Evil: More than the Eye of the Beholder

 

and lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

 

Save us from the time of trial,

and deliver us from evil.

 

and do not put us to the test,

but rescue us from evil.

 

In times of temptation and test, strengthen us,

from trials too great to endure, spare us.

From the grip of all that is evil, free us.

 

from version and paraphrases of the Lord's Prayer/Prayer of Jesus

Voices United

 

Evil was real to Jesus and to the first Christians, as they formed the witness we know as the gospels and the New Testament. When Jesus begins his ministry he goes into the desert he deals with temptations presented by the Evil One -- the Devil or Satan.Through the centuries Christians have repeated the Prayer of Jesus, which speaks of evil and the New Creed of the United Church calls us to "seek justice and resist evil." We rarely define evil but we acknowledge it as the deliberate exploitation and violation of persons and other creatures, by individuals and systems.

 

 

I was curious to see an article in a recent issue of the Globe and Mail newspaper by Julia Shaw with the title Evil is in the Eye of the Beholder. She explores the subjectivity of using the term "evil" which is important. In every time evil manifests itself in different ways and too often we have "demonized" those who are different. Yet from my perspective she keeps sliding down rabbit holes of avoidance which lead to disturbing conclusions:

 

So, is there really such a thing as evil? Subjectively, yes. You can call sadistic torture or genocide or rape evil. You may mean something very specific and have well-reasoned arguments as to why you have called a particular person or act evil.

 

We make evil when we label something so. Evil exists as a word, as a subjective concept. But I firmly believe there is no person, no group, no behaviour, no thing that is objectively evil. Perhaps evil only really exists in our fears.

 

I have but one wish: Please, stop calling people or behaviours or events “evil." It ignores the important nuances of the underlying behaviours. I encourage you instead to think the unthinkable, speak of the unspeakable, explain the unexplainable, because only then can we begin to prevent that which others have deemed unpreventable.

 

Shaw doesn't refer to religion at all in her article. It's as though the long history of the world's religions and their perspectives on evil don't exist. Perhaps for her they don't, or perhaps there wasn't enough space for her to address this aspect of her exploration of the subject. It's unfortunate. Our Judeo-Christian tradition recognizes that the destructive power of evil is real, and that is both subjective and objective.

 

When I worked as a chaplain intern in a maximum security prison our chaplain supervisor once told us that for all the reprehensible acts committed by inmates he'd met through the years he'd only felt that he was in the presence of overpowering evil a couple of times. He wasn't denying that evil exists, or that people choose evil. He wanted us to see the prisoners as persons who may have done evil things but were still persons, and presumably children of God. It was a stretch at times, but his directive has stayed with me through the decades.

 

I will continue to repeat the Lord's Prayer and try to do so with conviction. I need to be rescued from evil, and so does the world. My convictions regarding evil are more nuanced than they once were, but I have no doubt it exists. The United Church statement of faith called A Song of Faith names the various forms sin can take, but it doesn't stop there. The "last word" is this:

 

Yet evil does not—cannot—

   undermine or overcome the love of God.

God forgives,

   and calls all of us to confess our fears and failings

   with honesty and humility.

God reconciles,

   and calls us to repent the part we have played

   in damaging our world, ourselves, and each other.

God transforms,

   and calls us to protect the vulnerable,

   to pray for deliverance from evil,

   to work with God for the healing of the world,

   that all might have abundant life.

We sing of grace.

 

What are your thoughts folks?