John R. Houk
© June 15, 2010
Norma Zager explores that great wonderment of the ages. If religions are committed to experience a transformation that moves beyond the human tendency to do evil, why do so many religions are the instigators of evil? The greatest question of those that believe in the existence of a manifest personal God (or polytheistically gods) is if a good God exists why is evil allowed to exist on the planet?
Now Zager is Jewish so perhaps there is not a theological out for such questions. Christianity explains the reason for why evil exists in the world which explains the reason to why God allows existence to manifest to magnify human suffering and ecological pain.
What is the Christian reason? The answer is within the Theology of Evangelicalism and Word of Faith. Most Christians have an affinity to the Evangelical answer. Unfortunately there is a significant amount of Christians who believe all things expounded from the Word of Faith are heretical. Oh well, that is my Christian roots.
So here is my non-theological non-expert derivative of the reason evil exists.
Most Christians will agree evil exists because the First Man Adam committed the sin of rebellion against God by partaking of the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The Satanic promise to Adam was he would be enlightened and gain the understanding of God.
What was the result of the Adamic rebellion?
Adam was given a stewardship over all that exists on planet earth. Adam was charged with taking care of the Garden of Eden. This charge meant all things earthly was under the God lease of dominion to Adam. As long as Adam followed the design of God and was obedient to the rules of management given to him, the earth experienced global harmony. There were two rules of Divine management: 1) Adam and his wife Eve could partake of the fruit of the entire Garden particularly the Tree of Life. 2) The tree of knowledge of good and evil was forbidden fruit. Participating in the forbidden fruit would result in death.
When Satan tempted Eve to eat the forbidden fruit followed by Adam’s participation, disobedience entered the world. To assuage all the feminists out there God laid the responsibility on Adam and not Eve. Why? Adam had the direct revelation from his Maker about the rules and Eve was told of the rules by Adam. Adam’s responsibility was to resist temptation and protect his wife. He failed in both.
God’s warning to Adam concerning eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil indeed opened Adam’s eyes to comprehend what is good and what is evil. This meant Adam had the ability to choose what is good or what is evil according the thought process that he could reason an action that might feel good even if the action was evil. Without the knowledge of evil, Adam’s choices were based solely on good ways to do good, feel good and walk in harmony with his Creator.
God has told Adam if he ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, Adam would surely die. Since Adam and Eve did not drop dead in the physical realm, the curse of death did not touch physical death. The death Adam and Eve experienced was separation from God in their spirit man. In essence the stewardship given to Adam was transferred to Satan. When Adam made the choice of rebellion by eating the forbidden fruit, he was choosing the overlordship of Satan. Hence Adam’s stewardship would be overseen by Adam’s new Lord – Satan. In essence then not only did humanity experience separation from God, the entire planet under Adam’s stewardship became separated from God with Satan becoming its overseer.
Adam’s betrayal resulted in evil entering the world. In God’s sovereignty He could have scrapped the whole thing and started over. This time around (if you follow the Pre-Adamite antediluvian theory and/or Pre-Noahic antediluvian theory) God chose to redeem humanity and Adam’s stewardship to reunite in oneness with God. Thus the promise of a Messiah to forcefully execute redemption of humanity and the earthly stewardship: The curse and the promise of Redemption:
13 And the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” 14 So the LORD God said to the serpent: “ Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.” (emphasis mine)16 To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.” 17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “ Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life.
18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field.
19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.” Genesis 3: 13-19 NKJV
Verse 15 is the Promise of Redemption from an evil master. The incarnation of God in Jesus Christ as the son of Man and the Son of God made Him the only man born without sin and evil in his nature since the time Adam was created in the same fashion. This clean nature would be the blood sacrifice that was willingly given via unjust accusation. This unjust capital punishment upon innocent Jesus as the Son of Man became the price of Redemption or Ransom that gives humanity the ability to choose life over the death nature of this present age. The Holy Spirit offered to humanity is the down payment of Full Redemption for humanity and the stewardship of earth that will once and for all end evil on planet earth.
