CAUSES

Some of our greatest thinkers have studied the evil done by evil people. But what causes a “terrifyingly normal” person to do evil as one of the types covered in the last chapter? Let us steer carefully into that whirlpool.

First, we must mind a prevalent lesson from statistical analysis. Perhaps the strongest correlation with evil to be found in historical accounts is religion. Better minds than ours must attempt to determine if religion is the cause of evil or if religion is simply the excuse. We’ll steer around that question as best we can. We might note that one modern writer posits that, given the limitations of direct personal control over others, a major function of myth is to permit the control of many by a few.[i] Thus we veer toward correlation and causation merging in the case of evil.

As a prelude to causation, in the last chapter we discussed the types of evildoers. At the next level, now let us examine a litany of the most common catalysts for evil in the history of our species.

Punishment: This may be the most common source of evil actions. Bart Ehrman covered this thoroughly in his work on suffering (Ehrman, 2008). The use of evil for punishment by omnipotent spirits is common in Hebrew literature. Disobedience is perhaps the most common instigator. Examples include the imposition of the agony of childbirth[ii] for the gender of a species. Perhaps the most virulent involved the near annihilation of all species on earth.[iii]

Other religion-based punishments don’t involve a particular motivating act, i.e. sin, by the victims. Consider the innocents of the City of Jericho, going about their business.[iv] Some examples involve actions on victims for deeds that we might view as untoward but not worthy of violent punishment, say the acts of some young boys in ridiculing a bald man.[v] Being torn apart by wild beasts would seem a little “over the top” by modern standards.

Some societies attempt to create punishment that equated to a crime. Thus, the punishment for the wanton murder of an innocent is a long period of contemplation followed by the imposition of 2,000 volts of electricity through the perpetrator’s body.

Revenge: Again, this is a major determinant involved in the imposition of evil. Sometimes the connection is apparent, say Hiroshima and Nagasaki for Pearl Harbor. Other times, the connection becomes skewed, say the bombing of Baghdad for 9-11.

The act of revenge can allow be personal. A young Julius Caesar was once kidnapped by pirates. After paying off the ransom, Caesar raised an army, captured the pirates and had them crucified.[vi] Acts of revenge can also serve as acts of education.

Victory: Nothing seems to motivate the evil angels of our nature more than victory in war. Ask the Midianites who faced the following wrath after defeat in battle: “Now kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man, but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man.”[vii] More recently, we might ask German families about the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles following their country’s defeat in World War One.

Cleansing: See Wannsee Conference.[viii] This is, reportedly, from where the Final Solution to ridding Europe of all Jews emerged.

Law: The use of law to promulgate evil provides an unusual difficult task. First, we are not legal scholars. Second, laws derive from many sources, tradition, constitutions, statutes, and ordinances. A particularly needling fact is that, increasingly, our national state, local, and local laws emerge from iron-age writings by unknown authors in distant lands. Third, power determines the validity and enforcement of laws. So, we get the so-called “Nuremberg Laws” [ix] that legalized the persecution of Jews in Germany and the “Jim Crow Laws”[x] that legalized the persecution of African-Americans in the modern South.

Guilt: James A. Michener, in his classic Tales of the South Pacific, recounts how educated military members noticed curious phenomenon among South Pacific Islanders. These groups lived in what might be described as “paradise on earth:” No disease, ample food for the taking, and a moderate climate. In response, some had formed some of the cruelest religions imaginable. They termed this “Paradise Syndrome” which has come to include individuals of such great wealth and success that they feel they no longer have anything left in life to accomplish. Perhaps this might account for the fact that the poorest among us sometimes find a peace that eludes the better off, who think up evil as a pastime. See: “Legislator.”

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[i] Harari, Yuval N. author. ( 2015). Sapiens : a brief history of humankind. New York :Harper,

[ii] Genesis 3.16

[iii] Genesis 6-9

[iv] Joshua 6:21-25

[v] 2 Kings 2:23-24

[vi] Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (Invalid Date). The Time Julius Caesar Was Captured by Pirates. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/story/the-time-julius-caesar-was-captured-by-pirates

[vii] Numbers 31: 14-18

[viii] Berenbaum, M. (2021, January 13). Wannsee Conference. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/event/Wannsee-Conference

[ix] Bradsher, Greg, The Nuremberg Laws, The National Archives, Winter 2010, Vol. 42, No. 4

[x] Urofsky, M. I. (2021, September 20). Jim Crow law. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/event/Jim-Crow-law