Evil 1.1

Nathan -

I find myself agreeing somewhat with Morrow’s description of evil embodying a “wandering fluid quality” making it difficult to identify. There is an amount of cultural bias that serves as the basis for our perception of “what is good” and “what is bad”. Even as I read through his writings I find myself wanting to replace the word “evil” with the word “sin.” Not that this may not be accurate substitution, or isn’t what I believe, but just that it is so automatic. I ask myself if this is a result of deep conviction and faith, or just the byproduct of dogmatic conditioning from a young age.

Dogmatic conditioning appears to subconsciously align itself with evil, not only in the modern age, but also throughout history. The crusades, holocaust, and jihad are just a few examples where ideals have been blinded by greed, selfishness, and a desire for power driving humans to do unimaginable acts. Evil will infiltrate into a subculture where it will momentarily coexist with its surroundings. As a parasite latches onto a host, so evil invades the apparent innocence of a community and feeds off the naivety, ignorance, and blindness of its inhabitants. When that parasite is finally brought into the light the host has been infected with the deadly disease it was carrying, not to forget others indirectly infected during the parasites concealed reign.

When viewed from this perspective, evil is not defined by an action, but embodies an existence of its own; a presence that influences our thinking and acting. It would serve true that passage in Job where “The Lord said to Satan, ‘Where have you come from? Satan answered the Lord, ‘From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it.’” (Job 1:7)

Sam

dialogical interaction

Book Dialogues is a documentation of the dialogical interaction between two friends searching to deepen their understanding of God, this world, and their individual role as characters in the story of history.

“Dialogue is the encounter between men, mediated by the world, in order to name the world. Dialogue cannot exist, however, in the absence of a profound love for the world and for people. The naming of the world, which is an act of creation and re-creation, is not possible if it is not infused with love. Love is at the same time the foundation of dialogue and dialogue itself.” - Paulo Freire

“Just as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” - Proverbs 27:17