INTRODUCTION TO EVIL AND SUFFERING IN THE GREAT RELIGIONS.
IN CONSIDERING RELIGION AND ITS VARIOUS APPROACHES TO THE UNIVERSAL
EXPERIENCE OF
SUFFERING, WE HAVE TO TURN TO ORIGINS/ROOTS.
RELIGION IS AS OLD AS HUMANKIND - NEANDERTHAL AND CRO-MAGNON. THESE ARE
THE EARLIEST
MEMBERS/REPRESENTATIVES OF OUR SPECIES - HOMO SAPIENS.
FROM AS LONG AS 100,000 TO 25,000 YEARS AGO, THESE HUMANS PRACTICED BURIAL
RITES
INDICATIVE OF A BELIEF IN AN AFTERLIFE.
THEY ALSO APPARENTLY PRACTICES RITES OF PROPITIATION (ACT OF APPEASING,
PACIFYING, OR
MAKING FAVORABLE, OFTEN THROUGH SOME FORM OF SACRIFICE TO A DEITY).
AS A SPECIES - HUMANKIND IS ACCURATELY DESCRIBED AS ‘HOMO RELIGIOSUS" - A
RELIGIOUS
ANIMAL.
"The religious is any activity pursues in behalf an ideal end against obstacles and in spite of threats of
personal loss because of its general and enduring value." John Dewey.
"Religion is the recognition of all our duties as divine commands." Immanuel Kant.
"Religion is comparable to a childhood neurosis." Sigmund Freud.
"Religion is the sign of the oppressed creature. . . . It is the opium of the people. . . . Religion is only the
illusory sun which revolves around man as long as he does not revolve around himself." Karl Marx.
MORAL EVIL AND NATURAL EVIL
MODERN PHILOSOPHERS OF RELIGION CLAIM THAT NINETY PERCENT OF THE EVIL IN
THE WORLD IS
GENERATED BY HUMAN BEINGS. THAT MEANS WE ARE THE CONDUIT FOR SUFFERING.
ONLY TEN PERCENT OF THE MISERY THAT OCCURS IN THE WORLD IS THE DIRECT CAUSE
OF NATURAL
DISASTERS OR SELF-REGULATION THAT THE BIOSPHERE (GAIA) CONDUCTS.
IMPACT OF HUMANKIND UPON THE BIOSPHERE/GAIA
OUR SPECIES’ INTERCONNECTION WITH ALL FORMS OF LIFE.
MUCH OF THE "ENVIRONMENTAL" OR NATURAL MISERY IN THE WORLD IS CAUSED BY
OUR SPECIES’
IMPACT UPON IT.
OUR AGGRESSION/HATE/GREED/CRUELTY BRINGS ABOUT DEATH.
WE DO THIS BY: WAGING WAR.
CONSEQUENCES: DEATH, SUFFERING, PAIN, GRIEF, DESTRUCTION OF
FAMILIES/COMMUNITIES, FAMINE,
PLAGUES, SICKNESS, PSYCHOLOGICAL TRAUMA.
HESE THINGS IN TURN GIVE RISE TO MORE OF THE ABOVE. IT IS A CIRCLE.
HISTORICAL FACT:
WHEN THE EXPLOITIVE AND CRUEL ASPECTS OF OUR SPECIES "SIGNATURE" HAVE BEEN
UNCHECKED
WE HAVE CONSISTENTLY DEMONSTRATED THE TENDENCY TO:
RUTHLESSLY EXPLOIT BY DESTROYING OTHER PEOPLE’S HABITATS, LIVES,
CULTURES.
DESTROY OTHER LIFE FORMS’ HABITATS.
EXPLOIT PEOPLE AND ALL OTHER FORMS OF LIFE.
THIS IS GENERATED BY OUR LACK OF COMPASSION FOR "OTHERS."
A LACK OF COMPASSION (LOVE) CAUSES US TO INFLICT NEEDLESS SUFFERING ON ALL
OTHER FORMS
OF LIFE.
HATRED PROVIDES US WITH THE NECESSARY RATIFICATION FOR OUR WISH TO DESTROY
OTHER
HUMANS.
WE DEMONSTRATE A GENERAL TENDENCY TO MAKE "OTHER" THOSE WHOM WE DISLIKE
FOR RACIAL,
RELIGIOUS OR GENDER REASONS.
GREED IS A PRIMARY CONDUIT FOR RUTHLESS, UNFEELING EXPLOITATION.
EXAMPLE: MANY WITHIN OUR SPECIES BELIEVE THAT WE ARE THE ONLY ONES THAT
REALLY FEEL
PAIN, GRIEF, LOVE.
