Evil is Back, and That's a Good Thing

It is interesting to note that the word "evil" has risen from the dead.

Well, it is not a complete resurrection. The word has been consistently used to describe many non-human things that harm humans.

Hunger and famine are non-human evils that people fight against because they affect humans. Mother Nature's storms that kill people are evils that we can't control. Diseases are evil things that the medical soldiers fight against every day.

Simply put, bad things that cause ruin, injury, pain, or harm to humans are considered evil. So, that aspect of the word evil was never dead.

Pop Goes the Weasel

We have pop-philosophers and pop-theologians discussing the "problem of evil" in a new way. It's summed up with this catchy phrase: "When bad things happen to good people." The key here is "bad things." Our society has always been vocal about "bad things" being evil. And, while I do not want to go that direction with this Coffee Talk, I must say at least this much: I am sadly amused by the answer that some theists (some even claiming to be Christians) come up with to answer the question inherent in the catchy phrase: "When bad things happen to good people." The question is, "Why do bad things happen to good people."

The answer that some come up with is that God is impotent. Well, they would not use such a coarse word, but that's what it boils down to. Their God, you see, is not all powerful. He is all loving and since he is, he desires (wills) that evil not come upon good people. But since evil does, in fact, come upon good people, it obviously means that he simply is unable to stop it from happening.

Thus, this deficient "God" is apparently saddened, as we are, at the evil (bad) things that happen to good people.

This is such a ridiculous notion that it simply amazes me that people who have any serious knowledge of Christian theology would even allow this idea to be a consideration. Just in case you are not aware of it, the crux of the issue is this: Any idea or philosophy that somehow emasculates God is wrong at its base. If you think about it, the emasculation of God was in Satan's first temptation.

The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'"

"You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:2-5)

You see, not only did Satan call God a liar, but he implied that the reason why God lied is that he didn't want anyone being like him. God wanted to hoard his privileged position that separated him from mankind. However, Satan implies here that God is worried that he will lose some of his potency as God by sharing those qualities with humans.

Surprisingly, some who call themselves Christian theologians have fallen prey to Satan's implication and have actually come out and said that God needs our help in running the universe. He cannot stop bad things from happening to good people.

God is like a quarterback on the football team, Heaven's Angels. Apparently, Jesus is the pass receiver, and the Holy Spirit is the center. God's the most important player on the team, but not the only player, and without us (lineman and defense team), he cannot win the game against the other team, the "Hell's Angels," for whom Satan (the quarterback) and evil (the pass receiver) play.

So, back in Genesis where it all began, Satan spewed forth his lies and implied that God would be lessened by man's sin, and this was all untrue. Thus, as I said above, any idea or philosophy that emasculates God in any way is wrong at its base.

Evil People

One other point, there is another implication within the phrase "When bad things happen to good people." Actually, it's not even implied therein; it's explicit. It is this. That there are good people. Now on a relative scale, one might agree with this. However, biblically speaking people in a pre-conversion state are considered evil and vile.

As it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one. Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes (Romans 3:10-18).

What is amazing (at least to pop-theologians) is that this passage is not talking about evil "things," and it's not talking about "good" people. It is talking about evil people.

The Resurrection of Evil

Have you noticed that since 911, people have been talking about "evil people" and not just evil things?

It seems that the American society now has a new entry in its lexicon: Evil: a bad person.

Do you remember when President George Bush stood on national news and said that we had been attacked by evil people? The liberals and the sociologist and the psychologist, and sadly, even some theologians, were shocked and dismayed by such an atavistic pronouncement.

Frankly, I too was shocked but certainly not saddened. I remember sitting on my couch watching his response, and when I heard him say that these were "evil people," my mouth fell open, and I braced myself for the liberal bleeding hearts to pounce! And they did.

I wasn't sure if President Bush simply wasn't knowledgeable of the socially unaccepted use of this term, or if it was a calculated statement by a man who believes in good and evil. I have since come to believe it was the latter.

You see, we Americans have never had a problem saying that Satan is evil. Everyone accepts that if Satan exists at all, he is evil by definition. He is the personification of evil. Interestingly, most Americans also have no trouble in stating that Adolph Hitler was evil. But, for many Americans, it stops there. Satan and Hitler are evil, all others who do bad things are simply misguided.

"Hate the Sin but Love the Sinner" Gone to Seed

People typically consider murder and rape evil, but often they consider the perpetrators of these evils simply misguided or confused people who need our love and support and not our punishment.

When I was doing my undergraduate degree, I selected an elective class in criminology. I thought it would be fun. It wasn't. Besides the research and reading, the class required two hands-on learning projects: a police "ride along" and a day in court.

The Ride Along

My police ride along (in Portland, OR.) was a frightening experience. My shift started around 6:30 PM and ended at about 2:30 AM. I was taken aback by the way the police talked about the people who committed crimes. They were the "bad guys." And, I got the sense that when they used the term "bad guys," they were not just using an appellation. It was a judgment call. I didn't disagree with them, but I was a bit shocked to hear them use the term. In just one eventful ride along, I began to get a sense of what these brave men and women put up with every day. Bad people doing bad things. Evil people. I still remember when I finally got back to my dorm room and into bed at about 3:15 that morning, I lay awake on my bed and stared at the ceiling, reliving each horrible moment of the night.

