108th Edition
The White Rose
I started a new book today – “Women Heroes of WWII” by Kathryn Atwood. The first story chronicled the extraordinary life of Sophie Scholl, a German university student who, along with her brother and a few other students, wrote and distributed anti-Nazi messages during WWII. Their secret organization was called The White Rose. Sadly, she and her brother were executed by the Nazis. Her story spawned all kinds of thoughts and feelings. How brave she was to speak up against a regime that didn’t allow freedom of speech. How courageous she was to stand up to evil when evil was in total control.
I’m wondering how well we understand evil today, how accurately we identify it, and how courageous we are at combating it. Let’s dig into that. How would you define evil? Is it a term that isn’t used enough or is it overused? Has the term been weaponized or politicized? How do we distinguish between true evil and something that isn’t evil, but we have strong feelings against it? Does it matter?
I know, that’s way too many questions. Let me suggest a few answers. Evil is anything that is contrary to God’s truth. (I’ll explore what God’s truth is in another blog). Evil is clever, devious, subtle, manipulative, and captivating. And a whole bunch of other things, including charismatic, powerful, and narcissistic. It is ultimately destructive. Fortunately, evil will lose the battle against God in His good time.
But where is it operating today? Where is it functioning, controlling, and leading us down a path to self-destruction? A good friend of mine committed suicide recently. Was there evil involved in that sad and tragic decision?
Everywhere there is hatefulness, a lack of compassion and grace, evil is at hand. When there is joy or celebration for the misfortune and suffering of others, evil is present. Worst of all, where apathy exists in the face of injustice, evil reigns.
If an accurate conclusion is that evil is alive and well in our country today, a conclusion I would not dispute, what are we going to do about it? The first step is to understand and acknowledge that not everything we disagree with is evil. Despite how strongly we feel about our current opinion there is always the possibility that we might not have a complete understanding. Shouldn’t we, at the very least, routinely challenge our knowledge base about important issues? Perhaps even try harder to understand the personal experiences of those individuals with whom we hold opposite viewpoints?
At the same time, we should be vigilant against true evil. We should fight against it relentlessly and courageously. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in a sermon given in London in 1934 that, “No opponent is ever overcome except by love.” Love has to be a component, better yet the center, of how we combat evil. Love of truth, love of justice, and most of all, love of our creator. That is the common thread between all who risk their lives to stand up against evil.
Another wrinkle to all this. In “Mere Christianity” C.S. Lewis says this, “A moderately bad man knows he is not very good: a thoroughly bad man thinks he is all right… Good people know about both good and evil: bad people do not know about either.” Therein reveals why evil is such a powerful force and why it is very difficult to overcome.
Throughout history we have produced individuals who could not identify evil that existed, nor could they acknowledge the evil that had infected them. The worst of the lot thought that the evil they were consumed by was actually virtue. In this mindset, the worst manifestations of evil are perpetrated. In essence, their utter rejection of God prevents them from distinguishing between good and evil. How many people today are infected with evil and don’t realize it? They aren’t open to a cure because they don’t realize they are sick.
Jesus was serious when he told us to love our enemies. It’s how we overcome evil. It may be costly. It will involve sacrifice. But it’s the only path to lasting peace.
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Michael Kayes
*These views are my personal opinions and are not the viewpoints of any company or organization.