When I look at the election that just passed, I shake my head and wonder how anyone could accept the stuff coming at them from Romney and pals. They were, and still are, talking of putting the United States back fifty or more years with their views on human rights, welfare, women, and abortion to name a few. Yet there must have been a lot of people wanting to move the world back, because the race to the White House was close… too close. Thank goodness there were enough thinking people to save the nation.
Do people actually believe those attack ads? Did they actually hear what this batch of Republicans said? Divisiveness is splitting the country right down the middle? Perhaps people are so busy with their own demands and stresses that they don’t see what’s coming. Or is it that they just don’t know what to do to fix it.
I work hard to be as non-partisan as possible, and believe me; if the Democrats were shovelling out the same stuff heard during this latest campaign I wouldn’t like them either. An interesting thing about people is; once they have learned and advanced, you cannot make them forget and return to the old ways.
It looks like the United States is in very serious trouble. Not just fiscally, but at a much deeper level, because the civil war never ended. The battle between the states is still being fought as the Tea Party ripped the Mason-Dickson line wider and deeper and the minorities are caught in the middle.
The problem with this mess is that the US is going to take everyone else down with them. It appears that without cooperation, the economy is on the verge of complete collapse, and, because the world economy is so closely tied, everyone will be pulled down into economic collapse with them. Will we have a depression brought on by hubris? This is scarier than any horror movie Hollywood could ever produce. Is there a way to appeal to the Republicans to soften their position and compromise? And if they refuse, it is up to the people must remember that fact at the next election. The Occupy Movement told us in clear terms that they were fed up with the 90/10 split of money and demanded a change.
There is one last aspect to be considered, and that is the enormous greedy corporations that began this whole downslide. We may think they belong to the specific country where they have established their base, but on closer examination, they are actually operating as though they are a country unto their own. The country of oil, the country of big banks, the country of consumerism, and the country of…you name it. As long as they flourish and make enormous profits, that’s all that is required. Their employees may live in the United States, Canada, England, and Europe, but those places are irrelevant. The truth is, the mega-companies are simply using space, people, and resources of those places and have little connection or obligation to them. Hence they can walk away from the taxes and other obligations to the people. Their only mandate is profit and they will do whatever is needed to make that happen.
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Saturday, November 3, 2012
The Question of Evil
The Question of Evil
One day when I was around ten I was in the kitchen listening to the radio that was perpetually on. The sounds of Benny Goodman, Glen Miller and Frank Sinatra filled the room and offer a different world. As Bing Crosby finished his croon a man came on to talk about a great preacher who was coming to our city from far away. Although my family wasn’t religious my mother didn’t object when I asked if I could go to hear him.
Although my mother was an atheist, when we were little she sporadically packed us all four of us off to the nearest church for Sunday school. Later I was never sure if she sent us as a way to have a little peace and quiet from us children. My sister and I walked hand in hand to various churches dressed in our best clothes and shiny Easter shoes while my two brothers reluctantly straggled along behind in their breeches and long argyle socks.
We were one of those families who made a hobby of moving. I’ve lost count of how many times we packed up one place to find another that was not all that much better and sometime worse. Indeed there were some where we had to bundle up in the early morning and scurried out to use the outhouse. My mother was forced to cook on a wood burning stove and our heat consisted of a potbelly stove in the middle of the room.
Woven within those moves, during our younger years we attended the Baptist and United or Presbyterian churches; then again there was the Salvation Army and Anglican. One day when I was older I asked Mom why, as an atheist, she sent us to church. She explained that she wanted us children to make up our own minds on religion and exposing us to various churches would help us to think about it. These excursions didn’t last too many years and by the time I was nine there were no more churches.
When the night came for the great preacher I shyly slipped almost unnoticed into a back pew with anticipation of what we were going to hear. The preacher turned out to be of the fire and brimstone variety and by the end of his sermon my heart was pounding, I couldn’t swallow and I could barely think clearly. I convinced that I was going to hell. Up until this point I had no understanding of the Devil or that I was heading to eternal damnation for my sins. When the preacher called for people to come up to the front and be saved I overcame my shyness and joined the line.
That night when I got home, although I had been saved, I still had no doubt that the Devil was going to get me because I was a sinner. After all I argued with my mom about doing my chores and I wasn’t very good at school.
“What’s wrong with you”, Mom asked the next day as I mooned around the house staring at the floor. When I explained about being a sinner and that the Devil was going to get me, my mother was furious. She quickly let me know that nothing of the sort was going to happen so I could just forget about what that silly man had said. Still, I wasn’t able to put it into perspective until I became an adult and could understand better. That was when a curiosity arose in me around the concept of sin, evil and demons. I became interested in how the fear these things produced were being used to control people. Over the years I continued to hear these same messages given by various people and became frustrated because I saw the lie.
What follows is a research study to stand back and take a clear look evil, sin and the Devil.
The Beginning
It seems the concept of evil is so basic that it belongs right up there with survival and the continuation of the species. Throughout history evil has been feared, personified and revered to a point that, for some, it has become a solid entity. Its iron grasp has established such power and control in the world that few stop to question its menacing authority. For some, the mere thought of evil conjures up pictures of diabolical demons and the horrors of agony. The Devil and Hell have become strong legs that many religious groups stand upon.
