Evil Lives, but Christ Reigns

by Mandi

5 Responses to “Evil Lives, but Christ Reigns”

1. Lifewish says:

   April 24, 2007 at 2:23 pm

   Only when we are willing to acknowledge that evil is alive – and operates in people willing to embrace it – can we begin to understand why such cruelty occurs.

   I’d argue that it’s only when we stop trying to treat evil as an entity in its own right, and start trying to figure out what motivates people to do these things, that we’ll get better at stopping them.

   Saying “he did it because he had evil in him” is a wonderful call to church attendance, but it doesn’t do much to prevent this from happening again. It’s not an answer, just a more interesting restatement of the question.

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2. Musicguy says:

   April 24, 2007 at 7:17 pm

   quite the leap of faith: mental illness (or perceived mental illness) is really just evil incarnate. charming summation.

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3. Clint says:

   May 10, 2007 at 3:11 am

   To Lifewish:

   “…but it doesnt’ do much to prevent this from happening again.”

   Your point on motivation is well taken. I believe it is evil that motivates such behavior. The sole answer to that is righteousness.

   However, the point should not be lost that the purpose of the message was to answer – in the days immediately following the killings – all the psychobabble answers to what happened without naming the 800 lb. gorilla in the room. It wasn’t intended as a treatise on how to prevent evil, just that evil is real whether the world wants to recognize it as such.

   Thanks for your thoughtful commentary!

   - Friend of a friend

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4. Lifewish says:

   May 10, 2007 at 2:07 pm

   I believe it is evil that motivates such behavior.

   My point is that, unless you can provide some empirical test for evil other than “they do evil stuff”, this is merely restating the problem rather than answering anything. As such, it is actually slightly inferior to the statement “we have no idea why he did this”.

   The sole answer to that is righteousness.

   Righteousness on the part of whom? On the part of society? The figures do not provide much support for this hypothesis – the most religious Western nation also has the highest homicide rates.

   Righteousness on the part of the victims? I am not aware of any evidence that faith stops bullets.

   On the part of the potential killer? Again, this is just restating the obvious: the solution to people wanting to kill people is for them to not want to kill people.

   “The sole answer is righteousness” is a nice catchphrase, but I’m having trouble seeing any way it could be sensibly applied.

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5. Maureen says:

   May 15, 2007 at 11:34 pm

   Oh, my gosh. Everyone grab something bolted to the floor or wall.

   I largely agree with Lifewish.

   Largely, I say, because, while I agree with him that “he did it because he had evil in him” doesn’t help solve or prevent anything, I disagree that it is a call to church attendance. People who have no interest in church or attendance bandy the word “evil” about also. I don’t believe Cho is evil. I believe he is mentally ill, and the two are not synonymous.

   I do believe there is evil in the world, but not as a supernatural evil that moves into a host because it has been welcomed or accepted. Even if I did believe that, I could far better oppose it by working to minimize or eliminate the environment it finds hospitable than to simply throw out platitudes about choosing evil over love.

   Yes, love is a choice, but only for those of us who actually recognize it. There are many people out there who have never seen it up close.

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