Evil exists in this age because the plan of Redemption is not complete. If God in His Majestic Sovereignty activated His Divine prerogative to end evil now, then not only would Satan’s lease terminate but all humanity still in the grip of darkness would be judged and condemned counter to the Divine plan to save the humanity God has declared He loves.
Keep these thoughts in mind when reading Norma Zager’s (click the link and roll down to the end of this essay) indictment upon the world for abandoning Israel and Jews to confront evil apparently alone – again.
JRH 6/15/10
John R. Houk
© March 10, 2010
I wonder what Judaism stand on evil is?
In the Rabbinic period between 70-500 C.E., the rabbis constructed a theodicy by arguing that God created every human being with a yetser tov or "good urge," and the yetser ha-ra, "bad urge." They asserted that both urges were necessary because the bad urge provided individuals with the libido or energy that they needed to use for productive purposes like building houses, marriage, having children, and conducting business. However, if not channeled in the appropriate way, the yetser ha-ra could become the source of evil. The rabbis also tried to explain why the righteous suffer by arguing that if a righteous person suffers in this world, he or she will be rewarded in olam ha-bah, the "World to Come," when all the righteous souls will be reunited with their bodies after the Messiah comes. (Patheos.com)
… G-d created the Evil Inclination, the angel called Satan, whose job it is to tempt us to do evil. If we ignore the Evil Inclination, then we get closer to G-d, and become more holy. By doing so, we merit the reward of the ultimate goodness. G-d also gave us Commandments, and the Tempting Angel tempts us to find reasons not to keep those Commandments. By ignoring the temptations, and fulfilling G-d's Commandments, we become more spiritual, and our souls gain more power over ourselves. (BeingJewish.com)
The notion of good and evil is an intricate inconsistency, a paradox of sorts. In Judaism, despite clear definitions of how good and evil exists, the topic still remains complex. If G-d has a Master plan, then how can free will exist? And, yet, very clearly – Judaism states that evil is a result of man’s free will.
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The Yetzer Hara or evil inclination is not something outside of us but something within. But, the Yetzer Hara is not a bad thing. If it didn’t exist, being a pious individual would be relatively simple. With the evil inclination, however, we are in a constant battle against our own selfishness and desires.
Our Yetzer Hara leads us to believe that this world is all there is. So, we yearn for more – more toys, more money, more vacations, more power in our job. It is only this yearning that can ultimately bring us back to that which is absolutely true. It is our ability to overcome the desire of the Yetzer Hara and live life as intended by G-d that allows us to fully grasp the meaning of our existence.
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Here are some action ideas for your Yetzer HaTov (the good inclination):
*Make a list of your values and then write out how you actively live those values in your daily life.
*Take time to volunteer. Giving to the community has a powerful impact on your view of the world.
*Live simply. Clear out the clutter in your home, your mind and your family life.
G-d created us with a Yetzer Hara, the evil inclination, so that we might overcome the desires that lead us astray and choose – with our free will – to walk on G-d’s intended path. (Lisa Pinkus)
These are three website that roughly agree on the existence of evil in Judaism. Out of full disclosure it seems that the Judaic view of evil has different perceptions based on the time period and/or the type of evil that directly affected Jews. One can look at many examples. The example that is most familiar is the Nazi perpetrated Holocaust of WWII.
It seems in Judaism God created humanity with good and evil with evil being the superior urge. Focusing on good submerges the evil inclination. The battle to submerge evil actually is perceived as good for it motivates good work, training a good family, doing good to others and so on. The inclination toward evil ends after the Messiah comes.
Quite possibly the Judaic view of evil also differs between Orthodox, Conservative and Reformed; but here ends the extent of my armchair search of how evil is perceived in Judaism.
Now let’s look on the perception of evil in my favorite religion to criticize – Islam.