When it came to understanding, I reached into the pool of knowledge and came out with a multitude of questions. Is evil the actions of people possessed by devilish forces? Do intentionally hurtful actions with little or no regard for others fit into the realm of evil? Are people with a biological predisposition to homosexuality evildoers? What about different religious groups whose philosophies don’t agree; do they fit into the diabolical mould?
What about sin; is there a line between evil and sin? My dictionary says that sin is a transgression of theological principles. So, does that mean breaking the laws of the Ten Commandments or the doctrines a particular religion has adopted? Evil, on the other hand, is defined as something that is morally wrong or intentional direct harm to others.
OK, I get the part about intentional harm without considering others; but the part about morally wrong brings it overlapping shoulder to shoulder with the definition of sin. Where’s the line between transgressions of theological principles and morality? Some of the Ten Commandments can be poured into the cup that contains the category of sin, while easily pour into the cup containing evil. I could look at a holy book, but which holy book do I use? Is morality as subjective as is truth?
As I drowned in an ocean of questions I reach out and grab a lifeboat in the hopes of pulling myself to a place of understanding. But have I grabbed the right lifeboat? Are there other perspectives that will help the confusion?
In the effort to clarify the two, most of the world agrees those who rape, kill, torture and destroy other people’s lives fit into the category of evil. But what of those taught from the moment they leave the womb that certain people deserve their wrath; are they evil? What of the Devil; are there actually satanic forces pushing people to do things beyond their control?
When I dug deep to find the origins of evil I found it dated back beyond human evolution. Epicurus, a Greek philosopher who lived from 341 BCE to 270 BCE, asked a question that had the same effect as, “Which came first the chicken and the egg? His question was, “If an all powerful and perfect god exists, then evil does not. However, evil does exist; therefore, an all powerful and perfect god does not exist.” Today this same question has evolved to, “If God is all-loving, all powerful and everywhere then how is it that evil exists in the world? Worse still, if God is the creator of all we know, then he has also created evil.
These thoughts have dragged with them never-ending discussions that stretch back centuries. Some philosophers when considering the question of evil have concluded, like Epicurus, that God does not exist. Others have decided no human can ever understand God. And then there are those who say free will can never exist without evil. While still others say that God had nothing to do with evil and the subject is a branch of moral philosophy, not religion.
In the process of my excavations I came to realize there is no beginning; no clear line took me to an obvious beginning of evil. I first went to the jungles of Africa and our direct ancestors, the chimpanzees.
Chimps may never write a sonnet, but they do have very basic ways of communicating. Each chimp has his or her own distinct call that others in their group recognize. They also use a variety of sounds and gestures to communicate in basic sign language. I speculate that the early cave dwellers weren’t much more advanced than this. In my mind, after locating a large beast ripe for the kill, a caveman rushes back to the group and excitedly grunts, points and waves his weapon. In my imagination the others would know immediately what he meant. Today we know language is an essential ingredient of intellectual advancement and intelligence is essential in order to recognize evil.
Chimpanzees show caring for one other which in turn demonstrates the presence of basic morals. Grooming can last anywhere from a few minutes to several hours and can include a number of individuals. Chimps also love to cuddle and grandma chimps willingly care for their grandchildren.
The way chimps react to death is astonishingly similar to humans. The Blair Drummond Safari and Adventure Park in Stirling, UK, captured a rare video of the death of an old female chimp and the reaction of the other chimps around her. Because of her age the park officials knew she was dying and turned on the video camera to sneak a peek of what happened. The chimps closest to the old one gather around to pat and stroke her until it was clear she was dead. The dying chimp’s baby tried to wake her and became quite frustrated when she wasn’t able to revive her mother. Eventually, they left the body alone and then became listless and subdued. They didn’t eat or sleep for a few days and avoided the place where old chimp had died even after the body had been removed. And when death is accidental it brings about frenzied activity with lots of excitement and screaming.
These reactions to death indicate a surprising level of self-awareness. When a baby dies, the mother often carries it around with her for two or three days. Then gradually, she’ll become careless with the body by dragging it along the ground by a leg or an arm and then eventually she lets it drop and leaves the body behind.
Researchers are making astonishing advances and discoveries in animal abilities. It seems that even before our ancestors traded the trees for two legs, there was already a solid grounding for morals. Dr. Marc Bekoff is a professor at the University of Colorado in Bolder in ethology (a person who studies animals like Jane Goodall). He is well known for his extensive research on animals and he tells us that all mammals are hard wired with a sense of morals that isn’t all that different from humans. Tests done on various creatures from mice to wolves proved that morals are present with every mammal he tested. Dolphins went farther and displayed empathy for other species while chimps attacked another chimp if it steps outside their moral code.
Origins of Evil
It seems the early hominids had some groundwork for a moral base. Although this knowledge may not make us any wiser on the origins of evil it does suggest that early humans had a sense of what was right and what wasn’t.
