take your sweet time making them suffer. You draw it out, a feeling like running a knife along silk, and you bask in it, the hefty musk of domination and abuse. It doesn't matter how long it takes, or what methods you need, what you really want is to hear them squeal, and that's what gets you off in the middle of the night. There are things no one has the right to do to another person. I don't have many qualms, but I have seen the darkest desires that nest within people, the wildest thrills that when the evidence comes to light, people throw up and pass out. I don't need a law, jury, or spokesperson to tell me those things are wrong. That there is violation so evil it taints everything about it. If you want those things, go to Africa, or some of the jungles in southeast asia. You will see things that defy the concept of humanity. When you talk about Khorne and his bloodshed, or Slaanesh and the desires of the flesh unfettered, or Nurgle and pestilence and what it means to accept that, there are places you can go, have fun. -In a not so depressing post comment, I don't hate people who play chaos, it's a fascinating faction full of cool fluff and monster like things. Fiction for the save! *waves pom-poms* For Abby and his personal vendetta, not worried about it, I'm in no way a fanboy for the Imperium.
I should imagine no more nor less than any other race/religious zealotry in the 41st millennium. So yes.
I personally like having human children raises since infancy into an especially fanatical army of the damned. Honestly, I don't really understand why so many Word Bearers see the mortals as useless dogs. We are not their slavers, we must uplift them to the Truth. (I still use slavery to build temples, but I educate my slaves)
I'd say they'd probably make them fight one another and then add the winners to their ranks: survival of the fittest. But, I'm sure some of them die either as casualties of war or on purpose in certain circumstances, depends on the individual marines and their objectives at the time.
This. What he says in the spoiler is the best description of evil I have seen in quite some time. I would also include the inability to care for others, even those who fight and die for you and you alone, who are truly loyal to you. I personally believe that loyalty is one of the most special and precious things in this grimdark world, and the rejection of it and abuse of it always makes me rather sad.
While this is a fictional universe, everything in it has been made to be evil. It's been crafted so that there is no "good guy". But in regards to real life, I look at Subjectivism and see danger. I'd suggest reading CS Lewis "The Poison of Subjectivism" and see his arguments for objective standards of good and evil. Also, if that essay caught your interest, "The Abolition of Man" is also a good one on objective morals.
From the human perspective of the player behind my character, I couldn't agree with this more. All living beings have a natural sense of what is good and what is evil. Many of us just choose to bury those feelings in denial. As for why I'm choosing to play dedicated Chaos Word Bearer who wants to destroy everything that ever was? Pretty much gonna have to borrow those pom poms you mentioned a moment ago...
