Does Evil Exist?

by Stephen Bastin

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I am constantly amazed at the strange things that come from the mouths of today’s “experts.”  While watching a show on Fox News the other night a question was asked of a forensic psychiatrist concerning evil.  “Evil is not a scientific term,” she responded.

Well, la-ti-da.  Neither is Fox News a scientific term  Nor for that matter are such things as faith, hope and love.  So what?  Does that mean that if science cannot examine it, it does not exist?

The implication of her statement would seem to be that you cannot talk about evil in our world since science cannot determine what is evil and what is good.  Science has not been able to determine how life began.  Does that mean that life does not exist?

In view of the events of 9/11 and the recent sniper attacks in the Washington D.C. area, how can someone not label those events as “evil?” and, incidentally, the persons responsible, why can they not be labeled as “evil people.”  What label shall we put on them?  What does science have to do with the matter?

But herein lies the trouble with our age.  Evil is no longer evil.  But if that be true then good is no longer good.  Everything is the same shade of gray.  No one is right and no one is wrong.

So we have kids playing games in which no one keeps score.  If they kept score the one team would be good and the other bad and we cannot allow that kind of thinking.  And we cannot give grades in school.  Otherwise we might have good students and bad students.

I heard another commentator (same station) make a comment about not judging anyone and then he promptly passed judgment!  It is “politically correct” to not judge.  “Judgmental” is bad; “non-judgmental” is good!  Hogwash!  The commentator simply showed that it is impossible not to pass judgment no matter how hard one tries.

As long as there is a God in heaven above, there will be good and evil.  And as long as He exists there will exist a need for His people to decide between good and evil and make judgments about what is proper and what is improper.  We need to make careful, informed judgments, judgments that are consistent with the judgments of God.

Maybe your experiences are different from mine, but it is my observation that psychiatrists today exist primarily (and almost exclusively) to prescribe medications.  Someone has trouble adapting to life; put them on a pill.  Whatever the diagnosis, modern pharmaceuticals has a prescription to alleviate the pain of living.  Dope them up and send them on their way.

What our world needs is a healthy dose of Godly living.  People need to be taught that “good” choices produce good results and “bad” choices produce bad results.  I do not question the need for medication in severe cases, but medication without help in daily living leaves the world with a zombie who is good for neither himself/herself nor anyone else.  There has to be a better way of helping those whom society has deemed "misfits."

It is no wonder that our age has produced more child murderers than any previous age.  When we have a bunch of eggheads running around saying there is no evil, then why would young people think that it is wrong to shoot a person or two?

When societal leaders say that we cannot judge then why should children expect to be judged for killing one another, or their parents and school teachers for that matter?

When a bunch of medieval knights, and the rabble that accompanied them, set out to murder the people who occupied Jerusalem, (I speak of the “Crusaders”) they were people who had an evil religion.  When Middle Easterners set out to kill Americans, they have an evil religion.

It does not matter whether one quotes the Bible or the Qu’ran.  Evil is still evil and good is still good.  God’s Word says, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

The “Christian” Crusaders did not do that and the Muslims that crashed the World Trade Center did not do that. And if you do not know what is evil and what is good, you need to start reading God’s book and quit listening to all the gibberish being spewed out by our media (TV, movies, newspapers, etc.).

Evil involves a value judgment.  Only people can be evil, never things.  Things can be put to evil uses by people, but the things themselves are not evil.

Making the proper value judgments is important.  Deciding on choices based on outcomes of evil and good is proper if one is to live a life acceptable to God.  It is also important that the means chosen to arrive at outcomes be good, not evil, as well.  The end does not justify the means, only God can do that.

Governments exist by the authority of God.  One of their chief functions is to restrain evil.  Laws are passed by the legislature to define good and evil.  The executive power of the government is then empowered to enforce the decrees.  The courts are to decide disputes based on the laws that have been passed.

Now we have the situation where the courts are deciding what the law should be.  Laws are no longer laws.  Elected representatives are no longer in charge of making laws, but judges (who are not responsible to the people) are deciding what the law should have been.

When the Supreme Court wanted to approve abortion they invented a “right to privacy” in the constitution.  That which was once evil, the taking of the life of an unborn child, has now been made a good, because a woman does not want the responsibility of a child.

Good is being defined as what makes me happy.  Evil is being defined as what makes me unhappy.    And where would we be if Jesus had accepted such thinking about good and evil?

Imagine the scene in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Jesus:  “Let this cup pass.”  God:  “I see it will cause you pain, so I agree.  You are free to go enjoy life.  You have a right to be happy.”

Jesus leaves the Garden, slipping out unnoticed by the apostles who are sleeping.  He is not heard from again.  When Judas comes with the crowd, there is no one to arrest.

There is no Savior.  Heaven’s doors are closed because there is no atoning sacrifice.  All must suffer the consequences for sin.  God is the judge.  All are lost.  Now is that good? or is the death of Jesus good?