Finding non-partisan information on evil’s beginnings was like slogging up a muddy hill in snowshoes. The information I found was either based on a specific religious perspective or the data didn’t go back far enough. I was finally able to take the snowshoes off when I found a five part video series called “The History of the Devil”, presented by Lost Worlds that went back to Mesopotamia. This presentation offers a list of scholarly speakers; Rt. Rev. Tom Wright, Rev. Lionel Fanthorpe, Dr. Helen Bond, Dr. Nicolas Baker-Brian and Rt. Rev. Richard Holloway and offers an indepth overview of the origins and evolution of the Devil.
Around 3,500 ago Mesopotamia was a huge country that wrapped itself around the east end of the Mediterranean Sea like an enormous blanket. Over time it changed its shape and became smaller as it got divided up between other nations. At the time we are speaking of the great country it stretched back to integrate present-day Syria, Iraq and Iran as well as Jordan, Palestine and bordered on Canaan (where Israel is today). It was then that people believed in many gods who served different purposes that affected their lives. These gods were often mischievous and their misbehaviour was thought to have a direct effect on the people of Earth. It’s from these beliefs that intricately woven tales produced the marvellously rich stories of mythology. The Jews, just a short step away, had already established their one God over two thousand years earlier.
It was at this time that a man named Zoroaster stepped into prominence with a new concept. He said there weren’t many gods, there were just two. One was a good god he named Ahura Mazda and the other lied and was called Azachrinan. While his thinking may not be astonishing for us today, considering the fact that this man was surrounded by the concept of multiple gods, he was very advanced.
It’s important to underline in red marker pen that Zoroaster didn’t see the lying god as evil, he was simply a reality. According to his theory, caught in a tug-of-war humans were confronted by these two gods and it was up to them which one they chose to follow.
By the year 70-500 C.E. Zoroaster’s thinking had evolved. The Jews accepted the good and lying aspects, but could not agree that it came from their one God. Therefore this concept was changed and now it was humans that had two sides of their personality; a good urge, called yester tov, and a bad urge called yester ha-ra. Both of these urges were necessary, however, because the bad urge provided people with the energy needed to get things done. On the other hand if these bad urges weren’t channeled properly then yetser ha-ra could become a source of evil. It’s interesting that at this point there’s still no concept of an evil entity we have come to know as the Devil
There are many people who, for their own personal reasons, get off on the concept of a creature of evil. To those people I offer my condolences because, contrary to popular belief, there was no Devil in the Garden of Eden. Genesis talks about a serpent as a temptress, and maybe even a tease, but there is no mention of evil or a malevolent entity. And here’s a real shocker, there isn’t one place in the Bible, old or new, where an evil entity is mentioned or created. Satan does make a magical first appearance from out of nowhere in the book of Job, but there he isn’t portrayed as evil. In the early Hebrew language the word “Satan” simply means “the accuser”.
There is a fascinating passage in the Chapter of Job where Satan is first introduced; “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. And the LORD said to Satan, "From where do you come?" Satan answers the LORD and said, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it." (Job 1:6-7)”
My initial reaction after reading this was; wouldn’t God know Satan if He created him? Yet, it appears from this statement that they have never met. Satan’s answer is equally fascinating. Satan seems to come from the Earth and being amongst the people there.
It’s well known that the Jews believed God punished them when they did something that displeased Him. Today we realize little children can become very disappointed in themselves when they do something that upsets their parents. It must have been tramatic to think that one continually displeased God and had to constantly be punished and it makes sense then that the concept of Satan (the accuser) helped to absolve some of the blame. If there was an entity stiring the pot and making people do things they shouldn’t, then they didn’t have to look at themselves too closely.
We get a little closer to the evolution of evil when we learn what the Greeks did with Zoroaster’s two gods. They simply incorporated the negative one into their existing god, Hades. He was the god of the underworld and was unwelcome, scary and fit perfectly into a lying god. This shifting of things and allowed them to be able to maintain their numerous gods.
According to one story the gods of Mount Olympus didn’t like Hades because he wasn’t nice and none of the other gods wanted to be around him. Greek Mythology explains that eventually Zeus and Hades battled to be the leader of the gods. When Zeus won he sent Hades to a place also called Hades, meaning “the unseen”. An interesting aside to this story, in the Bible God battled with Lucifer to get him out of Heaven. The only difference is that Lucifer got to take a host of fallen angels with him.
When we look deeper at the name Lucifer it appears it was the nick-name of a king in Babylon who had held the Jews captive. The name means shining star or son of the dawn. In a later translation of the Hebrew Bible we learn that this king thought of himself so high, yet he was brought down. The verse of the bible referring to God’s battle with Lucifer was actually referring to the death of this cruel king.
The next part of the story of evil’s evolution now comes from the Hebrews. Like most modern cities today, there was a garbage dump outside of Jerusalem. As the garbage piled up the odours coming from the dump could get revolting and the rats became a problem. When the smell and rats got too disgusting, they would burn the putrid pile. Burning of the trash was not the only activity that went on at the dump. They doubled up on the job, emptied their jails and burned the criminals alive at the same time.
