I have met only one person who asserted that evil does not exist. I agreed with her when my life was at its most analytical. Evil as a force or an entity does not make any rational sense at all. I thought then that it was at most something that we could define as synonymous with 'chaos', the effect of losing control or life's non-conformity with the will of the individual.
But when one confronts the acts of evil, such as the goings on of Nazi Germany, Darfur, or the sex trade, and I will spare us all the descriptions that belong with those few of many available references, one cannot state that evil is something abstract, toothless, or even natural.
Nature is indubitably cruel at times. One need only spend an evening in front of a syndicated PBS show to see the predators of the world devouring their prey. But human evil surpasses this feeding interaction and opens a new category. Subjugation, torture, murder, etc. are somehow connected to the pleasure of the transgressor. But it is certainly a perverse pleasure. And though the pleasure of the one would justify its perpetration of injustice on another in Natural Selection, no matter what strain of Darwinism one adheres to, there is something unnatural in it. All natural drives could be satisfied without the deviant transgression. It is not responsible for food, shelter, or sexual perpetuation of the species. It feeds somethings else, something fundamentally unnourishing and destructive.
Science has taught us that stress actually contributes to the demise of cells, to their inability to accept nutrients and their inability to heal. Stress, as such deviant transgressions would cause, would actually be contributing to the demise of the deviant individual. And indeed this is certainly supported on the macro level with a cursory history review. Infamous deviants have not lived peace-filled lives, by their own choosing, and have died violent, troubled and typically premature deaths. Their engagement in evil did not further their own existence.
So if evil causes the demise of not only the victim, but also the perpetrator, what is it and why is it so pervasive in the world?
We all know that there is a spiritual element to the world. (If you deny it experientially, you are in the distinct minority of humankind, and if you deny it theoretically, you are unscientifically ignoring the evidence.) The matter is there is some kind of void that presents and becomes cancerous in the human experience. Humans require a high level of positive interaction not only with other humans, but also with the spiritual. Research has shown positive health connections to prayer, meditation, a peaceful life, and positive relational conditions. These things are nurturing, and one can assert that the converse are detrimental. Again, when those engaging in evil are examined, there is often a history of violence, negative relationships, and a disconnection from the spiritual.
It is not difficult to extrapolate that these negative conditions would lead to a lack of interest to the true well-being of the self, and the exploration of detrimental and dangerous pleasure seeking. And without self-consideration of well-being, the golden rule loses its meaning. Doing unto others..., when the thing one would have done to oneself is itself depraved, is an open door to depravity.
While knowing little if anything at all about psychology, this progression puts vital importance on the experiences the developing self is taken through and taught about. Peace, positive relationship building, and spiritual connectedness must be demonstrated and encouraged if a child is to develop without the internal door opened to depravity to inflict on itself and others.
This highlights Jesus' insistence that children must be allowed to come to Him, and that any that taught children about sin are condemning themselves.
This condemnation moves beyond the self and is placed on the entire human experience. It places a choking grip on the potential of individuals to be successful and even to survive. With burgeoning birthrates, we are creating more and more individuals to live this experience. And in the last 50 years we have seen several new and devastating courses of widespread annihilation emerge. Nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, unstoppable (and behavior-facilitated) diseases, the globalized endorsement of oppression - these put a highlight on an ever-increasing scale and scope of destruction. We are not solving the problems. We are not eliminating the negative factors that contribute to depravity. And we are arming the depraved with more potent, powerful and pervasive arsenals.
So there is little positive to end on. We are tasked with a nearly insurmountable bulk of lives to affect in a positive long-term manner while only a single negative engagement could start the domino effect of self-loathing. But try we must. Speak truth and love to all you encounter. Avoid petty negativity. Reflect goodness to those you know and those you contact. Begin within your own family. Begin with yourself. Speak love and peace and prayer internally so that modelling it externally will be genuine. You may not condemn yourself and meaningfully endorse others. Cast a wide net of these truths that reach wherever your influence can take you. In these far reaches, speak hope. It may have been the first time it is heard, or the time it is finally understood.
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