Evil And Morality

Evil and Morality

By Joseph Parish

We can find several excellent examples of how different beliefs view and mentally process the concept of evil. The Christian followers ask of God why they have forsaken them. We see that their god has effectively rejected them and subjected the loyal followers to unnecessary abuse and abasement. In the same sense we refer to the Hindu who is asking a similar question of their god and inquiring as to why the god has shed suffering upon their world. Each religious belief has its own set of questions when it comes to the topic of evil.

Life can be confusing and often time's religious dogma adds to the perplexity we witness. On the one hand, we see God with all his alleged power and we frequently imagine that he could with a swipe of his hand eliminate all the evil and misfortune that befalls mankind. On the other we view the horrendous evil that is taking place around us and see no intervention by any higher power. Confusion enters each and every mind. Several questions stem from this and enter our minds as we consider these proposals. Is suffering the key to one's religious devotion? How is sin different than evil?

Before we can begin to understand evil, we must adequately define it. Cunningham used an analogy of evil by comparing it to the infamous Holocaust with occurred during the Second World War. There can be no worse evil than what happened to millions of Jews at the hands of Hitler's henchmen. Here we find an overwhelming excess of dehumanized suffering and pain which no person should ever have to endure.

Beth Davies-Stofka states that religion must consider the problems associated with evil and suffering when contemplating God and his domain. She goes on to tell us that in Islam there are several prevalent views on suffering - It is either a result of sin or a test devised for man by God. Given this explanation we can readily see that such suffering tends to test mankind's belief in a Supreme Being.

Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology reminds us that we must distinguish between physical and natural evil when attempting to define the concept of evil. They proceed to break down evil as a moral evil which is the one which involves social offenses and that of cult evil which is evil aimed at a deity. In a class on ethics and morality which I had previously taken we discovered that what may be morally acceptable is not exactly what society deems in its best interest. The prime example of this is the Holocaust mentioned in the above paragraphs. Hitler may have viewed this event as morally acceptable to his way of thinking, however, to the rest of society, it was against the laws of god and thus wrong in all ways.

The problem of evil is foremost in the Christian belief. The question remains that how can an all-powerful, omnipotent God allow the existence of evil and human suffering? The church leaders usually explain this by the use of "Free Will" within their historic Christian orthodoxy. Theological experts argue this component of religion by continually maintaining it is totally consistent with the scriptures. E. Calvin Beisner proposed the idea that If God exists, why then is there evil? Stated in a more simplistic tone one could question that if God exists, is all powerful and all knowing. If it is all good and evil still exists than perhaps evil is nothing more than an illusion. This belief might be acceptable to some religions, but Christianity outwardly rejects this notion. Even for non-Christians the thought of illusion fails to satisfy our thirst for an answer.

Some have even attempted to explain evil as the result of a diminished god. Religious followers who call themselves "Open Theists" believe just this. They teach that the free will which God has provided man runs unrestricted and even God cannot know in advance what actions man may choose. This opens up the thought that even an all-powerful god cannot create a morally better world where evil would not occur. This brings us to the question as to what the difference is between evil and sin. I would venture to say that evil represents a permanent affliction whereas sin is something which can be forgiven.

In short, the question asked was how Christians respond to this challenge of evil? God created free creatures, but He did not cause them to do only that which is right. It is said that if He were to do so, then the creatures, He created would not be free after all. The fact remains that these free creatures often go astray and do wrong. Christians believe that it is than a reasonable thought that an omnipotent, omniscient, and benevolent God can coexist in a world populated with evil.

In Hinduism, the thought is more upon righteousness and the act of demonstrating how to live properly. Hindus' would never proclaim that a person was inherently evil and we must remember that their faith has no concept of a devil what-so-ever. In the event that a person is not of righteous character they are considered evil, even though their intent may have been morally proper and right.

In general, Hinduism holds the belief that all things are of one ultimate divinity and when a person realizes this belief, they will understand that by harming others they are actually harming themselves. Those who do not understand this principle will go around doing harm as they please. The followers of the Hindu religion might quietly state that a person may have their perspective wrong or that they may be is misguided when committing evil.

Lastly, let's briefly discuss the role Karma plays and how it relates to evil. Our text states that karma is a type of reality which explains the human destiny. In a nutshell, we find that people eventually get what they have earned and deserve. Here we have a long progression of birth, death, and rebirth. The final goal of all concerned is to achieve enlightenment and to finally be liberated from the described cycle of rebirths. We find that there are different types of retribution designated for wrongdoers as the evil doers eventually bring misery and misfortune upon themselves.

Without starting a series of religious wars or offending anyone I would like to propose the following evaluation for theoretical consideration. An interesting thought concerning our world is that it was handed over to the devil which was a display of a certain amount of power for evil. Jesus on the other hand, chose God when confronted with the temptations of the Devil. Jesus chose to be on the side with God. If one takes these bits of information at face value it would appear that God, Jesus and the Devil have equal power whereas one could readily defeat one and another. If they have equal powers it would seem logical that they all possess equally of good and bad. This was merely a thought for consideration.

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