A few months ago, I tried to write a post about the differences between good and evil, and the fact that this world does in fact have some absolutes. I couldn't get it into any form I felt good enough to present to the world, so it died a lonely death.
It's time to go back to this topic.
This morning, a monster walked into a school in Connecticut and shot a great many people. According to initial reports, most of those people were children. This is, absolutely without question, Evil.
In our modern world, there is a trend towards explaining actions like these. Towards finding the "blame". Some blame guns. Some blame bad upbringings. Some blame mental illness, medications, or drugs. Some blame video games. If there was an unusual facet of the perpetrators life, odds are it will be at least considered as the thing to blame. All of this is absolutely irrelevant.
The only thing to blame here is the perpetrator. What this monster did is Absolute Evil. Unquestioningly. The fault lies solely and entirely on it. Yes, 'it'. I think too highly of humanity to label this foul creature as among their number. I cannot express my utter revulsion for this being and its actions in words fit to print.
When I first heard about this, I wanted to crawl back in bed and hide away from the world. How could I bear being in a world like this? A world where innocent children, children not old in some cases to even know what a sin is, let alone be guilty of them, are murdered for simply being there. When such evil exists in the world, why bother getting out of bed? Quite simply, Edmund Burke put it best. "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is that good men do nothing" (disputed attribution). There will always be evil in this world, for as long as humans are human. Always. All we can do is stand against it as best we can. For there is good in the world, in addition to evil, should it only choose to be.
My tears, thoughts, and prayers go out to these families struck by the worst sort of tragedy. I cannot begin to fathom their loss. Nor can I fathom the pain caused by other acts of evil that happen around the world every single day. All I can say is that I will never back down. I will never step aside and allow evil to happen when I could have stopped it.
May God hold the souls of the deceased close to him, may their families find peace, and may the sins of the shooter weigh heavily upon his soul for all eternity.
This tragedy is another black mark on humanity. The crime committed is made that much worse by the fact that this is is supposed to be a time of year where we celebrate togetherness, love, and acceptance of one another.
ReplyDelete"If God is God, he is not good. If God is good, he is not God."
ReplyDeleteIn other words, how can such evil exist if we have a loving God? Used to bother me a lot, but a very good friend pointed out that Free Will is a gift. From God. There can be no good, except that it is contrasted with evil. God needs Satan to show the difference. And true evil, as we saw today, only outrages if we know the difference, if we know goodness and kindness and... love.
This thing that did this will face his God, or his Devil. The rest of us can only strive to be GOOD. To have honor, to value life. And to rid the earth of goblins like this if we have the chance.
Hug your children a little tighter.
You have known the difference betwixt good and evil your whole life, one reason you have become a good man.
ReplyDeleteI think the poster above nailed it. God gives us the rules, tells us the difference between good and evil and then... gives us the free will to choose.
Another thing I consider to be evil is the pundits and politicians making political hay of an event like this. It was insanity and evil of biblical proportions, no more, no less. Spare us the posturing!
And please... take good care of yourself and stay safe.
We really don't know whose to blame about what happened, it was indeed a great shock for all of us. I think we really need to pray for ourselves and for others. Through prayers we will destroy evil. Keep safe everyone.
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