The Rape Case

So, when I went to the courthouse in downtown Portland, I was thinking that it would be a "cake walk" compared to the ride along. It wasn't. I do not remember now if the professor set it up, or if I simply stumbled on my own in to this particular courtroom, but I sat in on a rape case. Once again I was shocked to hear someone calling another person "evil" (or bad).

The prosecuting attorney pointed his index finger only a few inches away from the face of the accused and said in almost a preacher-like style,

Ladies and gentlemen, if you've ever wondered what a rapist looks like, look at this man . . . (dramatic pause)

I glanced around the room at the faces of the others in the courtroom. Some people were nodding their heads in agreement.

If you have every wondered what a slime ball low life looks like, look at this man . . . (dramatic pause)

Again, others in the courtroom were nodding their heads in agreement. Even a couple of jury members. Then, with one last dramatic flare the prosecutor said,

If you have every wondered what evil looks like, look at this man.

Now, I saw people shaking their heads in disgust. Not at the accused rapist. But at the prosecutor! The prosecutor had lead the jury to where he wanted them, but I think that he might have overplayed his hand when he called the man in a three-piece suite with a nice smile and a clean haircut evil. My day in court ended, and I never did find out if the jury convicted the man or not.

Maybe good cops and good prosecutors know something we don't? Maybe they have seen more than we have, and maybe they have a better handle on evil than the philosophers whose greatest personal evils are an occasional flat tire or computer crash.

I read an article just yesterday on Saddam Hussein. I was intrigued that before listing his many horrific atrocities--some including cold-blooded murder against his own family members and closest friends--it chronicled his troubled youth and physical abuse at the hands of his father (or was it his step father?). I say I was intrigued because I wondered if the author of the piece would somehow attempt to absolve Saddam on the basis of his troubled childhood. The author did not openly do this, but the reader was left to make that inference on his own.

The Liberal Backlash That Failed

Within hours of President Bush calling the 911 attackers evil, some liberals put on their new suits and dresses and sat in front of news cameras to denounce the president's use of the term evil in a way that applied it to humans, even the 911 attackers. One person, with an overdeveloped air of sophistication, said something like,

I'm sorry that President Bush used the term evil to describe these people. Certainly what happened to so many people on September 11th was evil, but to shift the evil from the thing that happened to those that committed the evil does no one any good.

I sat there wondering what the person had just said. I scratched my head and wondered outloud to no one in particular if this person even understood his own words. Perhaps a paraphrase of the great philosopher Forrest Gump will help discern the truth. "Evil is as evil does."

He was not the only enlightened liberal to come out against the "poor choice of words by the President of the United States." One person went on and on about how a person in "Mr. Bush's position should be careful not to apply pejorative terms to people. After all, people are not evil," he said, "but sometimes they do evil things." Actually, I have to go along with old farmer McDonald who said, "Not to put too fine a point on it, but, if it quacks like a duck . . ."

I Have Been Paying Intermittent Attention

Well more than a year has passed since that tragic day. And, I have been paying intermittent attention to the use of the word evil as it applies to people, and the first thing that I noted was that President Bush did not back down one bit. Almost as if to satisfy the curiosity of people like me, he used the term "evil people" over and over again throughout the past year. There could be no mistake. The President was placing the word "evil" squarely back into the American cultural lexicon, and we would all have to deal with it. Surprisingly, the liberal voices were soon drowned out when the news media people themselves began to call the 911 attackers and their supporters evil.

Bringing It Home

It is interesting to me that Americans are now unabashedly using the term evil to describe people. Don't forget, the Bible used that term long ago. And, even with the Bible having done so, and with so many today doing so, there are those who will say that they are still "uneasy" about it.

But the fact is, people are evil. We are all inherently evil. Including you and me. It's really as simple as that. However, some people are more evil than others. Certainly a Jeffry Dahmer or a Ted Bundy is more evil than the little grandmother who simply makes Toll House cookies for her grandchildren and loves to see them healthy and happy. But, even grandma is evil to some degree. No one is left out.

And some people are good, in a relative sense. Oh, not in a salvific sense to be sure. No one is good enough on his or her own to be saved, please do not misunderstand me. However, socially speaking, some people are good. Some people are "gooder" than others. Like grandma is better than Jeffrey Dahmer.

In fact, all of us have both good and evil in us. Christians and non-Christians alike struggle with good and evil.

Perhaps in this new cultural climate of America where people have adopted the use of the word "evil" for humans, we can preach the gospel with more effect?

I remember talking to one person years ago, and she said that she didn't need Jesus because she wasn't an evil or a bad person. Of course she was (Romans 3:23), but our society had dulled her understanding of the word "evil" with regard to humans.

Perhaps today we can make better inroads to the lost with our new understanding (as a culture) of an old truth. People are evil, and they need a Savior. And, this new (renewed) view may be directly attributable to President Bush for having the spiritual conviction to stand up and call evil, evil, even when applied to humans.

But, in case any one missed it earlier, let me state it again. We are all evil. There is no one righteous, not even one. There is no fear of God before their eyes (Romans 3:10-18).

All of us are in need of a Savior: Jesus Christ.

A clarification: One reader misunderstood my intent in this CT and thought I was saying that the only kind of evil that exists is "evil people." I am not saying that at all. Evil people are just one aspect of evil, and not the only aspect. So that others do not also miss that point, let me reiterate. There are various kinds of evil. We cannot simply say that all bad things and happenings are because people are evil. In this CT, I am merely trying to say that though there are various kinds of evil, it seems that recently it has become more socially acceptable to be able to say that some "people are evil."