It makes sense that Hell and the burning of souls became married into one horrendous concept. Now, there was a fire and brimstone underworld home became combined for Hades and Lucifer. Over time other images and names were joined in as various cultures attributed their ideas of an evil being.
Where did Sin Come From
Although bad things happened throughout history it was what humans thought that brought the beginning of evil and sin. The word ‘sin’ originally meant, ‘to miss the point’ or ‘to err’ and wasn’t mashed up with ‘evil’ as it is today. Evil, on the other hand, hasn’t changed its meaning very much over many centuries. It originated from an Angle-Saxon word “evel” which meant bad, cruel, unskilled or defective. It could also be used for harm, crime, misfortune and disease. Although it wasn’t until the term evil eye came into use that it took on the meaning we know today. Several religions saw evil as something morally bad or wrong, such as turning away from God or deliberately breaking the Ten Commandments. Today evil has generally become intentionally inflicting of harm, injury or misfortune on others without consideration of their feelings or situation.
Based on these definitions sin is a mistake, something we all do on a daily bases, but that doesn’t fit into the category of evil. I believe that most people today are basically good. Oh, I know they might tell small lies, or avoid doing things that should be tended to, but aren’t evil. It’s when those situations turn into a deliberate action with no regard for others that it turns into evil.
Paul’s Biblical letters took sin to a deeper meaning than merely missing the point. Paul taught that Jesus gave his life for our sins and St. Augustine built upon these thoughts and stated that Original Sin came to us through the actions of Adam and Eve. He also emphasised that it was only through baptism and the belief in Jesus that people could be saved. It was also St. Augustine who viewed sex as a carnal sin. I don’t know what this guy’ problem was but the Roman Catholic Church sure agreed.
The story of the Garden of Eden has had such a profound effect on the world I’d like to take a moment to examine it closer. Today this story is generally accepted as a myth told before we understood evolution. This story represents the pre-human creatures that lived in the ‘garden’, which I interpret as a place within nature, or belonging to nature. These animals lived multiplied and died without a thought beyond their next meal, survival and the production and caring for their young. They didn’t really care where they came from, the existence of good and evil nor manufacturing things to make their life easier.
Animals don’t know evil, shame or guilt unless humans have it to them and then the shame and guilt is actually a fear of punishment. When a well-fed cat kills a bird, it doesn’t feel shame or wrongness about its actions, nor has it committed murder because there is no such word in its consciousness. And when a dog bites a person or fornicates on the front lawn, it doesn’t hang its head and feel bad. Animals simply go about doing what they do with no thought beyond what is happening in a timeless now.
That’s the way it was until the first chimpanzee segregated itself from nature by having independent thought. At that exact instant, perhaps a flash from above filled the skies; the creature that had once been a part of nature no longer belonged. Indeed, Genesis says that they ate of the tree of “knowledge of good and evil” and if that isn’t an analogy, I don’t know what is. By having an autonomous thought, the creature instantly and automatically was ousted from the Garden of Eden and no longer belonged as a wild the beast of the wild. At that exact moment the first step was taken toward becoming a new species…humans.
Simultaneously two other extremely important events happened. Coupled with independent thought came the introduction of free will. Once hominids had independent thought and free will, they took control of their world and chose beyond instinct. The other thing that poked its head into existence at the moment of independent thought was the first step toward the development of the ego. Whether that ego is good or bad the fact remains that humans are the only animal who can claim an ego. And for the purposes of this article, it’s that same ego that has led humans to evil. Contrary to Genesis a snake had nothing to do with kicking anyone out of the Garden of Eden. The creatures that were on their way to becoming human did that without any help from anywhere.
Socialization
The development of language coupled with living in groups also played a leading role in the development of evil. Once early humans developed far enough that they were no longer simply reacting to their world, expectations, a society and civilizations were established.
Language gave our ancestors a common understanding of the world. They gained control over their lives by labelling the things around them and expand their understanding. These attempts at understanding eventually brought the mythological stories that became the stuff of the gods.
As societies were formed systems of living developed that included sets of rules and laws and so did the judgment of what was beneficial or corrupt; the very beginnings of the awareness of evil was introduced into human thinking.
Thought and freewill, language and the ego along with tribal living all contributed to the development of evil in the human world.
The Development of the Ego
The ego is the king, the queen, the emperor and pope wrapped up in a single package. It plays the number one role in the evolution of evil. Indeed, evil would not exist without it. The progression of the human sense of self probably didn’t happen at the exact moment independent thought poked its head above the swarming sea of instinct. The ego’s trek began when the first hominids saw themselves as separate entities from the pack. Language offered an added boost when naming of themselves and their children began. A name told the hominid that he or she was not a piece of the whole, but a distinct individual.
Numerous authors have written about the development of the ego from Erik Erikson to Ken Wilber. I wonder if the stages of development a human goes through can be used as a model the earliest hominids went through in getting to the human status. I am not alone on this assumption. Among others Dr. Don Beck and Mr. Ken Wilber also equate the development of children to the evolution of the human species.
