Tag: the evil in this world favs series

One Sunday morning 70 years ago I started to recite the Apostles’ Creed with everyone else In church, but was suddenly unable to say “I believe.” I didn’t believe. There was no point lying to God — if He existed. Thus began my dozen years of agnosticism. I didn’t believe, but neither did I deny God’s existence.

In his book “Omnipotence and Other Theological Mistakes,” process theologian Charles Hartshorne argues that the doctrine that God causes all things and events is a projection of the worship of all-powerful rulers. Alfred North Whitehead, the other great process philosopher agrees: “The deeper idolatry, of fashioning God in the image of the Egyptian, Persian, and Roman imperial rulers, was retained. The Church gave unto God the attributes which belonged exclusively to Caesar.”

Evil exists as a concrete entity, a creation of God, a word with a meaning, a word that has been brought to life through the Word, who is Jesus Christ.

“Satan” in the Baha’i writings symbolizes our inclination to turn from God. Satan’s persona is “a product of human minds and of instinctive human tendencies toward error,” according to ‘Abdu’l-Baha. Pride, ego, the “insistent self,” symbolized by Satan, represent baser human instincts.

I believe I’m seeing far more evil in the world than ever before in my lifetime. There’s a constant barrage of antisemitism, gun violence, racism and homophobia. And not only is there a lack of empathy, but there’s a gleeful viciousness about it from perpetrators. However, for this piece, I’m going to focus specifically on the evil I’m seeing in response to COVID.

The recent SpokaneFāVS series on “The Evil in this World” may have missed something. Evil is certainly abundant; multiple examples are provided. But how much is focused on what may be the most common evil of all — lying? This simple act ranges from the deliberate whopper to nuanced shading of truth, from military propaganda to religious leaders denying child molestation to rationalization.

SpokaneFāVS' first Coffee Talk of the new year will be Jan. 14, 10 a.m. to Noon, at the Spokane Public Library Central branch (906 W. Main Ave., downtown Spokane). The topic: There is evil in this world.