I have been following the situations in Gaza (and the West Bank) and in Ukraine pretty closely, and have tried to keep awareness of the much less reported perturbations in Sudan. There is much commentary on the two wars at the forefront of Western media headlines and I acknowledge that one more comment (or set of comments) here won't make any difference to the appalling situations fellow human beings face hour by hour and day by day, not knowing whether they will be alive or dead at the end of any given day.
My reflections in recent weeks have been focused on the power of evil in these situations. For instance, there is the evil of deceit in respect of claims that "this territory is ours because of ...[history]", the deceit not only being that such claims involves controversion of historical facts, but also that such a claim entails justification for war, for killing people, for maiming people, for displacing people, for destroying homes, for taking away livelihoods, for starving people ... there is a long list of the evil of deceit justifying the evil of destruction. Evil multiplies evil.
There is also the evil of leadership viewing human life as expendable. Hamas could surrender, its leadership safe in safe havens outside of Gaza could stop using this war to gain some kind of moral and public relations advantage over Israel. Israel could have a different approach to democracy which would give extreme parties less leverage in government, a leverage which views human life in Gaza and the West Bank as expendable. Russia seems intentionally careless with the lives of its soldiers - each of whom is a human being, not an expendable unit of military prowess - in favour of what, by any count of Russia's great land mass, is a tiny gain to national esteem as a great nation. One could go on.
A further evil of deceit emerges with each attempt at either a ceasefire or an actual peace between foes. No side seems serious about ending the evil multiplying evil. Meetings are held, things are said, proposals are proposed. Shooting and bombing continues.
For Christians, tempted to despair, this is a call to prayer ... Your kingdom come ... Deliver us from evil ... For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against, rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
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I was doing housework and thinking about your post, Peter, and a thought sent me diving for my laptop. I frequently think about the problem of evil - although more in terms of its presence in religious settings. But here's the thing...
I think Leonard Cohen was really on to something when he sang how everyone to love must come, but "like a refugee" ("Anthem").
You've said before on ADU Peter, probably many times!, about the need for humility in the church. And I agree on the need for prayer, I agree on the need for humility. How would our churches be transformed if we came to Love, or repented and returned to Love, (capital "L") like a refugee - as a STARTING POINT. And then prayer, and then.. what might happen from there? Not despair! but I'm certain something different, far more Jesus-shaped, would emerge!
Actual lyrics:
Every heart, every heart to love will come
But like a refugee.
We often think of evil as very dark and horrifying, but of course it is also glamorous and, in some sense, attractive.
One of my first experiences of (Quaker) Meeting for Worship was a vision of everyone having pieces of "the Light" inside them, and then some shining, mysterious power that wanted to horde all the lights for itself.
Those who suffer from mental illness often speak of it as a "dark force" having its own trajectory and even personality at times.
On RNZ this morning, a young man with OCD, with a fear of harming others, says:
"I was constantly afraid that I was making things unclean or infected or contagious, which spiralled into I'm some kind of ... not like a force for evil, but some of contaminant that's hurting others around me."
Donald Kalsched (Trauma and the Soul), a depth psychologist with theological training, speaks of psychopathology as early coping forces against soul injury that have become rigid and and sometimes cruel internal self- parts. He calls these aspects of self, "protectors".
I do not think the "protectors" inside us are the source of evil per se, but I am intrigued at the origins of evil "in the heavens", of the myth of Lucifer as originally a "bearer of light".
What happens when our primitive defences against injury - the "protectors" within - become allied with other parts of self, our hunger for power and self preservation gone mad, the dark force within us and all around that wants to 'horde all the lights for itself'?
Is the result of this unholy alliance what is called "the dark triad"? ....i.e. Paulhus and Williams' personality theory of malevolence being made up of narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism.
C/f. The dark triad in current world autocrats: Putin (psychopathy), Trump (narcissism), and Xi Jumping (Machiavellianism).
* Jinping! (Autocorrect!!)
Mark, I have an essay about the meaning of "deliver us from evil" in the Lords Prayer - very long and covers a lot of ground. One bit describes how good people can feel bad about themselves, e.g. a good teacher may sometimes feel like a bad teacher, or a good parent may often feel like they're a terrible parent.
Then... "Continuing along these lines, for a country to be truly “great,” then, that country would encourage its citizens not to suppress but rather to reckon with collective guilt, or at the very least collective responsibility for past wrongs, for instance the legacy of slavery in the case of the USA."
Does this relate to some of what you're discussing above? - trying to get my head around it :) It seems similar to me re the fear of harming others, and how that fear has the potential to get out-of-hand and perhaps trigger an extreme form of self-protection.
The essay is by Treena Balds and Timothy Morton.
I can't quite get my head around it, Liz. It sounds different but interesting nonetheless.
That is surely a comment to wrap ones brain around and back again Mark!! The common thread I see between comments starting with your use of the word deceit or decieved +Peter is the recognition that evil often is a masquerade of sorts. Appearing as you mention Mark as light.Many people commit evil acts as they have been persuaded they are actually good, the right thing to do. In line with this it also seems to be aided with things being hidden or secrets, I think perhaps linking with comments re the Masonic lodge. I am also not sure any of us are immune, it’s the same old story, eat this and surely you will not die? Check out porn on the internet a little look has never done any harm. We don’t want war, the Ukrainian’s are Nazi’s, and we are just protecting our own.
In an attempt to correlate with the internal world of psychopathy; the enemy of our souls is just that and I can relate to the example you give initially mark re a wounded soul taking on board ways of thinking that can rob them of their light 💡… Nor would it be without reason to think satan would exploit the situation as he doesn’t have scruples when it comes to kicking a person when they are down or manipulation.
Notwithstanding it is beyond me whether the leaders you mention Mark have a combination of damaged psyche and dark forces or they have just chosen the dark side, one never knows!
A quote which I think someone might have mentioned before but appropriate given his Russian heritage and time in the Gulag:
If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Forgot to say, yes +Peter we need to pray and then have more prayer and more prayer…
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