The Islamic faithful have wrapped a theology concerning evil and good that is amazingly sanitized in comparison to the actual totality of the Quran, Hadith and Sira. The Islamic theology that includes a doctrine of Abrogation is not quite so spiritually appealing as that presented to the Muslim practicing the “inner struggle” jihad or to the kafir (unbeliever) receiving da’wa persuasion to convert to Islam. Below are the enticing words of how Islam deals with the problem of good and evil:
… Suffering is either the painful result of sin, or it is a test.
In the latter view, suffering tests belief; a true Muslim will remain faithful through the trials of life. But suffering also reveals the hidden self to God. Suffering is built into the fabric of existence so that God may see who is truly righteous. In other words, God not only allows the various agonies and struggles of life, but has a purpose for them. Suffering opens up the soul and reveals it to God. God uses suffering to look within humans and test their characters, and correct the unbelievers.
Suffering is also a painful result of sin. In Islam, sin is associated with unbelief. Muslims surrender to God's will, and find peace in that surrender. Sometimes people forget to listen to the prophets, and fail to serve God in all that they do. This is the state of unbelief, called kufr, which literally means to forget through hiding of the truth. Therefore someone who is a kafir is someone who has purposefully forgotten the Lord. They become preoccupied with their own particular needs and their passions. Islam does not condemn human passions or human needs, seeing them as a necessary part of a full and useful life. But when people forget to serve God, these needs and passions can enslave them. They begin to misuse their divine gifts of intelligence, will, and speech. Enslaved by lust, and by cravings for wealth and pleasure, they do evil and destructive things. These moments of unbelief can happen to anyone, and when people realize their mistake, they suffer. Seen in this light, suffering is not only painful, but a lesson. It reminds humans of the truth of God's revelation.
Although all people are imperfect and vulnerable to kufr, Islam does not teach that they are essentially evil. When they realize their sin and make amends with true remorse, God forgives the sin. Genuine repentance is all that is needed to restore humans to a sinless state. However, individuals are always vulnerable to it, and sin and suffering are serious matters. The great struggle, or jihad, of human life is the struggle to perfect one's heart and live in total submission to God. It is possible to be a perfect Muslim, since God does not ask anyone to do anything that is beyond his or her ability. But perfect Muslims, like prophets, are very rare individuals. Most must be vigilant and always begin with the intention to do good. (Islam Suffering and the Problem of Evil)
All of creation is journeying toward God, and the world will end on some unknown day. The Last Day has many names in the Quran, including the Day of Reckoning, the Day of Distress, the Day of the Gathering, the Great Announcement, and quite simply, The Hour. At the end of time, all people will be rewarded or punished according to how well they followed the instructions contained in God's revelations to his prophets. God will resurrect the dead, and each person will be judged directly by Allah according to his or her intentions and deeds. Islam teaches that God is more merciful than He is wrathful. Each person's deeds will be weighed in a balance, and if the evil deeds outweigh the good deeds, the person will be condemned to the eternal flame. If the good deeds outweigh the evil deeds, then the person will be rewarded with paradise. The Quran says that each person receives a book that contains an account of all of his or her deeds. If the book is placed in your right hand, you are destined for eternal bliss. If the book is placed in your left hand, you are destined for eternal flame. (Patheos.com)
In short, Muslim theology is the theology that derived from the Koran and the Prophetic traditions. The contents of Muslim theology can be divided into theology proper, theodicy, eschatology, anthropology, apophatic theology and comparative religion. These branches or divisions of Muslim theology can be found in the Holy Koran and the Prophetic traditions. The theology profer refers to the nature of God or Allah such as His essence and attributes and His relation with humans and other created beings, the relationship between the creator and the created. Theodicy is related to Allah as the creator and the existing of all the evil and suffering in the world with the premise that Allah is omnipotent, omniscient and omnibenevolent. The main questions dealt in theodicy are the problems of evils and sufferings taking place among human beings and their relation to Allah's three attributes namely omniscience, omnipotence and omnibenevolence. Eschatology is literally understood as the last things or ultimate things and in Muslim theology, eschatology refers to the end of this world and what will happen in the next world or hereafter. Eschatology covers the death of human beings, their souls after their bodily death, the total destruction of this world, the resurrection of human souls, the final judgments of human deeds by Allah after the resurrection, and the rewards and punishments for the believers and non-believers respectively. The places for the believers in the hereafter are known as the Paradise and for the non-believers are the Hell. (EconomicExpert.com)
In Islam evil is a part of life that Allah uses to keep the faithful away from kufr (unbelief in Allah) and to turn the kafir from kufr. The simple flowery excerpts of Islam’s use of evil are a bit more complicated in practice.
