Good And Evil Revisited, Part 3

My apologies for running late with this one. I had surgery recently, and recovery took longer than I expected.

One of the ugliest habits of Evil is contempt. It calls Good people stupid, ignorant, easy to push around, pawns to be worked by whoever shows up. And it does this most effectively while wearing the mask of Good itself.

The trouble is that some who pass for Good belong to the other side. They play the part so they can get away with things. This tends to start the moment values drift away from actually doing good and meeting the needs of people who are desperate, whether that means salvation or simply food and shelter. Think of Maslow's hierarchy. A congregation might decide that worshiping inside a grand cathedral is a social need, a way of letting everyone see how seriously they take the glory of God. They might also decide they require a larger building to hold a growing membership, which they file under safety. Both sound reasonable. Both can quietly redirect a church away from housing and feeding the poor and toward adding square footage it never really needed. People feel wonderful standing inside a showplace. Whether that feeling is Good, or edging toward Evil, is a fair question. Look at me. Look at my church.

Picture the person who walks in on Sunday with a scowl, already scanning for something to object to. Over time, people like that can tear a congregation apart over doctrine or over whatever standards they have convinced themselves are the only Godly ones.

You won't find hugging in those churches. Often not even a handshake or a warm word for a visitor. The members would squirm at the thought. Dress codes run strict: formal clothes, rules about hair, bans on certain outfits, no bare feet, no hats or head coverings, never mind that the disciples went without any of that. Meanwhile there are people who stay away entirely because they believe they have nothing fit to wear, their clothes worn thin, their shoes scuffed, the wrong size. When my disabilities keep me home on a Sunday, at least I don't have to dress for anyone. I usually catch a sermon on television instead.

The slide keeps going, toward fame and being seen, toward power, money, and a far higher standard of living. Gold faucets. Rare and expensive things. More doors, more options, a gated address. One person might own ten of something another person owns one of, or none at all. A few people can nearly corner the market on beautiful objects, and some of those people count themselves among the Good. A single fine item can cost what a working person earns in a year.

So where do you go once you have done it all and seen it all? Do you start deciding other people are evil because, in your view, they didn't work hard enough to climb up to where you sit and look down? The Bible tends to get set aside in that climb, except for the books or verses that happen to flatter what these people already believe. Was Scripture meant to be read whole and lived whole? I'd say yes. When someone genuinely tries to read it that way and apply it, that effort counts for something. There are other books that lay out a value system too, but you have to weigh those with your heart and not only your head.

Who do you admire? Does the way they act and think actually earn your loyalty? Most of us carry a conscience, and somewhere deep down we recognize when we're doing something we know is wrong. We stay quiet too often, telling ourselves other people are more qualified or more powerful. (I wrote about this in my post on The Little People.) That silence is exactly why democracy exists. You can vote. So vote. This fall I'm casting an independent vote for governor, because I don't find the sitting Republican or the Democratic challenger worthy of it. I'm hoping enough of us small, ordinary voters do the same so our view gets heard. In Illinois, a Democrat means being run by Chicago, and reelecting the current governor, who has left the state broke, won't change that either. If you live in Illinois, consider the independent, Kash Jackson, and let the state see how many of us reject both parties' candidates.

None of these values about Good and Evil mean anything unless you live them, especially when living them costs you. Do you have a mission statement of your own, something that names your purpose and how you intend to pursue it? Remember too that fights inside a church are usually fights over power. People who are truly righteous are worried about other things. The same drama runs through corporations, only knottier. Have you ever been told to do something at work that was basically illegal? Would you walk away from the job before you walked away from what you believe?

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