Hole in the Wall
Kill Evil To Achieve Goal
RECEIVED Sat., Dec. 11, 2010
Dear Editor,
The realization and application of objective moral and intellectual truth is the sublime goal of a well-lived life. Foremost in achieving that goal is the insight that virulent insidious evil in fact exists. Its behavioral parents are vanity, envy, self-pitying nihilism, hubris, and the willful id that denies these facts. What's more, the mandatory duty to fight evil is existential to human decency and civilization. And the only force that can vanquish it is consciously recognized active good, i.e., integrity, courage, gratitude, humility, and dignity.
In the postmodern world (beginning in the so called “enlightenment”), the concept of evil has been reduced to today’s subjective moral and intellectual relativism, i.e., who’s to judge what’s really evil. Simultaneously, relativists falsely condemn those delineating behavior as good or evil as reactionary cretins. As a former relativist I strongly relate to this willful narcissistic ignorant mindset. And ironically, its conscience piercing dark nature becomes the self-realizing force to overcome it.
Sources of great wisdom from Socrates, Plato, Moses, Jesus, Cicero, Epictetus, the American founders, and many others have been profoundly consistent in explaining that evil exists because of the dismally flawed nature of humanity. To be sure, they’ve repeated over and over the unassailable need to subdue those flaws in order to conquer evil.
Life’s short. That’s natural law never to be altered. During our time we have the choice to acknowledge evil and the need to fight it or remain in the denial of pathological narcissism looking the other way. The entire Christmas season is focused on finding and perpetuating happiness. Without vanquishing evil there is zero possibility of achieving that goal. Moreover, apathy and denial of it will enable its devotees to succeed in sentencing humanity to tyrannical horror and utter misery – again and again! Merry Christmas!
The realization and application of objective moral and intellectual truth is the sublime goal of a well-lived life. Foremost in achieving that goal is the insight that virulent insidious evil in fact exists. Its behavioral parents are vanity, envy, self-pitying nihilism, hubris, and the willful id that denies these facts. What's more, the mandatory duty to fight evil is existential to human decency and civilization. And the only force that can vanquish it is consciously recognized active good, i.e., integrity, courage, gratitude, humility, and dignity.
In the postmodern world (beginning in the so called “enlightenment”), the concept of evil has been reduced to today’s subjective moral and intellectual relativism, i.e., who’s to judge what’s really evil. Simultaneously, relativists falsely condemn those delineating behavior as good or evil as reactionary cretins. As a former relativist I strongly relate to this willful narcissistic ignorant mindset. And ironically, its conscience piercing dark nature becomes the self-realizing force to overcome it.
Sources of great wisdom from Socrates, Plato, Moses, Jesus, Cicero, Epictetus, the American founders, and many others have been profoundly consistent in explaining that evil exists because of the dismally flawed nature of humanity. To be sure, they’ve repeated over and over the unassailable need to subdue those flaws in order to conquer evil.
Life’s short. That’s natural law never to be altered. During our time we have the choice to acknowledge evil and the need to fight it or remain in the denial of pathological narcissism looking the other way. The entire Christmas season is focused on finding and perpetuating happiness. Without vanquishing evil there is zero possibility of achieving that goal. Moreover, apathy and denial of it will enable its devotees to succeed in sentencing humanity to tyrannical horror and utter misery – again and again! Merry Christmas!
Vance McDonald