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Why do you think we vampires are portrayed as evil? People like us for who we are until they find out who we REALLY are.

I dont think we are sought as evil. I think the idea from religious groups casts the idea of vampirism as satanism.

I don't think we are always portrayed as evil only tose who do not understand us portray us as evil.

I believe the whole aspect of Vampyrism, the taking of life energy is seen as an evil act due to the simple fact that most of the time we do not ask if we can pull energy from someone. Not only that, but I have yet to find anywhere in the Bible that taking life energy is an ethically sound means of survival.

So with that I believe, even though it doesn't say we can or can't, the church decided to rule that taking life energy is a sign of physical and spiritual deteriation of a person who is influenced by the Devil.

- Sin

I do not believe it has anything to do with Satanism. People equate evil with what they fear normally..and they equate the concept of bloodsucking corpses that come after you in the night with fear. Naturally, they call it evil. Seems simple enough.

- D

I'm with mrd on this one. People turn their fears into something evil and they don't understand vampyres, so they fear them.

NOT saying it has to do with satanism. I am speaking of certain religious groups that depict vampirism as demonic.

I know you weren't, just thought it would be a good point to leap off to what I felt was the reason. :)

- D

add to the fearing what you don't know...a vampire is by nature a predator....some of us tend to avoid this darker side of our nature..but it is ever there...and the sheep always know when a wolf is near.....
and most animals in nature have certain ingrained responses to threats...
humans are no exception....
those who are like sheep respond with fear.....those who are like predators themselves respond with anger....or violence..it is nature

Well put Daermon.

Fear is a constant when it comes to creating stories that portray others as some kind of monster.

I believe it is the same reason a "pagan" person is considered of the devil. Lack of knowledge and understanding. Basically, stupidity is the only reason I can come up with.

I totally agree with that ............ those of us who follow the pagan beliefs of former generations are considered as evil also, yet most modern religions 'stole' their ideals from paganism !! .......... like a lot of things, what people don't understand they fear the most.

Anything which is offensive to anothers moral sensibilities is by definition, evil.

Many fundamentalist Christians are, to me, contributing to 'evil', in that they support war in the name of their cause- do they see themselves as evil or fighting the 'good cause'?

It's all down to perspective.

It's another stereo type but it also depends how the vampire behaves.

yeah but you dont have to fear a wolf with a gun at your side...anyhoo LOL(kidding) I think watching vampire movies also gives the idea that "vampires are evil" but like someone said, people do fear the predator.

Evilness ir relative, some people think that spider are evil because they eat butterflies, it's just their nature, you cannot tell vampires are evil because they feed from blood, someone is evil when "does bad things and enjoys doing them" it's just a matter of points of view, religions are blinded, moost of them, they have very narrow and closed minds

evil is a state of mind. if you think about are the animal that live in the wild evil?
they kill to live. that is the same thing that vampyres do. peolpe believe that the vampyre are evil because they do not understand them, and people fear what they do not understand. so they call it evil

i think that evey one is right.. and it feed of the fear of not understanding.. this is a awsome thread.. like to hear what everyone thinks..

I dont think we`re really thought of as "evil" but alot of people do fear us, just like most fear the unknown.
And plus alot of people have the hollywood version in their mind.
Drinking blood (Thats about all most "people" know), probably isnt seen the same by them as by us.

At the present, problably because of of the propaganda. Nowadays it' s so fashionable to be evil!!!!.

they go bye the movies and how they act there

well holywood does like to show the dark side of a creature and other people who don't no much about it might be afriad your going to eat them or something ( a guy actually asked me that lol)

I think that this preconception is just religion and hollywood teaming up to "brainwash" the masses. (I do love my conspiracy threories)

Vampires can be good. Vampires can be evil. To say that all are either one or the other is short sighted, closed-minded and stupid.

it is just a matter of perception,if a vampire goes by it's nature and doesn't know it's wrong, how can it be evil?

i have to agree with a couple of things, evil being that which is fear, fear which is there because of ignorance or lack of knowledge, fear which is taken advantage of by some vamps...who like being feared, and being evil as one said is pretty cool and in these days.

