Evil on a Grand Scale
Since posting my essay yesterday titled Fifteen Septembers, a number of people have told me that they were surprised that, of the seven “lessons of 9/11” that I enumerated, I chose to list an AWARENESS OF EVIL as the first one, and, by implication, the most important one. I have replied that it was chosen to “cover all bases” as evil can assume many forms and appear in many guises. To elaborate, evil can be part of a political system (Stalin’s Russia, for example) that devalues and disregards human life. It can be part of a religion (radical Islam, for example) that maintains the belief that people of other religions (kaffirs) do not have the same value and rights as do members of the Islamic Umma (community of Muslim believers). It can be part of an ideology (progressivism, for example) that does not protect the most vulnerable members of the human family (the unborn).
I began to reflect, accordingly, on the question: What is the BASIS of evil? In other words, What makes evil evil? And, more importantly in the modern world of advanced weapons and killing machines, what is behind evil on a grand scale.
In his excellent book, The Science of Evil, Dr. Simon Baron Cohen (a leading authority on autism, and, yes, “Borat’s” brother) makes the observation that most definitions of evil are circular. When one tries to define evil, it is very difficult to do, and one often ends up saying, in effect, “evil is evil because it’s evil!” He then makes the case that a common thread in evil acts (I’ll use the Holocaust, premeditated murder, and rape, as three examples) is the “objectification” of the victim. All of these acts disregard the integrity and the feelings of their victims. The victims are no longer living, breathing souls with their own feelings, desires and rights. They become something less, and are, accordingly, “objectified”. I think his thesis is absolutely correct and I would like to take this notion one step further.
To paraphrase the above argument, we might say that evil acts always involve the belief that there is something more important that the integrity of the intended victims. In the Holocaust, the “primacy” of the Aryan race and maintaining the “purity” of its genetic base was more important to the Germans than the life of a Jew. In premeditated murder, financial, social or sexual gain becomes more important than the life of an individual who, for what ever reason, has become an obstacle to the aforementioned gains. Lastly, during a rape, the sexual gratification of the perpetrator has become more important to him that the feelings and integrity of his victim.
In all of the above examples we see that a judgement, be it conscious or not, is made that there is SOMETHING more important that the integrity of the victim. In Islam, this “something” is the teaching that an individual’s belief system is more important then that individual’s LIFE, thereby justifying acts of terror. In revolutionary communism, the “collective good” is more important than the LIFE of any one of its members. Hence the purges under Stalin, and Mao and the killing fields of Pol Pot.
Now, having described the objectification that takes place during an evil act, I must acknowledge, however, that there ARE, or can be, things more important, in certain situations, than an individual’s life. Honor. Loyalty. Patriotism. Self sacrifice. Love. Worship. Devotion. All these may, at times, be more important and more valued than an individual’s life itself. But here is the crucial point: The only one that can make the judgement of what is or is not more important than one’s own life is THAT INDIVIDUAL HIMSELF OR HERSELF. That decision CAN NOT and SHOULD NOT and MUST NOT be made by anyone else! If a religion or ideology or system of government makes the decision that there is some belief or creed or faith that supersedes certain individuals’ right to life, and if it, therefore, takes those individual’s lives away, then that, ladies and gentlemen, IS evil, and, depending on whom or what makes that decision, it can be evil on a grand scale: Stalin’s purges. Radical Islamic terror. The genocide of Armenians. Mao’s Great March. Pol Pot’s killing fields. The Holocaust…
Evil. Evil, indeed, on a GRAND SCALE.
We can see countless examples in our text books and our history books. Unfortunately, we also need to look no further than our morning’s newspapers to see more examples taking place in our world today. Evil. Evil, on a grand scale. Today. And so, as I said in yesterday’s essay, evil IS alive and well. In fact, it’s at the door.