Erik Erikson developed eight stages of the human ego and later, when his wife became old, she helped him develop a ninth stage. Erikson begins at the beginning of life with the Hope and Will stages and continues on to Purpose, Competence, Fidelity, Love, Caring and Wisdom. Since the knowledge of Erikson’s work, several researchers have piled another mound of material into the soup. Ken Wilber thinks that the development of the ego began around the time shamans were introduced into the picture.
God is Not Evil
God had no part in the creation of evil nor did the Devil. Evil evolved as human beings developed. It is simply an aspect of free will expression of our choices. Sometimes humans choose negative behaviors over positive ones.
It’s interesting to learn that at one point in our evolution the realization of evil did not even exist. As humans’ cognitive abilities developed they were able to comprehend right from wrong at a deeper level. Does that mean Evil didn’t exist before its identification? Of course it did and the only differences were in how they saw things. Ten thousand years ago the concept of evil was married with God because at that time people just didn’t understand.
Now we need to take back our power through the choices we make. Each time we give away our responsibility, we also give away our freedom because they are as linked as air and breathing.
One day when I was around ten I was in the kitchen listening to the radio that was perpetually on. The sounds of Benny Goodman, Glen Miller and Frank Sinatra filled the room and offer a different world. As Bing Crosby finished his croon a man came on to talk about a great preacher who was coming to our city from far away. Although my family wasn’t religious my mother didn’t object when I asked if I could go to hear him.
Although my mother was an atheist, when we were little she sporadically packed us all four of us off to the nearest church for Sunday school. Later I was never sure if she sent us as a way to have a little peace and quiet from us children. My sister and I walked hand in hand to various churches dressed in our best clothes and shiny Easter shoes while my two brothers reluctantly straggled along behind in their breeches and long argyle socks.
We were one of those families who made a hobby of moving. I’ve lost count of how many times we packed up one place to find another that was not all that much better and sometime worse. Indeed there were some where we had to bundle up in the early morning and scurried out to use the outhouse. My mother was forced to cook on a wood burning stove and our heat consisted of a potbelly stove in the middle of the room.
Woven within those moves, during our younger years we attended the Baptist and United or Presbyterian churches; then again there was the Salvation Army and Anglican. One day when I was older I asked Mom why, as an atheist, she sent us to church. She explained that she wanted us children to make up our own minds on religion and exposing us to various churches would help us to think about it. These excursions didn’t last too many years and by the time I was nine there were no more churches.
When the night came for the great preacher I shyly slipped almost unnoticed into a back pew with anticipation of what we were going to hear. The preacher turned out to be of the fire and brimstone variety and by the end of his sermon my heart was pounding, I couldn’t swallow and I could barely think clearly. I convinced that I was going to hell. Up until this point I had no understanding of the Devil or that I was heading to eternal damnation for my sins. When the preacher called for people to come up to the front and be saved I overcame my shyness and joined the line.
That night when I got home, although I had been saved, I still had no doubt that the Devil was going to get me because I was a sinner. After all I argued with my mom about doing my chores and I wasn’t very good at school.
“What’s wrong with you”, Mom asked the next day as I mooned around the house staring at the floor. When I explained about being a sinner and that the Devil was going to get me, my mother was furious. She quickly let me know that nothing of the sort was going to happen so I could just forget about what that silly man had said. Still, I wasn’t able to put it into perspective until I became an adult and could understand better. That was when a curiosity arose in me around the concept of sin, evil and demons. I became interested in how the fear these things produced were being used to control people. Over the years I continued to hear these same messages given by various people and became frustrated because I saw the lie.
What follows is a research study to stand back and take a clear look evil, sin and the Devil.
The Beginning
It seems the concept of evil is so basic that it belongs right up there with survival and the continuation of the species. Throughout history evil has been feared, personified and revered to a point that, for some, it has become a solid entity. Its iron grasp has established such power and control in the world that few stop to question its menacing authority. For some, the mere thought of evil conjures up pictures of diabolical demons and the horrors of agony. The Devil and Hell have become strong legs that many religious groups stand upon.
When it came to understanding, I reached into the pool of knowledge and came out with a multitude of questions. Is evil the actions of people possessed by devilish forces? Do intentionally hurtful actions with little or no regard for others fit into the realm of evil? Are people with a biological predisposition to homosexuality evildoers? What about different religious groups whose philosophies don’t agree; do they fit into the diabolical mould?
What about sin; is there a line between evil and sin? My dictionary says that sin is a transgression of theological principles. So, does that mean breaking the laws of the Ten Commandments or the doctrines a particular religion has adopted? Evil, on the other hand, is defined as something that is morally wrong or intentional direct harm to others.
OK, I get the part about intentional harm without considering others; but the part about morally wrong brings it overlapping shoulder to shoulder with the definition of sin. Where’s the line between transgressions of theological principles and morality? Some of the Ten Commandments can be poured into the cup that contains the category of sin, while easily pour into the cup containing evil. I could look at a holy book, but which holy book do I use? Is morality as subjective as is truth?
As I drowned in an ocean of questions I reach out and grab a lifeboat in the hopes of pulling myself to a place of understanding. But have I grabbed the right lifeboat? Are there other perspectives that will help the confusion?
