Taking Our Bearings
We eliminated evil spirits and such early on and pledged
to limit our discussion to acts of individuals, or groups of individuals,
against individuals, or groups of individuals.
What constitutes evil? It might be a simple act in
which perpetrators compromise the well-being of the victims. In ancient societies
(and some not so ancient) what we might call “the power force” denied certain
groups various forms of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in myriad actions.
Sequestrations from the right to vote to the right to use a public restroom may
fall within this list. Oh, and what about the right of a happy couple to purchase
a wedding cake?
Some sociologists refer to this entry-level evil
as the imposition of social death. In America, we know of this primarily as the
avowed intention of the imprisonment of prisoners for crimes. One writer says
of social death that, “a unifying feature is that it is used to comment on the way
people may be regarded as if they are something other than human or no longer a
person.”[i]
We all know of actions at the top ranking of evil
acts and little reason exists in visiting them at this point. Discussions of
the gradations between the lower rungs and the higher could fill entire libraries.
And they have. To simplify our task, but to focus on severity, let us consider four
test cases.
Case One: Individual A and Individual B
have harbored bad relations for months. Individual A invites Individual B to
his house to resolve their difficulties. During the discussion Individual A begins
to taunt Individual B with a series of virulent and personal epithets. When Individual
B can stand the taunts no longer, he threatens to assault Individual B who, without
warning, produces a firearm from a coat pocket and places one shot into the
head of the other, killing him instantly. No signs of pain or prolonged
suffering appear. Individual A smiles, blows the smoke from the end of his
weapon, twirls it “cowboy style,” replaces it, and utters a simple “That’ll teach
you.” He then calls the police.
Case Two: A group is holding a man
prisoner, demanding that he produce some information that is key to their
intentions. He goes without food or water and suffers daily beatings. Each time
he nears death, his captors provide a meager sustenance that keeps him alive
for another day. When they despair of meeting their ends, they cease the beatings
and the sustenance. The prisoner languishes in agony for several days. His groans
of agony and pleas for help resound through the building. When they know he is
dead, his captors burn his body and spread the ashes discreetly.
Case Three: A group is holding a man prisoner.
Though he receives food and drink, each day his captors enter his cell and remind
him of the exact day and time on which he will face execution. Day after day,
the ritual is the same. This fills the tiny cell: Days remaining, hours
remaining, minutes remaining, sometimes seconds remaining, and the exact method
by which he will face eternity. There is no hope for retrieve, his captors tell
him. Then they recite again the litany of time remaining. Each day his despair
and lack of hope hang heavier around his neck, invading and torturing him
mercilessly.
Case Four: A young child is cruelly damaged
by an evil source. A cure exists that will remove the child’s pain and agony.
As the child writhes in pain, caregivers withhold the cure, stating that the
withholding is in the best interest of the child. Though suffering greatly, the
child manages to survive the ordeal but with a terrible disfigurement that a
simple medical procedure could have prevented.
The attentive among you may have guessed by now.
Case One: Individual A acted totally within his legal
rights, according to some state laws, including those of my state of Arkansas.
Case Two: This process is considered appropriate
by the military leaders of many countries, including some, blessedly not all, high-ranking
members of our own.
Case Three: This ordeal faces every prisoner now
sitting on death row.
Case Four: Unless a “Saul on the Road to Damascus Moment”
floods our nation’s Supreme Court, every young girl in America may someday face
this ordeal.
Dealing with the concept of evil will not prove pleasant
sailing.
[i]
Borgstrum. E. Social Death. QJM” An International Journal of Medicine, 20017,
5-7
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