Because people are afraid of the unknown. Unknown = evil. Its the same with witchcraft. And the movies haven't helped.

Once again, because it doesnt fit into societies norm. That is why. It is unknown and people do not like the unknown. If they only knew they were living the unknown everyday of their lives.... I personally find a good portion of society to be evil and it is not the "vampires, wiccans, pagans etc" that are amoungst them. Its the preaching christians on television that are trying to set up a one world religion. Lets all be robots and have a one world society where if you do not think alike you will be punished. Those are the evil ones..

This topic has been discussed a couple of times, but I think that people see vampires as evil for a number of reasons. Firstly, they don't understand what the condition really is. Secondly, they feel that the taking of life force is itself an evil act. Thirdly, those who take from others without permission are performing an evil act by slowly killing another human being.

To clear up something, the christian churches have condemned acts of vampirism because in early times, anything metaphysical could lead to dark influences and could lead new converts away from the church. In modern society, most churches don't condemn metaphysical practices and if one practices ethical feeding, there is no reason to be viewed as evil.

I guess its normal human nature to always put labels and portrait someone to something. It will never change since the human mind can't and/or will never even want to understand what it does not.

people think that vampires are evil, and like other posts, they are never use to and people just misjudge them

"Sing's out >>>>AM I EVIL? YES I AM.....

I think most associate us with evil is for they cannot beleive in us that we are real , They all think that vampyres being as we are are dreamed up in Hollywood an can't concept upon a real day to day vampyre but who truly cares what they think I love Myself for what I am

I have never seen Vampires portrayed purely as Evil...Often romanticised often sexy and dark. Purely evil hardly ever. Most fictional vampires are often portrayed with some human failing we can relate too and so find some aspect that we can fall a little in love with...Classic example is Lestat...

i blame movies!

I think ppl fear the vampire because of it's folklore history. The whole idiea of a dead person feeding on a live person. They consider this as evil. And once this idiea is in peoples head it will never come out.

its all the movies and storys people just believe wat they read and hear and not the turth

for the fact ppl fear us which is weird cuz we haven't changed

i personaly think the reson lies behind the fack of people fear what they do not understand and what they fear is the reson why you drink blood
it doesnt really matter what kind of vamp you are but as soon as they hear the name it sends them into a mental retreat so to speak thats all it takes is one word and they scrambel ,understand now

I believe that they are scared..Whoever says such things..They fear that they do not know what they are up against and that is why..I can explain better..Let my brain start working and I shall return..

Amanda you know that people have always thought that we are evil.... Ever since we were in grade school......

because people are ignorant stubborn a**h**** that don't care to know you unless you look like them...they think that because you are different you are a bad thing....stupid conformists!

vampires are portrayed as evil because they don't fit in with the "normal" people. anything that is different or odd is considered evil or wrong by most people. and if someone loves a vampire until the truth is found out then that person was trying to rationalize and deny what the vampire is.

I think it would be because most religions are fanatic about the concept of duality. They believe things are either good or evil. They associate the light with good, and the darkness with evil. I'm sure you'll understand it's surely difficult to associate vampires or werewolves as images of light. Add to that, the vampire has been stigmatized with the idea that he is averse to Abrahamic symbolism. These folks view that anything which extends beyond their scope of perfect living, is evil.

- D

I agree with LaMuerte. Most people are told what to do or think. Some movies have made it so people think that vampires are bad and evil.

There are many definitions of evil: morally bad or wrong; causing pain, injury, ruin, or harm; indication of future misfortune; blameworthy by report; anger.

This being said, evil is a state of mind and perception. Vampire are evil in other peoples minds because of the way evil is interpreted in general in the society they live in.

In a "pegan society" a vampire may not be considered evil. In a society where people do not judge no one would be considered evil. And so on...

Personally I think it is how the vampire/vampyre acts that tells if they are evil. Keep in mind though, we all have a little evil in us.

personally i think that others try to advertise it as 'evil" because it is different and an unknown to them... people fear what they do not understand for the most part .... so they try to scare people away from it in order to minimize it and to try to keep it from "spreading"

the media has made people think we are evil buy almost every movie they made about vampires....a vampire comes and grabs the innocent hot girl and kills her or turns her....they didn't have the choice it was forced on them ,wether they died or were made undead..