In Islam the “no compulsion in religion” is abrogated to use death to prevent apostasy and the use of death if da’wa fails to turn kafir from kufr. Allah’s mercy for a kafir that has chosen a path of the dhimmi means a life of humiliation under the thumb of the ummah. The kafir who dares to resist humiliation or insults Allah, Mohammed or Islam is worthy of death. A woman who dishonors her father, husband or family is worthy of at least a beating but can include death. In Islam rape and murder are forbidden except against a kafir practicing kufr. Mohammed received a revelation that it was ok to execute the male losers of a battle in a not very nice way. After which the beautiful women could be used as sex slaves. The property of the losers whether execute or spared is to be divided between the winning Muslims with a bonus share going to the all perfect merciful prophet as directed by Allah. Brutal wars of aggression are justified as the lesser jihad to expand the global influence of Islam in this present life.
The above examples that I provide is an expansion of the meaning of evil in Islam. Really the full practice of Islam as provided by Mohammed’s example is a demonstration that the theo-political religion he founded is inherently evil. My accusation of evil-Islam is purely an armchair observation on my part and not the opinion of a scholarly expert. Because of this I realize I open myself to a lot of ad hominem attacks from the Muslim faithful and the Islamic apologist. Nonetheless, I am just calling it as I see it from the reading of history and the displays of current events. If I receive evidence to the contrary I am open to it; however the evidence of pointing out what atrocious acts Christians did in the name of Christ or Jews did in the name of Yahweh (Torah) as justification is weak. Please justify acts that I call evil on the merits of the so-called revelation of Allah via Mohammed and as interpreted in the traditions of the Hadith and Sira. As far as atrocities ascribed to Christians who claim to be doing God’s work, it is a reach. The Just War is to insure safety from an unjust invader. Christian Scriptures specifically rail against Christians who work acts of evil that is justified by the holy writings of Islam/Mohammedanism.
There is one other element that exists as a political ideology yet is as dogmatic as a religion. That ideology is Marxism. Marxists look to a manmade utopia in which personal ownership and the government ceases to be the rule of law. Rather it is the egalitarianism of the proletariat that is the foundation for the rule of law. The proletariat is the former labor-working class whose fruit of production was owned by the Bourgeoisie benefit.
Communist thinking believes Capitalism, ownership, a pyramid of classes, individualism apart from the collective and ultimately government is evil.
Like the flowery words of Islam enticing adherents yet ignoring the reality of the repression inherent in Islam, Marxist/Communism sets forth lofty goals for the betterment of humanity without elaborating to the masses the means to the utopian ends.
The history of Marxist oriented violent revolutions in nations the West would label as Communist is horrific. At the end of WWII the victors were incredulously horrified on just how evil Hitler and his Nazi machine were. Between Jews, other considered non-Aryan people (e.g. Gypsies), the mentally deficient and the physically deficient; Nazi Germany was responsible for the genocide of about 12 MILLION people. The number of dead and how the deaths were perpetrated seemed evil incarnate when the carnage was revealed publicly.
The means toward achieving Communism dwarfs that number. As a brief example let’s look at the genocide of people accomplished Lenin/Stalin Soviet Union, Mao’s Communist China and the Khmer Rouge of Cambodia. The numbers expand in considering other Marxist revolutions but the three just mentioned are easily accessible by a search engine.