In the effort to clarify the two, most of the world agrees those who rape, kill, torture and destroy other people’s lives fit into the category of evil. But what of those taught from the moment they leave the womb that certain people deserve their wrath; are they evil? What of the Devil; are there actually satanic forces pushing people to do things beyond their control?
When I dug deep to find the origins of evil I found it dated back beyond human evolution. Epicurus, a Greek philosopher who lived from 341 BCE to 270 BCE, asked a question that had the same effect as, “Which came first the chicken and the egg? His question was, “If an all powerful and perfect god exists, then evil does not. However, evil does exist; therefore, an all powerful and perfect god does not exist.” Today this same question has evolved to, “If God is all-loving, all powerful and everywhere then how is it that evil exists in the world? Worse still, if God is the creator of all we know, then he has also created evil.
These thoughts have dragged with them never-ending discussions that stretch back centuries. Some philosophers when considering the question of evil have concluded, like Epicurus, that God does not exist. Others have decided no human can ever understand God. And then there are those who say free will can never exist without evil. While still others say that God had nothing to do with evil and the subject is a branch of moral philosophy, not religion.
In the process of my excavations I came to realize there is no beginning; no clear line took me to an obvious beginning of evil. I first went to the jungles of Africa and our direct ancestors, the chimpanzees.
Chimps may never write a sonnet, but they do have very basic ways of communicating. Each chimp has his or her own distinct call that others in their group recognize. They also use a variety of sounds and gestures to communicate in basic sign language. I speculate that the early cave dwellers weren’t much more advanced than this. In my mind, after locating a large beast ripe for the kill, a caveman rushes back to the group and excitedly grunts, points and waves his weapon. In my imagination the others would know immediately what he meant. Today we know language is an essential ingredient of intellectual advancement and intelligence is essential in order to recognize evil.
Chimpanzees show caring for one other which in turn demonstrates the presence of basic morals. Grooming can last anywhere from a few minutes to several hours and can include a number of individuals. Chimps also love to cuddle and grandma chimps willingly care for their grandchildren.
The way chimps react to death is astonishingly similar to humans. The Blair Drummond Safari and Adventure Park in Stirling, UK, captured a rare video of the death of an old female chimp and the reaction of the other chimps around her. Because of her age the park officials knew she was dying and turned on the video camera to sneak a peek of what happened. The chimps closest to the old one gather around to pat and stroke her until it was clear she was dead. The dying chimp’s baby tried to wake her and became quite frustrated when she wasn’t able to revive her mother. Eventually, they left the body alone and then became listless and subdued. They didn’t eat or sleep for a few days and avoided the place where old chimp had died even after the body had been removed. And when death is accidental it brings about frenzied activity with lots of excitement and screaming.
These reactions to death indicate a surprising level of self-awareness. When a baby dies, the mother often carries it around with her for two or three days. Then gradually, she’ll become careless with the body by dragging it along the ground by a leg or an arm and then eventually she lets it drop and leaves the body behind.
Researchers are making astonishing advances and discoveries in animal abilities. It seems that even before our ancestors traded the trees for two legs, there was already a solid grounding for morals. Dr. Marc Bekoff is a professor at the University of Colorado in Bolder in ethology (a person who studies animals like Jane Goodall). He is well known for his extensive research on animals and he tells us that all mammals are hard wired with a sense of morals that isn’t all that different from humans. Tests done on various creatures from mice to wolves proved that morals are present with every mammal he tested. Dolphins went farther and displayed empathy for other species while chimps attacked another chimp if it steps outside their moral code.
Origins of Evil
It seems the early hominids had some groundwork for a moral base. Although this knowledge may not make us any wiser on the origins of evil it does suggest that early humans had a sense of what was right and what wasn’t.
Finding non-partisan information on evil’s beginnings was like slogging up a muddy hill in snowshoes. The information I found was either based on a specific religious perspective or the data didn’t go back far enough. I was finally able to take the snowshoes off when I found a five part video series called “The History of the Devil”, presented by Lost Worlds that went back to Mesopotamia. This presentation offers a list of scholarly speakers; Rt. Rev. Tom Wright, Rev. Lionel Fanthorpe, Dr. Helen Bond, Dr. Nicolas Baker-Brian and Rt. Rev. Richard Holloway and offers an indepth overview of the origins and evolution of the Devil.
Around 3,500 ago Mesopotamia was a huge country that wrapped itself around the east end of the Mediterranean Sea like an enormous blanket. Over time it changed its shape and became smaller as it got divided up between other nations. At the time we are speaking of the great country it stretched back to integrate present-day Syria, Iraq and Iran as well as Jordan, Palestine and bordered on Canaan (where Israel is today). It was then that people believed in many gods who served different purposes that affected their lives. These gods were often mischievous and their misbehaviour was thought to have a direct effect on the people of Earth. It’s from these beliefs that intricately woven tales produced the marvellously rich stories of mythology. The Jews, just a short step away, had already established their one God over two thousand years earlier.