I do wish people would stop referring this as, "they make US appear evil". The films are not about people like 'us', they are about mythical creatures. And the media has only managed to make us look evil, when a few in our grouping have taken things too far.

- D

Good point, but by calling ourselves vampires, we group ourselves in with the mythical creatures that the word has become associated with.

That is exactly my point, we have made the choice to associate ourselves with something we know is construed as evil. It dosen't befit us to moan about that choice.

- D

Agreed. The simple fact is that we chose to call ourselves by this name, which had its own historical implications before we decided to adopt it.

some people just cant accept that some people are different from them...i reacently got kicked out of school for being a gothic vampire...and it was all because they couldnt accept that i was different then them

i think it is because people fear what they dont understand

its the same as with many wars, somone kills in order to gain something, then they kill back in order so that they can live, its like the medieval times.

I'm not sure what you mean or how it relates to this thread. please elaborate.

OK, just my two cents here but I think the stigma of evil that surrounds vampires is a result of the fears instilled into the masses by religious groups. Throughout time, unexplained deaths were chalked up to acts of vampirism. Legend and religion played a large role back in past societies and since there was so much superstition, vampires were simply believed to be hellspawn, therefor, evil. As more modern minds come to grips with the fact that evil is a choice, perhaps a large part of the stigma will disappear.

anything that people seem to be afraid of that is not condidered in the "norm" is concidered evil.
because are always afraid of theing that they dont understand..they dont like knowing that there is more to this world then just the average person...and they dont want anything to upset their precious chance of getting into heaven..hense the belief in things that are not not normal in the bible to be evil.

Well vampires are known as evil because they kill innocent people and feed off of their blood. As many people think evil is trying to be like monsterous creatures or more so acting apon it. People are scared of the new look and don't know how to respond to a thing like that.

Sciono.... I find you being in the military an honorable thing.. You are a hero to me.. I just had to go off topic there to say that.
Once again, though, vampires are related to death, to ordinary people, they are dead, they kill, they harm others, they worship satan. Etc... There really is no way to get around that. You cannot Google Vampires on the computer without coming up with this stuff. We may know what to look for, regular people stop looking when they see what they want to see.. Its a sad shame..

i think this equals out to what professor x says. "humans fear what they do not understand"

Some think it is a curse from God or a reward from evil; it all depends on what you believe.

I feel the world is ignorant and so doesn't understand the vampirism life style that people live. I am not against it or for it just an observer of it.

Fallen angels we are,and as so, we act in forsaken ways that might thought evil by other.Im trying to save them from evil,and it works...

evil dates back as far back as legend and mythology. Since the beginning there has been good and there has been bad. Vampires were seen as evil fiends who saught to take the blood of mortals and spread their influence like a plague. Nowadays, as people expand their views of evil and the gothic culture, they are opening up to see the vampires' point of view. Now, a human would be more than happy to be a vampire, even if they are still seen as evil. supernatural abilities, the right to kill, and more are the reasons for that urge.

A right to kill?
What right?
Who gave us that right?
Exuse-to feed.Everyone feed,some kill.

We dont have that right.

ppl just see the evil that some do and dont look at what good we do.

The evil that some do? What real vampire has commited an evil act that would justify condemnation of all vampires?

People think we are evil because we feed on them

"You see I cannot be forsaken,
because Im not the only one.
We walk amongst you feeding ,raping,
must we hide from everyone?"

Most people tend to not want to know the truth when it comes to people like us......they just can not accept it

it might have to do with jealousy.

I agree either jelousy or just plain ignorance

Those I care for would think of me as an angel... those I dislike would seriously consider me worse than someone like Hitler. Evil has some factor in there

i think its simply becouse people fear what they dont kno much about. but its kinda a good thing becouse of poblicity if you kno what i meen

My explaination is that people fear what they do not understand. They find the worst and magnify it.

I wonder is there another way to explaing this thread better than just saying people fear what they do not understand?

people always look at what they dont understand as evil.... like death...