• The old Soviet Union (With Stalin as the worst): 58,627,000.
• Communist China (Mao Zedong as the worst): 73,237,000.
• Khmer Rouge Cambodia (Pol Pot as the perpetrator): 2,627,000.
The total genocides for these three Communist regimes: 134,491,000. (Source)
Now that is some EVIL! Communist genocide makes the Nazi genocide look like peanuts.
The evil of Islamic conquest in the so-called glory days in which present day purist Muslims wish to return to, have huge numbers dead people in its wake:
• Christians: 60,000,000
• Hindus: 80,000,000
• Buddhists: 10,000,000
• Jews: Difficult to determine thousands which is ironic considering today’s Middle Eastern Muslim attitude toward Jews.
Rough Total: 270, 000,000 (Tears of Jihad)
These numbers do not include Persian Zoroastrians or Muslims that chose apostasy.
Now Marxist genocide achieved their dastardly numbers only in the 20th century while the Muslims empire builders accomplished their dastardly numbers from Mohammed’s conquest of Medina in the early 600’s AD until the cessation of the last Muslim empire of the Ottoman Turks in 1918 AD.
I don’t know which is worse. The 134,491,000 killed in a century by Marxists or the 270,000,000 killed by Muslims in the name spreading Islam as directed by Mohammed, the Quran, Hadith and Sira. The Marxist glory days of forcing people to accept a transformed society was roughly 50% of that the Muslims killed in little over a millennium. Both the Marxist and Muslim goal were to transform society to a set of beliefs by any means necessary at the cost of human lives that might rock the boat.
Friends, this is EVIL! Depending on one’s faith it is the fault self-imposed by humanity, deity or Satan.
I personally belong to the group of Christians that will not blame God. All that is nefariously evil is the result of Lucifer’s fall and then Adam’s fall. The fall means that which was created good had something removed; i.e. right standing with God Almighty. God so loved the creation which proceeded from Adam that He provided a way for right standing to return to humanity through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ (son of man and Son of God). Christ’s Redemption raises the human spirit to right standing in preparation for full Redemption at Christ’s Second Coming.
Christianity as most religions concerned about the state of humanity believes in overcoming evil with good. Islam believes in created a male dominated by the evil killing the unbelieving (kufr) to prepare humanity for the Muslim paradise.
The origin of evil and its eradication is abstractly subjective. Nonetheless, one’s attention should be wary of any theo-political ideology that utilizes evil proclaiming it will lead to ultimate good. That is a lie.
End of Part Two. Review Part One Here.
John R. Houk
© March 9, 2010
In spite of the best efforts of Leftist utopians there is classical evidence a global war is in planet Earth’s future. Islamic purists dream of the glory days when Islamic empire was spread by the sword with a goal of global conquest to establish a theo-political Islamic Supremacist world.
I think most people would agree that war is evil. Thinking metaphysically or theologically, why is there evil in human civilization? In religions that believe in a Creator-deity, why would the deity allow evil to exist?
Just out of full disclosure I have to own up to the fact I am neither a theologian nor a philosopher. I am uncertain that I am even qualified to be an armchair theologian or philosopher. I am one who dabbles in contemplation. Contemplation is an exercise that does not require a formal degree or a path of expertise. Certainly there are many that believe contemplation is a matter of expertise in which the exercise thereof is a ritualized practice which is attained by experience. The reality is any individual is capable of a moment or period of inner reflection in which flashes of insight is possible.
The only problem with individual contemplation is the heart of the individual. The more Light one’s heart possesses the better the individual’s insight will work toward the good of the individual or the many. The more darkness one’s heart possesses the more an insight will work toward evil for the individual or the many.
This returns us back to the query of a Creator-deity and evil. How or why can a deity who is representative of absolutes hence absolute good, allow the existence of evil in His creation? Is it not contradictory that absolute good would create and allow the existence of evil?