ERGO: IT IS OF LITTLE CONSEQUENCE IF WE CAUSE SUFFERING TO OTHER SPECIES. WE
HAVE THE
"RIGHT" TO EXPLOIT WITHOUT CONSCIENCE, THE LAND, SEA AND AIR. WE HAVE THE
RIGHT TO USE
ANIMALS .
WE DISMISS THE CONSEQUENCES OF OUR ACTIONS.
WE FIND EXCUSES FOR OUR ACTIONS.
IT IS ALWAYS SOMEONE ELSE WHO IS TO BLAME.
THESE PATTERNS OF CONDUCT, ALBEIT SOMETIMES GENERATED BY IGNORANCE, HAVE
CAUSED
MOST OF THE HORROR IN THE WORLD.
FOR ALL OF THE ABOVE REASONS, HUMANKIND IS SQUARELY TO BLAME FOR MUCH OF
THE HORROR IN
THE WORLD.
AS A CONSEQUENCE:
MANY RELIGIOUS STUDIES RESEARCHERS AND MODERN PHILOSOPHERS ACCEPT THE
CONCEPT OF
ANTHROPODICY.
ANTHROPODICY IS A TERM THAT BASICALLY MEANS THAT HUMANS ARE NOT TO SHIFT
THE BLAME FOR
THE CAUSE OF EVIL AND SUFFERING ONTO A SUPERNATURAL SOURCE.
AS HUMAN BEINGS, WE MUST ACCEPT THAT OUR CONDUCT HAS AN IMMEDIATE IMPACT
ON OTHERS
AND UPON ALL OTHER SOURCES AND KINDS OF LIFE FORMS.
THIS CAN BE WIDELY CLASSIFIED AS EVIL AND/OR SIN.
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TO ONE DEGREE OR ANOTHER ALL RELIGIONS DEAL WITH EVIL AND SUFFERING.
HOWEVER, IN ADDITION TO THIS:
RELIGIONS GIVE EXPLANATIONS FOR THE CAUSES OF EVIL AND FOR THE ORIGINS OF
SUFFERING.
ALL RELIGIONS ATTEMPT TO GIVE DIRECTION ON CAUSE AND EFFECT.
THE MAJORITY OF RELIGIONS WILL ALSO ACCEPT THAT THERE ARE EVIL FORCES
OUTSIDE OF THE
INDIVIDUAL THAT ATTEMPT TO NEGATIVELY INFLUENCE CONDUCT AND DISTORT
COMPASSION.
HOW TO STOP THE SUFFERING IS SOMETHING THAT
DEVOTEES OF ALL RELIGIONS WILL ASPIRE TO.
THEODICY (GREEK TERM) - DERIVED FROM TWO WORDS "THEOS" MEANING GOD AND
"DIKE" MEANING JUSTICE.
THE TERM THEODICY HAS BEEN ADOPTED IN RECENT TIMES BY SOCIAL SCIENTISTS TO
DESCRIBE A WIDE RANGE OF RELIGIOUS AND IDEOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS OR
LEGITIMATIONS OF THE ANOMIC (CHAOTIC AND EVIL EXPERIENCES FACED BY BOTH
INDIVIDUALS AND SOCIETIES).
THEODICY IS ALSO USED WHEN DISCUSSING RELIGIONS, TO DESCRIBE EXPLANATIONS
FOR EVIL AND SUFFERING WHICH DO NOT NECESSARILY HOLD MONOTHEISTIC
ASSUMPTIONS (BELIEF IN ONE GOD).
THEODICIES DERIVE FROM THE FACT THAT EVIL AND CHAOS MUST NOT ONLY BE
ENDURED
BUT ALSO BE EXPLAINED IF A SENSE OF FATEDNESS, OR MEANINGLESSNESS, AND
DESPAIR ARE TO BE UNDERSTOOD - CONTROLLED.
EXPLANATIONS FOR SUFFERING WITHIN RELIGIOUS COSMOLOGIES, IMPART A SENSE OF
UNDERSTANDING, EVEN CONTROL THROUGH ACCEPTANCE. THE ADHERENT WITHIN A
RELIGION CAN ACTUALLY FIND STRENGTH TO FACE THAT WHICH OTHERWISE WOULD
BE
TOTALLY WITHOUT HOPE.
THESE EXPLANATIONS OFFER EMPOWERMENT TO AN INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCING TOTAL
DESPAIR, VULNERABILITY, WEAKNESS, PAIN AND SORROW.