I think that the only reason were're portrayed as evil is because humans think that we completely drain the blood for the victims.

evil is a harsh word. but really ppl who look down on you and called you evil just because you have another cult or some kind doesn't mean that you are EVIL! so my little saying is " let ppl think what they want to think and if it isn't true then FUCK THEM!"

evil is just the thing "normal ppl" say we ar cuz he wish they could be use. and they only see the evil side not the good.

Evil is as evil does. In the real world, most times the only 'vampires' to get attention is in the news when they've killed somebody. Personally, I don't blame anyone not particularly interested in the culture for thinking the teethy ones are evil.

a lot of the people that posted before me are absolutely right. it's all based on perception of the concept of vampirism. damn movies. what about those psy's that can affect the energy of others for the positive? is that evil?

one word answer can reply to this the reason they hate us is "contol"

Poeple fear what they don't understand, and Vampirism presents people's biggest fear... death. People fear death because it is the ultimate "unknown" and it presence a state of permanant unknown.

So perhaps you should consider that people don't fear vampires as much as they fear what the vampires represent to them death... the unknown.

I think it is because Vampires are closely associate with Satanists, and considered 'evil'. I kinda think it's a Christian sterotype thing. They think Witches, Satanists, ect. are all evil. Someone told me that my necklace (I'm wearing a pentagram) was the sign of Satan. I just kinda laughed.
I really don't understand the way most people think. I'm not evil. I have friends who are Satanists, they're not evil, and so on and so forth. *sighs*

I think that it is because people have seen to many movies where we are portrayed as evil, that and people see us as "different" or "scary".

Welllll..Some people do not know what they are talking about..And some people are just scared of different lifestyles and have not stepped out of their box to see new things..

are vampires evil? from a human point of view they might be evil, but from another more natural point of view they arent. only the strong survives in the fight for life. with darwins words: survival of the fittest! vampires need to feed blood to survive and human blood is the perfect source.
vampires dont kill for fun, they kill to survive. humans kill for fun. so form a objective point of view they are the evil ones, but humans tend to make anything evil that harms their kind. thats the reason vampires are always portraed as evil. at least i think so.

I think it has to do with the tie-in between drinking blood and satanism. This is why the whole "evil" image came about. Probably along with the movie portals of vampires as killers. Not really any unevil thoughts when it comes to killing someone.
I also think that anyone who is from a religion other than the one most people belong to end up becoming "evil" example witches.

it all falls back on hollywood crap

you have a point in the hollywood but not all of it its their fault since humans really do not need hollywood to believe that vampire'slovers or believers are " " diferent and will never fit in their lifestyle. People are people and they will always put aside what is diferent from them. Thast probably another reason why they portraite vamps lifestyle as suicide life. Some who enter society will push him/her aside completely until he/she has no control and gives everything including its life. Since society pushed it aside they would soimple say he/she was just crazy or insane or anyother type of label who in the first place was pushed into that person by them.So really hollywood would be simple a bit more of a help for society to think wronly of others and label everyone accordanly to their own believes.

Hollywood,Religion,Fairy Tales. Plus (no offense) the fact that some drink Human blood doesn't go over very well with humans. Plus no offense some of the evil ones have given the rest a bad rep.

In all Honesty I have found that most religious views on anything is Evil in the Truest sense.....anything outside of that can be considered to be an Awesome Experience...Alot more people are becomming open-minded towards Alternative Lifestyles...That is the way it should be....To each his own and allow no one to judge others as well!!!
We all bleed the same color.

i do not think they are ment to be shown as evil but people need something to be wrong before something else can be right.I think they are just shown that way so people can have something to fear so they can feel safer with something else.

ppl probably take vampires to be evil because they feed on others, and they are different and unnatural to humans. Vampires are something they cannot explain and are probably feared by most. Since they are afraid they take the fear and identify it with evil... you wouldn't be afraid of something light and cheery... vampires are dark and mysterious, traits usually associated with evil.

