Post No. 090 - Logic flaws

From time to time, I hear people say things like "there is no evil force in the world", meaning there is no battle between Satan and God, or between Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu. Whilst I ten to agree with this, an with the view that the innermost essence of people is good, there a few things that do NOT follow from those ideas.

(1) Just because people are all "good at heart" does NOT mean everyone is so "good", or free from hurt or injury, or free from flaws such as addiction to power, that they will be pleasant, responsive to good deeds or intentions directed to them (for instance, they may be wanting to accumulate power, and see this as a threat) or even necessarily capable of being healed within one lifetime (I am aware from my own past life history just how powerful some things can be in terms of affecting future lives, for better or for worse). In fact, they may be so dangerous you have to actively protect others and yourself from them. That's right, what may be the "shade of grey" that is "right" for a particular situation (i.e., the "Highest Spiritual Good" [see part of this post]) may be acting to contain one person, acknowledging that they are "good at heart", under many layers of pain/hurt/mistakes (which means you should not hate that essence, or think it will never come out - no matter how bad), but also acknowledging that the greatest overall need at that time, place and circulstance, is to protect others from this person's potential to create harm.

Consider these analogies:

• if a dog or other animal has rabies, you do not focus first on comforting the animal: you focus first on keeping others (both human AND animal) from being bitten - and you do so without hating the rabid animal, afterall, it is not the animal's fault or flaw that it has rabies;
• if someone is a child abuser, the first priority is to protect others (in this case, children) from harm - and from the experiences of myself and others in my life (this incarnation alone), some very near and dear to me, I know just how much harm CAN be done by chilhood abuse (up to and including death, yes, but the harm can continue beyond death).

The rabid animal is "good at heart". The abuser has a soul or spirit that may indeed well be scarred or warped, but is the same as every other soul or spirit in this Universe: it has an essence that is "good at heart". You cannot take that line of argument with all but a few people: if you say "everyone is good at heart", then it is everyone. If you do NOT mean everyone, then do not say everyone. Also, you may kill the body that is being used to express that essence, but you cannot kill the soul: it survives death. That's a bit of a fundamental in these areas of belief. However, you absolutely MUST protect children from harm: the damage that has been inflicted to me and others comes, in part, from the lack of belief/support from other adults.

(2) In the 1930s, a formerly civilised nation, known for, amongst others things, its philosophers and music, completed its descent, begun nearly a century before, from "goodness" to evil, and came under the full control of the Nazis - the "National Socialists". It was like joining a political party, at first - although some people had enough sense and vision to leave, people like author Herman Hesse and film director Douglas Sirk. Some of the others who stayed worked against the evil of Nazism enough to have been granted the title "Righteous Amongst the Nations", including 455 Germans. From the Wikipedia entry:

Including Oskar Schindler, the businessman who saved over a thousand Jews by employing them in his factory; and Hans and Sophie Scholl, sibling members of the White Rose resistance movement; Captain Gustav Schroeder who commanded the "Voyage of the Damned"; and German army officer Wilm Hosenfeld.

Sound good? Maybe even noble? Well, one thing these people did NOT do is say "there is no force of evil in the world". OK, so the force may not have been attributable to "the Devil" (shake! shudder! horror!*), but the harm done was massive - including the death of around 2% (maybe a lot more) of the worlds population in World War Two.

So, in summary, just because people are "good at heart" and you have a world view that does not institutionalise and dehumanise evil, does NOT mean you do not have to take action against dangerous, active evil.

* "Joke, Joyce"

Love, light, hugs and blessings

Gnwmythr

Tags: evil, life lessons, daily life, religion, philosophy, balance, Douglas Sirk, Herman Hesse, Nazism, Oskar Schindler, Righteous Amongst the Nations, warfare,

First published: Sunday 13th December, 2009

Last edited: Sunday 13th December, 2009