It was at this time that a man named Zoroaster stepped into prominence with a new concept. He said there weren’t many gods, there were just two. One was a good god he named Ahura Mazda and the other lied and was called Azachrinan. While his thinking may not be astonishing for us today, considering the fact that this man was surrounded by the concept of multiple gods, he was very advanced.
It’s important to underline in red marker pen that Zoroaster didn’t see the lying god as evil, he was simply a reality. According to his theory, caught in a tug-of-war humans were confronted by these two gods and it was up to them which one they chose to follow.
By the year 70-500 C.E. Zoroaster’s thinking had evolved. The Jews accepted the good and lying aspects, but could not agree that it came from their one God. Therefore this concept was changed and now it was humans that had two sides of their personality; a good urge, called yester tov, and a bad urge called yester ha-ra. Both of these urges were necessary, however, because the bad urge provided people with the energy needed to get things done. On the other hand if these bad urges weren’t channeled properly then yetser ha-ra could become a source of evil. It’s interesting that at this point there’s still no concept of an evil entity we have come to know as the Devil
There are many people who, for their own personal reasons, get off on the concept of a creature of evil. To those people I offer my condolences because, contrary to popular belief, there was no Devil in the Garden of Eden. Genesis talks about a serpent as a temptress, and maybe even a tease, but there is no mention of evil or a malevolent entity. And here’s a real shocker, there isn’t one place in the Bible, old or new, where an evil entity is mentioned or created. Satan does make a magical first appearance from out of nowhere in the book of Job, but there he isn’t portrayed as evil. In the early Hebrew language the word “Satan” simply means “the accuser”.
There is a fascinating passage in the Chapter of Job where Satan is first introduced; “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them. And the LORD said to Satan, "From where do you come?" Satan answers the LORD and said, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it." (Job 1:6-7)”
My initial reaction after reading this was; wouldn’t God know Satan if He created him? Yet, it appears from this statement that they have never met. Satan’s answer is equally fascinating. Satan seems to come from the Earth and being amongst the people there.
It’s well known that the Jews believed God punished them when they did something that displeased Him. Today we realize little children can become very disappointed in themselves when they do something that upsets their parents. It must have been tramatic to think that one continually displeased God and had to constantly be punished and it makes sense then that the concept of Satan (the accuser) helped to absolve some of the blame. If there was an entity stiring the pot and making people do things they shouldn’t, then they didn’t have to look at themselves too closely.
We get a little closer to the evolution of evil when we learn what the Greeks did with Zoroaster’s two gods. They simply incorporated the negative one into their existing god, Hades. He was the god of the underworld and was unwelcome, scary and fit perfectly into a lying god. This shifting of things and allowed them to be able to maintain their numerous gods.
According to one story the gods of Mount Olympus didn’t like Hades because he wasn’t nice and none of the other gods wanted to be around him. Greek Mythology explains that eventually Zeus and Hades battled to be the leader of the gods. When Zeus won he sent Hades to a place also called Hades, meaning “the unseen”. An interesting aside to this story, in the Bible God battled with Lucifer to get him out of Heaven. The only difference is that Lucifer got to take a host of fallen angels with him.
When we look deeper at the name Lucifer it appears it was the nick-name of a king in Babylon who had held the Jews captive. The name means shining star or son of the dawn. In a later translation of the Hebrew Bible we learn that this king thought of himself so high, yet he was brought down. The verse of the bible referring to God’s battle with Lucifer was actually referring to the death of this cruel king.
The next part of the story of evil’s evolution now comes from the Hebrews. Like most modern cities today, there was a garbage dump outside of Jerusalem. As the garbage piled up the odours coming from the dump could get revolting and the rats became a problem. When the smell and rats got too disgusting, they would burn the putrid pile. Burning of the trash was not the only activity that went on at the dump. They doubled up on the job, emptied their jails and burned the criminals alive at the same time.
It makes sense that Hell and the burning of souls became married into one horrendous concept. Now, there was a fire and brimstone underworld home became combined for Hades and Lucifer. Over time other images and names were joined in as various cultures attributed their ideas of an evil being.
Where did Sin Come From
Although bad things happened throughout history it was what humans thought that brought the beginning of evil and sin. The word ‘sin’ originally meant, ‘to miss the point’ or ‘to err’ and wasn’t mashed up with ‘evil’ as it is today. Evil, on the other hand, hasn’t changed its meaning very much over many centuries. It originated from an Angle-Saxon word “evel” which meant bad, cruel, unskilled or defective. It could also be used for harm, crime, misfortune and disease. Although it wasn’t until the term evil eye came into use that it took on the meaning we know today. Several religions saw evil as something morally bad or wrong, such as turning away from God or deliberately breaking the Ten Commandments. Today evil has generally become intentionally inflicting of harm, injury or misfortune on others without consideration of their feelings or situation.
Based on these definitions sin is a mistake, something we all do on a daily bases, but that doesn’t fit into the category of evil. I believe that most people today are basically good. Oh, I know they might tell small lies, or avoid doing things that should be tended to, but aren’t evil. It’s when those situations turn into a deliberate action with no regard for others that it turns into evil.