I like this explanation from Come Reason Ministries (Christian perspective):
The problem here is that you have a faulty premise. Evil and sins are not "things" in and of themselves. They do not exist autonomously. Rather, they are the absence of the perfect which God did make. This becomes complicated, so let me give you a couple of examples. I have the ability to create a vacuum of space. Now I do this not by making something out of materials, but by removing all the air and particles out of that space. The void that remains is what we choose to label a vacuum. It isn’t a thing in itself, but it is a term we use to state that everything else is gone. Likewise we use the term cold to describe a lower temperature. Any air conditioner man can tell you that to cool something down you don’t put cold in, but you have to take heat out! Cold is the absence of energy that causes heat.
Sin and evil are regarded the same. These things cannot exist as "things" that are independent of circumstances, but are the labels given to actions or characteristics that do not meet the goal of perfection. Now, you might say "Aha! If these things are actions that can be performed, then they must exist autonomously." That is not true. My wife recently suffered a very severe dislocation of the elbow. All of her bones were misaligned. If she could have stood the pain, she was able to bend her arm in ways that are impossible for you and I to duplicate. Our arms just cannot bend behind themselves like that. Now, just because she possessed this ability, we did not consider it an asset to be attained, but we rightly sought medical attention to put the elbow back together so it would function properly. We knew if we left it that way, there would be more detriment to her overall ability than asset.
Just like that broken arm, evil and sin are the painful results of a fall. The world and all that is in it was created perfect, but the fall of man created ramifications and consequences that we are still struggling with today. They are not abilities or goals to be achieved, but they are the terms we use to convey the idea of absence of righteousness. This is why when someone reads that God cannot lie and they try to claim that God could not be omnipotent because He lacks something, they are mistaken. The act of lying is really an act of not being able to tell the truth. When you ask why God allowed humans to have the capability for evil, you are not framing your question fairly. You might as well ask why did God create us with joints that could be broken. He did not want us to break His rules, but once we did (and every one of us has) He had to take steps to repair the state we are in.
The point is God did not create or establish evil. All the Creator created was created good. When righteousness (rightness or right standing) was removed the good then the absence of the circumstances which makes perfect transmutes good to degrees of evil. Good becomes twisted and hence the explanation of inherent evil in humanity and creation. For good to return in absolute terms, that which was removed must be restored. In Christianity that which is returned is the Righteousness (rightness or right standing) of God in Christ Jesus. After one meets the terms to be in Christ the untwisting of evil in the human spirit is straightened restoring the good to the human inner spirit which many Christians believe is the real person as opposed to the outward decaying flesh still under the circumstance of the absence of righteousness.
Christianity looks for the return of Christ to complete the full restoration of righteousness that is absent from a corporeal ever decaying physical material plain.
Now let’s look at the explanation of evil from some of the world’s religions other than Christianity. Again I need to remind you the exploration is armchair and not expert. In this case the exploration is the courtesy of a search engine, mostly Google.
Evil Buddhism
Evil is the perpetuation of illusion by the factors that fuel the chain of dependent origination (paticca-samuppada). Ignorance in perceiving that the world is impermanent, devoid of a self and in constant becoming leads to suffering. The Buddha proclaimed that in fact the whole of existence is suffering:
The Noble Truth of Suffering (dukkha) is this: Birth is suffering; aging is suffering; sickness is suffering; death is suffering; sorrow and lamentation, pain, grief, and despair are suffering; association with the unpleasant is suffering; dissociation from the pleasant is suffering; not to get what one wants is suffering - in brief, the five aggregates of attachment are suffering (Samyutta Nikaya 56,11).
