Evil II

It has been common to attribute evil to some supernatural force. In the western monotheist religions we envision a personification of radical evil. Satan, the devil, Beelzebub, Lucifer. This being is referred to  in the Hebrew Scriptures as well as by Jesus, so if pressed about the existence of a devil, my response will be something like, "If it'll make you happy to have me affirm that, I will. But, we do have bigger and better fish to fry, no?" I happen to think there's plenty in human nature to create the evil we see.

From the Chicago Tribune, October 28, 2011:

Miguel Renteria broke a knife in the chest of his 18-year-old daughter during a struggle in his Skokie apartment this week, then pushed his elbow into her throat until she stopped moving. . .Renteria's crying 2-year-old granddaughter hit him with a toy, and Renteria stabbed the toddler 10 times in the abdomen with another knife. . ."While the knife was in her little heart, he made the sign of the cross."

The devil shows up in The Book of Genesis, in the Garden of Eden. The devil is a central character in the opening chapters of The Book of Job. I find it interesting that, in the original Hebrew in Job, the definite article is used: not Satan, but THE satan - the tempter. Satan as prosecuting attorney. That theme - Satan as prosecutor - is the dominant theme when Jesus speaks of Satan. When Satan directly tempts Jesus - let these stones become bread, throw yourself down from the parapet of the temple, you can have all the kingdoms of the world - it is, in part, a means by which we see the stuff of which Jesus was made.

A second theme that emerges is that Satan's temptations inevitably fail if the temptation presented is something that was not inside the temptee in the first place. The temptation to Adam and Eve? I'm thinking, although Scripture is silent on this, that they had been wondering about that tree and its fruit for some time, so when the serpent tempted, they were ready. And then, Adam, when confronted by God, gave in to the second temptation: Blame it on the woman! Blame it on SOMEone else - anyone else. Even blame it on God: The woman YOU gave me tempted me. . .Satan's tempting worked, because the urge to taste the fruit - and the urge to drop their reliance on God in favor of the illusion of independence - was inside them to start with.

Job? The temptation was the temptation to curse God. Great to worship and give thanks when you're the richest person in the land. When things go terribly, inexplicably wrong, curse God and die. The problem for the satan: that urge was not in Job. Satan's temptation was a FAIL. Not that Job didn't complain - he did plenty of that - but he never gave in to the urge to curse God. Satan did fulfill his role: we found out what Job was made of.

Jesus? Satan's temptations were an EPIC FAIL - even the offer of all the kingdoms of the world would not deter Jesus from his mission. Again, Satan could not tempt anyone to do anything that wasn't in their nature.

So we're back to human nature. Something within human nature, something that we seem hesitant to even mention these days - sin. Sin, not as action, but as something that is with us from the womb. The Greek term is Ha marteia - literally, "missing the mark."

I have known personally some people that have given in to that part of their nature. Trust me, that's not bragging.

I used to be Mormon (more properly, Latter-day Saint, or LDS.) No, the LDS faith is not - repeat, NOT - part of my thinking about evil. I had my reasons for leaving, but I still think very highly of most of the people that are LDS. Most of my family is LDS. Besides, I have never been on a "Let's bash the Mormons!" kick, and I have no intention to start now. This paragraph was to set up the following story.

I served a mission in the Philippines. I arrived in Manila in December, 1972, and went to my first assignment, in a couple of towns called Cainta and Taytay, in suburban Manila. My first missionary companion was an Elder from Oregon. My second was a bookish young fellow - glasses, round face, a little shorter than I was. He'd worked as a bookkeeper, and he'd been an Eagle Scout. He intended to further his education and become an accountant. His name? Elder Bishop. He went by what I thought was his first name, Gary, but I found out that Gary was his middle name. Arthur was his first name.

Arthur Gary Bishop. Name ring a bell to anyone in the mountain west region?

Elder Bishop and I became companions in February, 1973, and remained together until April, when I moved on to my next assignment, in Iloilo. We were never in touch after that - we shared a very pronounced trait in that we were both friendly enough, but hard to get close to.

Imagine my surprise when I read in a newspaper that the state of Utah had executed one Arthur Gary Bishop by lethal injection on June 10, 1988. I searched the article - this couldn't be the Elder Bishop I'd known, could it? But - Eagle Scout, served an LDS mission in the Philippines, bookkeeper (who'd had an earlier conviction for embezzlement - didn't see THAT coming.) Besides, how many Arthur Gary Bishops could there be in the state of Utah?

Yep. Same guy.

I'd lived for two months with a man who was hiding a monster inside. He was executed for torturing, sexually assaulting, and murdering young boys. Four, by one count. The ages were between 4 and 11. I was in no danger; I was bigger than he was and well able to take care of myself. I wasn't his meat.

What brought that murdering monster out of Arthur Gary Bishop?

Next post: consideration of the role of addiction in the evolution of evil.

Thanks for hanging out for a few. I'd love your thoughts.