Evil Is Not An Excuse

                The recent shooting in Aurora, Colorado is one of those events that sends a wave of shock throughout the country.  Like a the waves caused by dropping a rock in a placid pond, the worst disturbance is felt at the center, with the waves losing size and strength as they travel farther from the epicenter.  But it is one of those incidents that goes unnoticed by only the most recluse or self-centered people.  However, we are affected in different ways.  Some are jolted by the realization that they have been in that theater.  Or others consider that they were watching the same movie in a different theater, and it could just as well have been them.  Most just consider the horrible consequences; the hurt the survivors and families of victims are feeling, and perhaps the damage done to society in general.

                “Tragedy” is the word that immediately was employed to describe what happened.  I believe that is the wrong descriptive.  A flood that wipes out a village is a tragedy.  A hurricane that flattens an island is a tragedy.  A tornado that leaves scores homeless is a tragedy.  Mass murder is just plain evil.  People don’t like to use that word.  Maybe they don’t like to think about the implication that if there is such a thing as “evil”, there must be a standard called “good”.  It may also be that a tragedy puts more focus on the incident victims, while evil puts the attention on the perpetrator.  Or, it may be that people generally like to believe that humans are inherently good.  Being evil implies a choice to do unspeakable acts of horror.  Many would prefer to rationalize such behavior by calling it an illness visited upon a basically good person.

                The desire to place blame is a human trait we are all tempted to demonstrate, but which we mostly pretend to eschew.  The bodies hadn’t been removed from the theater before ABC pointed the finger at the Tea Party.  The inevitable attack on America’s lack of oppressive gun control took a couple of days to surface, though there was never any doubt it would be raised by the usual proponents.  It took a little longer to find possible emotional/psychological reasons for the assailant’s actions.  Those “reasons” will be eventually be presented as “excuses” by his attorneys. 

                We don’t want to call it “blaming” someone or something, but we all want to know why or how “something like this” could happen.  What we should be asking is why or how “someone” could do something like this.  The first question is passive in nature.  Something happened.  It’s nobody’s fault, it just happened.  The second question points the finger at a specific person.  But the masses have no acceptable answer for how an inherently good human being could perform such a hideous act of violence.  It is contrary to the theory of evolutionary development of humans.  We used to be barbaric, but somewhere along the line we became intrinsically good people.  I suppose some genetic mutation took place and now we are all expected to be altruistic, caring, non-violent citizens of the world.  So, when somebody commits a mass murder, the only possible reason is abnormality; the person must be unusual, probably mentally ill. 

                I have a different viewpoint.  We are born with a propensity for evil.  Only by the grace of God are we able to overcome that desire to do what’s wrong.  I’ve never heard of a baby whose first words included, “Yes, Mommy.”  I have personally witnessed babies whose first words included emphatic noes.  I’ve noticed even those who believe in the basic goodness of humanity want more laws restricting people’s ability to do evil. It seems obvious to this observer that we need to learn to do good.  Unfortunately, we seem to have a dwindling resource of people who even understand what constitutes good.  How can they teach others to do good?

                This is more than a philosophical position.  I am taking a theological stance.  Humans were created perfectly, then chose to do wrong.  It’s that pesky freewill combined with our sinful nature that keeps causing us problems.  We have a desire to do what’s right, but an urge to do what’s wrong.  There are those who want to blame God for all the evil in the world, or maybe the devil, but I don’t believe we need to look much further than our own hearts and minds.  Certainly there are those who truly have mental illnesses, chemical imbalances, or other abnormalities that make them unable to be held responsible for their actions, but they constitute a very small percentage of the world’s population, and should not be used as a smoke screen for those who willingly, knowing what is right, choose to do what is wrong.  As a rule we are people who should be held accountable for our own decisions.  We need to view the actions of a mass murderer as decisions made by that individual and stop looking for others to blame.  Evil is not an excuse, it's a reason.