There are three fundamental defilements of the mind that combine and interact leading to suffering: greed (raga), aversion (dvesha) and ignorance (avidya). Their origin is desire to experience existence in personal form. As personhood is nothing but an illusory result of the temporary gathering together of five aggregates, the desire to perpetuate the illusion of personal existence produces suffering, so its extreme solution must be the abolition of personhood. There is no suffering if there is no person left to experience it. (The problem of evil in world religions)
Here is a good summation of evil in Buddhism:
… The important point is that in Buddhism "good" and "evil" are less about moral judgments than they are, very simply, about what you do and the effects created by what you do. (Buddhism About.com)
I wonder what Buddhism’s creation myth is? Anyway, evil exists because sentient humans exist. It is not that evil is inherent in Buddhist thought, rather human life itself is suffering. Humans tend to make decisions that perpetuate suffering; hence there is evil in being attached to this life.
Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha) was a part of Hinduism before his (ahem) enlightenment. Hinduism is the major religion of India – a very populous nation. On a side issue Islam is probably the second largest religion in India. This never would have happened except Muslim conquerors took the sword with incredible brutality to convert or (initially) kill Hindus for that religion is considered polytheistic by monotheistic religions. In Islam’s conquest of the Christian Middle East and North Africa the inhabitants were (officially) given the option of convert, non-rights dhimmis or death. Christians (and Jews) benefitted from Merciful Mohammed’s inclusion of Judeo-Christianity as people of the book. In Islam polytheists are particularly heinous in their existence; ergo the choice of convert or die. The amazing thing about Muslim repressive brutality in India is that Hinduism was able to survive as the majority religion whereas Christianity was reduced to a minority status in the Middle East and North Africa. I could speak volumes more as to the reason for this but that would digress from the thoughts about the existence of evil.
At any rate, Hinduism’s thoughts on the existence of evil run something like this:
Hindu Vedas
In the hymns addressed to Varuna evil is a matter of humans not fulfilling his laws or not performing the ritual properly. … Those who commit evil deeds must repent before Varuna (Rig Veda 5,85) and try to repair their evil deeds through ritual sacrifices.
Hindu Upanashads
The Upanishads ground a pantheistic perspective on Ultimate Reality and introduce karma as the explanation of evil in the world. Ignorance launches karma into action and karma brings suffering. As the manifestations and dissolutions of the world have no beginning and no end, so is karma, meaning that suffering is a part of the eternal cosmic cycle. Suffering in the present life is the natural consequence of past lives’ ignorance and it has to be endured without questioning.
Evil in Samkhya-Yoga
Although the Samkhya and Yoga darshanas are not pantheistic, they follow a similar view in defining evil. It is a matter of how much one is caught in the psycho-mental illusions generated by the primordial substance (prakriti). Two of the three gunas (rajas and tamas), are causing the manifestations of what we call evil in the world, both in the physical and in the mental realm.
Hindu Epics and Puranas
The writings of Hindu theism adopt a middle way in explaining evil, between the dictates of karma and the responsibility of the gods in producing it as sovereign agents in the universe. As these two elements are irreconcilable and mutually exclusive, the solutions to the problem of evil are themselves contradictory. The character of the gods becomes quite ambiguous in the Epics and the Puranas. They are responsible for producing both good and evil. …
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These ambiguous solutions to the problem of evil in Hindu mythology are caused by the fact that the gods cannot be at the same time sovereign, and in tune with karma. If the gods are responsible for the existence of evil in the world, they either create it willingly, and then are evil themselves, or are forced to create it by the higher law of karma, and then are weak.
The source of the complicated Hindu explanation of the existence of evil is evolutionary and variegated as the periods of time their holy writings were written. I say variegated because I am unsure if the concepts of evil’s origination evolved linearly or is accepted according to a particular Hindu sect or both.
Evil in Hinduism seems to be a combination deity causes and/or the result of human existence in the realm of choices, karma and suffering. It seems to me old Gautama focused his enlightenment on Hindu’s suffering-karma paradigm.
Taoism originated in China and today is practiced in the China-Southeast Asia area. This is Taoism’s concept of evil.