People fear what they dont know ! They belive vampires to be evil because of the blood and ever lasting life but people have done alot worse in the name of there gods ! tc

people take vampires to be evil simply because it has been engrained into them. When vampires first got press it was because they were usually killing and murdering, therefore, from the quote "creation" of the vampire many have been afraid simply because they were afraid for their lives. Eventually fear of the vampire simply became engrained into the society even after so called "vampiric attacks" stopped occuring, and everyone was afraid of the vampire. Movies, comic books, etc. have given the vampire some amazingly bad press and have only prolonged the fear that most of society feels towards that which they do not know, in this case, the vampire.

The myths of the vampire started off as creatures of the undead, that where unholy. Thats the main reason, but Hollywood, and quite a lot of goths running around claiming that their Satans children doesn't help either.

its all of the damn movies of these days...the vampires are always the evil ones. and if there is a good vampire...then there are at least 10 bad vampires in the movie

... and for every film, theres good people and bad people, its just as suseptible to stereotypes, so you shouldn't really feel singled out :-)

I think people portray vampyres as evil because they are scared of them.

people are judgemental. judgein something for one thing and one thing onle . even if u know a person for years and u finally tell them u are a vampire they flip out and never want to talk to u again. simply becuz they do not understand and they were tought at a you age that it is evil or " the dark side" some might say. But they dont care they dont understand and if they dont i say srew them if ur happy and nothing else matters really.

people believe what they see, and with most of the hollywood movies, vampires are portrayed as evil. They don't know anything else. They need to be educated.

I agree with a lot of you espeically on the whole paganism and other religions catholisism for example more then half of it's beliefes are taken from the pagan religion and altered to suit their needs. And as far as vampirism and people seeing it as evil well that is just human nature to mark somethign evil which they do not understand and have a fear of so close them selves off to the possibility of ever understanding

It is the myth from centries ago that has made vampires look evil. It has been passed down from generation to generation that vampires, werewolves, or any supernatural being is evil because it goes against the nature of "god".
So in reality it might not be true but you have to fight against the stereotypes of what has been told since forever.

evil is just a question of opinion for many people. i think it's because people who aren't like us don't understand us so they label us as evil to feel better about the fact that it's something they don't understand and won't take the time to learn about cause that would make them evil as well.

I've found that with most, ignorance is the root of fear. What they fear they classify as evil. You can thank early christian cults for the hunting down and destruction of what they don't understand for most of it.

Ignorance, stupidity, jealousy, fear,...Mostly Fear...The weak fear what they don't understand or can't explain...

Well society has misconceptions about any sub culture. People find any thing evil what the don't under stand

I do have to wonder though.. does human arrogance come into play in this?

Unfortunetly, when something is misunderstood, it is fear that steps in & is labeled "Evil" I also think that movies play a part in Vampyres being labeled evil.

there is a lot of mention of satanism on here, and can i just say, satanism isnt evil. understand it before you diss it.

people just misjudge what they dont really kno I mean you think they where tought about vampires, wiccans, ect. so they just beleive anything they here

Am I going to get slapped for saying that people misunderstand the things they don't really care about? It's not always about fear (besides, you can't fear something you don't believe in), or religion (I know plenty of Christians who don't give vampirism a second thought other than 'Wow, some people really think they're vampires. They need help."), or Hollywood (and you shouldn't be hanging around people who believe what they see in movies anyway, people!!!).

Like I said earlier, mostly the only times vampires get public attention are when they (or people who think they are) do something horrific. To the average person walking by a television in a window on the street, they would probably stop and say, "Wow, that is really sick. I hope I never run across someone who thinks they're a vampire." And that's it. No further thoughts along the lines of "Wow, they are giving real vampires a bad name." Why? Because they haven't cared enough in the past to research all of this. They are interested in other things, like hiking, or football. Maybe a little fly-fishing.

And why? Because when you get right down to it, drinking blood is gross. Vampires can pull it off and make it look 'sexy', but in the sober world, it's just not kosher. These aren't stupid people who think vampires are evil. That's all I'm saying.

People fear what they don't fully understand...thats one explaination...Hollywood...enough said there...and the third...the association with light and dark...being that vampires would naturally be nocturnal...people associate darkness with Evil and light with good