The Evil That Men Do.

“If there is evil in this world, then it lies within the hearts of men.” — Yoshiharu Gotanda, ‘Tales of Phantasia’

When you think of evil, what comes to your mind first? The eradication of 5 million Jews by the Nazis in the Holocaust? Or maybe the bombing of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and United Airways Flight 93 on September 11th 2001? Or even the crucifixion of Jesus Christ 2000 years ago? For me, the most evil act I can think of is the simply the creation of the human race.

The word evil can have many different meanings, such as morally bad or wrong, causing ruin, pain or injury, or an evil force, power, or personification. Simply by the definition of evil, one can only have a grasp of what evil is, but only through experience one can understand evil fully. Evil is readily perceived differently among people of certain religions, races, ages, sexes, and mental condition, but the underlying factor of evil is always geared toward negative outcomes, either physical or moral.

Take for example the annual clubbing of seals in Canada. Some people see this as a way of culling the animals for income and to protect fish stocks, whereas others see it as a heinous act of humanity with scant regard for any other animal bar ourselves, even then minimal.

Evil is when one purposefully causes pain, not pain caused by fault. Evil knows something is morally wrong, but still proceeds in doing so. A big mis-understanding about evil is that unintentional harm to some extent is not evil at all. For example if you’re driving along a street and you ran over a cat accidentally and killed it, is that evil? To some, it might be. Although being evil is un-admirable, it is necessary because without it there will be no good.

How can one define good, without evil? The premise is the same as the way you cannot have love without hate. Just like yin and yang, evil balances out the good in this world.

Where do we draw the line between evil and good? Simple. We can’t.

The boundary is based on one’s opinions, usually dependent on religion, childhood, and mental condition. Religious people might think stamping on a bug is so evil that you will go to Hell, but people with a deprived childhood might think getting cats stoned on marijuana and swinging it above their head is a good idea, not evil. Evil is based on each individual’s perception of evil.

So, where do we draw the line on the debate then? How can we honestly say the terrorists that committed 9/11 were evil and yet the person who kills spiders because he’s scared of them isn’t? Isn’t evil just another emotion that is more present in others, similar to the way people can control anger more efficiently than others? And who or what gives us the ability to judge on others’ behaviour, when on the other hand, they may think the very same of us?

There is no good. There is no evil. There is only humanity.

But that’s my opinion.

What’s yours?

Originally published as a print-based portfolio piece, entitled “The Evil That Men Do”, in 2010.