Do not scorn an evil though small, for it never comes singly, but in battalions, as does joy; good fortune and bad concentrate where they are already thick. Gracian #254
George Rebane
History records that when Christian knights subdued Jerusalem during the Crusades, they slaughtered most, if not all, of the then resident Muslim population, including women and children. And we are all witness to the killings of thousands of innocents in the 9/11 attacks by devout Islamist fanatics. Neither the perpetrators, planners, nor their supporting populations considered these acts as anything other than carrying out the will of God; most certainly neither side considered the massacres to be evil acts.
Yet in the eyes of the targeted populations, these and many more such acts were the very embodiment of unspeakable evil. And the belief systems that spawned them to be wellsprings of irredeemable evil, that were nevertheless confirmed in their respective canons and credible visions wherein God directed and gave imprimatur to the mass killings.
Countless other such historical narratives can be presented to abet the conclusion that evil is almost entirely in the eyes of the targeted recipients and sympathetic observers. In a broader sense, we may conclude that evil is really culture dependent and/or culture specific.
Today we see more examples of such relativistic expressions and interpretations of evil. They continue to be a global phenomenon and an historical constant. Consulting dictionaries gives us lame meanings that should not inflame any sensibilities, but nevertheless cannot help but corroborate the above interpretation.
From Dictionary.com – Evil (adjective) 1. morally wrong or bad; immoral; wicked: evil deeds; an evil life. 2. harmful; injurious: evil laws.
From the Random House Dictionary of the English Language – Evil (adj) 1. Morally wrong or bad; immoral; wicked. Evil deeds, and evil life. 2. Harmful; injurious. Evil laws. … 4. Due to actual or imputed bad conduct or character. An evil reputation.
From the Oxford English Dictionary – Evil (adj) A. Antithesis of good in all its principal senses. 1. Morally depraved, bad, wicked, vicious. 2. Doing or tending to do harm, hurtful, mischievous, prejudicial.
All the definitions appeal to the violation of morals which are overwhelmingly determined by culture (e.g. cultural mores), and therefore relativistic, in the eye of the beholder, etc.
When we bring this understanding to today’s polarized America, we run head on into the political attribution of evil by our Left. Democrats are now on a growing public record of defining Trump and all those who support him and his policies as being evil. That is their core, and to date, only argument as to why the president should not only be denied a second term, but also be prosecuted for crimes claimed and yet to be claimed. In sum, he is fundamentally evil, and a good person opposes evil with no further argument or evidence needed – the constant chorus of its attribution should be more than enough to indict, convict, and punish.
In the eyes of the Left, we who oppose BLM, Antifa, et al – the new radical organs of the Left and the Democrat Party – are of necessity painted with the same broad brush. We too are of the deplorably irredeemable cohort of evil people in the land already blemished by indelible racism, prejudice, white privilege, and social injustice to the very marrow of our bones.
This sentiment is not reciprocated per se by the Republican Party. The country’s political representatives of the Right today are a timid bunch, that has pretty much lost its way and will to fight in the ongoing chaos. As an institution it doesn’t know whose ass to kick or kiss, a deficit not shared by its audacious and blustering fearless leader who can still be taunted off-message in a heartbeat by any unsubstantiated charge or even a randomly tossed ad hominem.
I, on the other hand, have no such inhibitions, as RR readers with functioning memories will attest. (e.g. search ‘The Liberal Mind’ category with ‘evil’) Along with a number of conservative commentators, I long ago concluded that the Democratic Party, as embodied by its leadership, is an evil and anti-American institution. And I readily acknowledge that my perspective on evil is not some assessment from Mt Olympus, but one that also succumbs to all the culturally adorned attributes outlined above. Of course, I don’t value all cultures equally, and consider my own to be the custodian of more goodness and light by far than most others on the planet. I am among those who do not necessarily want to impose their own culture on others, but I will willingly fight to maintain the right to practice it with other like-minded people.
So from that standpoint, the question arises about America's socialist leadership. Are these Democrats intrinsically evil in that they recognize the harm their public policies will do to America and its people, as they continue to pursue them for their own political and personal benefit? Or are they true believers, and therefore as tragically ignorant as their grass roots constituents – all those who oppose meritocracy, free enterprise, open markets, minimally regulated capitalism, smaller government, ownership of private property, lower taxes, and abundant liberty to pursue happiness?
In the final analysis we can ask what difference does it make in how we respond to those who seek to diminish our freedoms, fortunes, and futures. Whether they deprive us individually while they devastate the country with intentions good or ill, either will produce the same end state. Socialism in America will not stop with the mild-mannered versions in the EU that have been anchored by capitalist America. When America succumbs to socialism, with no other great nation to anchor us, our nation will inevitably slide into tyranny. The governance promised by Democrats will be indifferent to their kind of evil – either will equally will herd us into a draconian land in which all will suffer.
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