I believe that for the most part I am an optimistic person. Probably most of you feel this way about yourselves as well, we all like to see the good not only in others but ourselves as well. This optimism leads me to believe/know that the vast majority of people in the world are well intention-ed people. Being optimistic also makes it difficult for me to discuss the topic for this installment: evil.
As much as we would like to think not, evil does exist, it is real and for the purpose of this blog it must be discussed. Who among us today would not believe that human slavery is and was not evil? Anyone? I doubt it. Looking back it is so easy to see the cruelty, the indignation, brutality and dehumanization we placed on our fellow man. The question here is, did the people of the new America see this evil? Many millions did, their voice could not be silenced and many literally fought to their death to end the evil.
Millions more did not see the evil of slavery, owning slaves was a life style that they were born into, inherited from many generations past it was a part of who they were. For these people enslaving others was the societal norm. They believed that their slaves were beneath them, slaves were not human. These people also believed it was no one’s business what they did with their ‘property.’ Many of these people fought to the death to protect their legal right to own slaves.
If you have followed the blog this far you know what is coming next. Do we today see the great evil that lies right before us? Do we today see the cruelty, the indignation, brutality and dehumanization we place on our unborn through abortion? Millions do, Millions do not.
This is the hard part of this discussion and I certainly don’t claim to have all the answers. Knowing what is evil seems easy, explaining how something is evil is difficult. Do I believe the people that have had or participated in an abortion are evil? Certainly not, my answer is a resounding no! Do I believe the people who promote abortion as ‘healthcare’ and profit from it are evil? My answer can only be that I pray for their hearts conversion to the only power that has the authority to decide, God Almighty. Lincoln addresses this issue much more elegantly than I when he said: “The slave-breeders and slave-traders are a small, odious and detested class, among you, and yet in politics, they dictate the course of all of you, and are as completely your masters, as you are the master of your own Negroes.”
In today’s world it is a common phrase to ask; “What would Jesus do?” We hear this asked about issues great and small. I can’t think of any issue greater in today’s world than the choice of abortion, and just what would Jesus do? Once again I think Lincoln’s answer to this issue might replicate his answer about slavery; “The will of God prevails. In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be wrong. God cannot be for and against the same thing at the same time.”
“God cannot be for and against the same thing at the same time.” Like Lincoln, I don’t think Jesus was much one to sit on a fence.
So just what is evil? This is what Google and Wikipedia say.
Evil-adjective
- Profoundly immoral and malevolent—“his evil deeds”
- Synonyms: wicked, bad, wrong, immoral, sinful, foul, vile, dishonorable, corrupt, iniquitous, depraved, reprobate, villainous, nefarious, vicious, malicious:
“The world is stalked by relentless evil.” Noun
Wikipedia
Killing is evil, slandering is evil, abuse is evil, gossip is evil, hatred is evil, to cling to false doctrine is evil; all these things are evil. And what is the root of evil? Desire is the root of evil, illusion is the root of evil.
Illusion; il-lu-sion—noun A thing that is or is likely to be wrongly perceived or interpreted by the senses.
“The world is stalked by relentless evil.” I do not know who wrote this quote that is used by Google to show how the word evil can be used as a noun in a sentence. Whomever penned it though is absolutely correct. Evil is real, it is powerful, and it is never ending. Evil has existed in this world since the beginning of time and will remain with us until the end.
Just like many other things, evil can take on different forms and comes in varying degrees. But evil also has constants; it is sly, it is devious, it is manipulative, and it is cunning, often times turning souls without them knowing. Another constant of evil is that no one of mankind is exempt from its power, no man or woman is without sin. Evil is evil.
Whether or not you have a religious faith as I do, Roman Catholic, or are agnostic, or atheist, every man, woman and child has a conscious guiding their actions. Evil goes to battle with good inside that conscious in a constant struggle for control concerning issues small and large.
My faith tells me that the ‘good’ in this struggle is the Holy Spirit, living inside me and doing daily battle against a dark and sinister spirit, yes, the Devil, and I believe it so. No matter what or who you believe the ‘good’ and ‘evil’ are, doing battle inside you, you know something is there, your conscious tells you so.
Legendary country music artist George Jones had a #1 hit song in 1999 called ‘Choices’ and the chorus goes like this; I’ve had choices since the day that I was born. There were voices, that told me right from wrong. If I had listened, no I wouldn’t be here today living and dying with the choices I’ve made.
We all hear the voices that tell us right from wrong, good vs evil, and we all have choices.
Today my choice is life. I encourage the millions more that hear the same voice, and we know you are out there, to join us and speak out against today’s great evil as well. God Bless.