THE WORLD’S RELIGIONS PROPOSE A VARIETY OF EXPLANATIONS OR LEGITIMATIONS
FOR
THE FACT OF EVIL, MANY OF WHICH HAVE PROVEN ENORMOUSLY COMPELLING AND
HAVE
ENDURED IN VERY DIFFERENT TIMES AND PLACES.
THE POWER OF THESE THEODICIES LIES IN THEIR CAPACITY TO PROVIDE CONVINCING
EXPLANATIONS FOR THE AWFUL REALITY OF SUFFERING AND EVIL.
SURPRISINGLY, WHEN ALL ELSE HAS GONE, HUMANS IN THESE HORRENDOUS
EXPERIENCES SEEM TO SEEK THE ASSURANCE THAT EVIL NOTWITHSTANDING, LIFE HAS
MEANING AND PURPOSE.
SUFFERING AND EVIL HAVE ALWAYS TORTURED AND OPPRESSED THE HUMAN BODY
AND
THE HUMAN SPIRIT.
IN THE SIXTH CENTURY - KALLINOS (GREEK) OBSERVED:
"THERE IS NO WIT IN MAN. CREATURES OF A DAY WE LIVE LIKE CATTLE, KNOWING
NOTHING OF HOW THE GOD WILL BRING EACH ONE TO HIS END. . . . THUS EVIL IS WITH
EVERYTHING. YEA, TEN THOUSAND DOOMS, WOES AND GRIEF BEYOND SPEAKING ARE
THE
LOT OF MANKIND."
Werner Foerster, Gnosis: A selection of Gnostic Texts, vol II (Oxford, 1974) p 159.
IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY ALONE, IT HAS BEEN ESTIMATED THAT 70 MILLION HUMAN
BEINGS HAVE BEEN DISPLACED, ENSLAVED, AND KILLED.
(BEFORE 1950s).
THE FIGURES HAVE RISEN DRAMATICALLY SINCE CAMUS WROTE.
THE HOLOCAUST
DROUGHT AND FAMINE PERSIST IN ETHOPIA AND THE SUDAN.
TRIBAL WARFARE IN AFRICA.
CANNIBALISM THROUGH TRIBAL WARFARE
CHILD SOLDIERS
SLAVERY (ESTIMATED 7 MILLION ENSLAVED AT THE PRESENT TIME)
CHILD PROSTITUTION
THE HOLOCAUST
WAR IN FORMER YUGOSLAVIA
CONTINUOUS WARFARE IN MIDDLE EAST
EXPERIMENTS WITH NERVE GASS, GERM WARFARE.
TRIBAL DISPLACEMENT DUE TO WAR
DESTRUCTION OF ENVIRONMENT – DESTRUCTION OF ANIMAL LIFE – DESTRUCTION OF
HABITAT FOR ALL LIFE.
DEFORESTATION
AD INFINITUM
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THE RELIGIOUS LEGITIMATION OF SUFFERING AND EVIL
THIS IS OFTEN UNCONSCIOUS.
WHILE THEODICIES MAY ENTAIL RATHER COMPLEX METAPHYSICAL DOCTRINES, AS IN
BUDDHISM AND CHRISTIANITY, THEY AS OFTEN REPRESENT THE UNSOPHISTICATED
CONVICTIONS OF ORDINARY PEOPLE.
WHEN SUCH A PERSON EXPLAINS A DROUGHT AS A JUDGMENT OF GOD, HE/SHE IS
ENGAGING IN THEODICY.
EXAMPLE: A YOUNG AMERICAN SOLDIER WHOSE LEGS HAD BEEN BLOWN OFF BY A
LAND MINE IN VIETNAM.
HE HAD BEEN INVOLVED, TO HIS OWN DEEP REMORSE, IN THE ANNIHILATION BY FLAME
THROWERS OF AN ENTIRE VIETNAMESE VILLAGE, INCLUDING THE DEATH OF INNOCENT
WOMEN AND CHILDREN.
SOME TIME AFTER THE EVENT, HE SUFFERED A CRIPPLING INJURY.
HE SAW THIS AS GOD’S JUDGMENT ON HIS OWN MONSTROUS CRIME AND A MERCIFUL
RELEASE. HIS PERSONAL SUFFERING STRANGELY SATISFIED HIS SENSE OF JUSTICE, AND
HE ACCEPTED HIS CONDITION, NOT GRUDGINGLY OR FATALISTICALLY, BUT WITH AN
APPARENT SENSE OF RELIEF, SATISFACTION, AND PEACE.
UNAWARE, THE YOUNG MAN WAS ENGAGING IN THEODICY.
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