The Face Of Evil

Many would see evil in the face of such notorious villains as Adolf Hitler, Jeffrey Dahmers, and Idi Amin, or in the rape, brutality and murderous terrors perpetrated more recently in Kosovo and Rwanda. All these represent gross injustice, cruelty, blood lust, greed for power, prejudice at its worst and all coming at the expense of poor innocent, helpless victims. We are all outraged by such abuse but surely these people and these episodes are exceptions to the basic civility and decentness one normally encounters in the world. Or are they simply a much grander scale of evil than we normally encounter?

Small scale evil (not small to the victims!) is all around us. Physical, emotional, sexual, and financial abuse are all evil with devastating and long term effects on their victims. They damage body and spirit and usually perpetuate a cycle of abuse that moves from generation to generation. Counselors, social workers, pastors, and doctors will testify that abuse often creates a chain of broken and damaged people who seem to perpetuate the evil that was inflicted upon them.

Notice that it is not laws that define or determine what is evil because evil is not restricted to that which is criminal. While there is no universal agreement in all the details of what would be included in evil there is remarkable consensus on most things. There are plenty of things that are not criminal but are nevertheless evil: injustice, hypocrisy, slander, lies, manipulations, and hate to name a few. Each exacts heavy casualties both on those who commit the evil and on their victims. These implements of evil may be different in degree and magnitude but not in kind from their more notorious cousins like Hitler and Dahmer. Indeed, most evil deeds are perpetrated, not by totally malevolent people but by people with elements of goodness as well.

What is most frightening is that the potential for evil in each one of us (rooted as it is in hate and self-centeredness) is remarkably close to the surface. Closer perhaps than we care to admit. Consider how easily our anger behind the wheel turns to road rage. Most of us do not let our anger lead to assault but we do have the potential to do great damage to another person with our anger or hate, with our lies or slander, or with our hypocrisy. As the noted comic strip character Pogo onceobserved, "We have met the enemy and he is us." The face of evil has a striking resemblance to me and to you. And that is why Jesus Christ came into the world. And that is why Christianity is relevant.