Paul’s Biblical letters took sin to a deeper meaning than merely missing the point. Paul taught that Jesus gave his life for our sins and St. Augustine built upon these thoughts and stated that Original Sin came to us through the actions of Adam and Eve. He also emphasised that it was only through baptism and the belief in Jesus that people could be saved. It was also St. Augustine who viewed sex as a carnal sin. I don’t know what this guy’ problem was but the Roman Catholic Church sure agreed.
The story of the Garden of Eden has had such a profound effect on the world I’d like to take a moment to examine it closer. Today this story is generally accepted as a myth told before we understood evolution. This story represents the pre-human creatures that lived in the ‘garden’, which I interpret as a place within nature, or belonging to nature. These animals lived multiplied and died without a thought beyond their next meal, survival and the production and caring for their young. They didn’t really care where they came from, the existence of good and evil nor manufacturing things to make their life easier.
Animals don’t know evil, shame or guilt unless humans have it to them and then the shame and guilt is actually a fear of punishment. When a well-fed cat kills a bird, it doesn’t feel shame or wrongness about its actions, nor has it committed murder because there is no such word in its consciousness. And when a dog bites a person or fornicates on the front lawn, it doesn’t hang its head and feel bad. Animals simply go about doing what they do with no thought beyond what is happening in a timeless now.
That’s the way it was until the first chimpanzee segregated itself from nature by having independent thought. At that exact instant, perhaps a flash from above filled the skies; the creature that had once been a part of nature no longer belonged. Indeed, Genesis says that they ate of the tree of “knowledge of good and evil” and if that isn’t an analogy, I don’t know what is. By having an autonomous thought, the creature instantly and automatically was ousted from the Garden of Eden and no longer belonged as a wild the beast of the wild. At that exact moment the first step was taken toward becoming a new species…humans.
Simultaneously two other extremely important events happened. Coupled with independent thought came the introduction of free will. Once hominids had independent thought and free will, they took control of their world and chose beyond instinct. The other thing that poked its head into existence at the moment of independent thought was the first step toward the development of the ego. Whether that ego is good or bad the fact remains that humans are the only animal who can claim an ego. And for the purposes of this article, it’s that same ego that has led humans to evil. Contrary to Genesis a snake had nothing to do with kicking anyone out of the Garden of Eden. The creatures that were on their way to becoming human did that without any help from anywhere.
Socialization
The development of language coupled with living in groups also played a leading role in the development of evil. Once early humans developed far enough that they were no longer simply reacting to their world, expectations, a society and civilizations were established.
Language gave our ancestors a common understanding of the world. They gained control over their lives by labelling the things around them and expand their understanding. These attempts at understanding eventually brought the mythological stories that became the stuff of the gods.
As societies were formed systems of living developed that included sets of rules and laws and so did the judgment of what was beneficial or corrupt; the very beginnings of the awareness of evil was introduced into human thinking.
Thought and freewill, language and the ego along with tribal living all contributed to the development of evil in the human world.
The Development of the Ego
The ego is the king, the queen, the emperor and pope wrapped up in a single package. It plays the number one role in the evolution of evil. Indeed, evil would not exist without it. The progression of the human sense of self probably didn’t happen at the exact moment independent thought poked its head above the swarming sea of instinct. The ego’s trek began when the first hominids saw themselves as separate entities from the pack. Language offered an added boost when naming of themselves and their children began. A name told the hominid that he or she was not a piece of the whole, but a distinct individual.
Numerous authors have written about the development of the ego from Erik Erikson to Ken Wilber. I wonder if the stages of development a human goes through can be used as a model the earliest hominids went through in getting to the human status. I am not alone on this assumption. Among others Dr. Don Beck and Mr. Ken Wilber also equate the development of children to the evolution of the human species.
Erik Erikson developed eight stages of the human ego and later, when his wife became old, she helped him develop a ninth stage. Erikson begins at the beginning of life with the Hope and Will stages and continues on to Purpose, Competence, Fidelity, Love, Caring and Wisdom. Since the knowledge of Erikson’s work, several researchers have piled another mound of material into the soup. Ken Wilber thinks that the development of the ego began around the time shamans were introduced into the picture.
God is Not Evil
God had no part in the creation of evil nor did the Devil. Evil evolved as human beings developed. It is simply an aspect of free will expression of our choices. Sometimes humans choose negative behaviors over positive ones.
It’s interesting to learn that at one point in our evolution the realization of evil did not even exist. As humans’ cognitive abilities developed they were able to comprehend right from wrong at a deeper level. Does that mean Evil didn’t exist before its identification? Of course it did and the only differences were in how they saw things. Ten thousand years ago the concept of evil was married with God because at that time people just didn’t understand.
Now we need to take back our power through the choices we make. Each time we give away our responsibility, we also give away our freedom because they are as linked as air and breathing.
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Published Book
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While doing research on the NDE phenomenon for NDERF (Near-Death Experience Research Foundation) Lynn began to see patterns within the messages being brought back. After reading 2,500 NDEs, she has found the answers to questions that have been asked throughout the ages. Now the fulfillment of our meaning is offered in her new book.
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