Since any aspect of the world is a manifestation of the Tao, corresponding to a different participation of the Yin and Yang principles, nothing can be considered to be essentially evil in the world. Even if Yin is termed as a negative principle, it never manifests itself alone. …
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Every positive factor involves its negative or opposing one. What is usually called evil, as physical and mental manifestation, is the result of a lack of balance between the two opposing principles and corresponds to a bigger participation of the Yin principle. Evil belongs to the nature of the world, so humans have to subscribe to the universal harmony and respect the equilibrium of the two polarities. Tao is eternal and so are the two principles Yang and Yin, so that good and evil must be eternal, as necessary elements of our world.
In Taoism it appears evil is a part of eternity and is manifested when Yin and Yang are out of balance. The more balanced harmony the more there is good.
Sikhism is one of the world’s largest religions. Here is Sikhism on evil.
Sikhism does not have a concept of the devil as in Christianity. Sikhs believe that demons are entities which are driven solely by ego. Sikhism teaches that ego is the prime cause of evil doing. Ego has five basic components:
• Pride
• Lust
• Greed
• Attachment
• Anger
Sikhs believe that involvement with ego creates a state of duality. The soul experiences a sense of separation from the divine, which causes all suffering.
Sikhism is a monotheistic religion derived largely from Hinduism. God does not originate evil for he is pure. Humanity is evil as long as a person or persons choose wrong actions. Ego-self is the source of all evil and the way to be one with God is empty one’s self of ego. Sikhs are not big on ritual however the source of the path to divine oneness is based on the action of the person.
How does Baha’i deal with the origin of evil.
Origin of Universe and Life
God created all from nothing and controls all phenomena that modern science reveals about the origins of the universe and life. They support scientific study and education, as they believe science serves to reveal rather than dispute God's awesome creative powers.
After Death
Literal interpretations of resurrection, heaven, and hell are regarded as figments of imagination. Resurrection is the spiritual awakening that occurs upon the appearance of a new Manifestation. Heaven is the indescribable bliss of closeness to God, harmony with God's will as revealed by the Manifestations--eternal spiritual life. The closer one is to knowing and loving God, the greater the joy of paradise. Hell is the self-made torture of isolation from God--spiritual death. Unlimited spiritual growth toward perfection continues after death.
Why Evil?
No original sin or Satan. The human nature that God created is all good, including both animal and spiritual aspects. God also gave people free will, and some will choose to express their inherently good nature in imperfect ways. The concept of Satan in the scriptures is symbolic for humans' choice to express the lower or animal side of their nature in ways that separate them from God. Those farthest from God are most prone to wrongdoing.
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Undeserved Suffering
All suffering, including that caused by natural disasters, are God's will as a punitive, educational, or remedial response to individual or to humanity's denial of God and disobedience to the Divine Commands. All of humanity suffer when one commits wrong, and all benefit when one does good. The best often suffer the most for humanity's misdeeds. Nonpunitive suffering is part of God's plan to challenge the soul with adversity. Suffering educates the sufferer and aids spiritual growth toward perfection. Suffering helps people to remember God in their grief. The suffering of innocents will be greatly rewarded in the world to come. (BeliefNet)
The Baha’i stand on evil is a bit muddled. The Baha’i God creates everything yet takes credit for causing suffering for humanity as a lesson toward perfection to bring a person or humanity closer to God. The Christian God is often given credit for suffering (acts of nature, war and so on). Insurance companies blame divinity by separating ‘acts of God’ in certain insurance policies. In Christianity Satan is the one that should be blamed for suffering. The Christian God will withdraw his hand of protection and mercy from a person or people that have separated them self from the Justice of God’s morality.
Look Part Two Tomorrow
Here is an essay from Norma Zager which I should have posted days ago. The reason I did not post it is because the essay was so good I was going to double post with some of my thoughts. I became so engrossed in writing that I ended up 18 Word pages. My essay will to be posted in two parts. In the mean time here is Zager’s essay.
JRH 3/9/10
