The Question of Evil

Recently, a classmate of mine with whom I've briefly discussed Unity and my personal beliefs, emailed me with the following question(s):

"If God is everything and in all things, does bad/evil/satan exist? If so how? and is that part of God too? And thus, is that part of us too?"

A fundamental aspect of all theologies is an explanation of the existence of evil. The following is my personal belief, influenced, informed, and supported by Unity teachings.

The very first basic Unity principle states that there is only one power and one presence active in the universe, God the good.

            This often gives rise to the belief that everything in the universe is therefore good. This philosophy is incredibly relieving to people who have often felt weighed down by the belief and fear of some supernatural force of Evil out to destroy us. Moreover, the philosophy that everything is good can even be beneficial in dealing with the minor tragedies of life; when faced with an unwanted break-up, a sudden loss of employment, or other unexpected setback, we can keep our spirits high with the belief that it is ultimately a good thing, part of “Divine Order.”

            The problem is that this philosophy, like many others, is one which as Rev. Mark Fisk puts it, “works until it doesn’t.” While the belief that everything is ultimately a good thing can help us deal with the minor tragedies of life, it suddenly loses its uplifting power in the face of the greater tragedies. I refuse to ascribe to any faith or philosophy which attempts to claim that murder, rape, and pedophilia are actually good things, “blessings in disguise” or “part of God’s plan.” And if I’m in mourning, don’t you dare tell me that “it’s just meant to be.” This philosophy that every single thing is a good thing is also ludicrous in the face of the Holocaust, Apartheid, modern sex slaves, or devastating hurricanes, earthquakes, and tsunamis.

            Luckily, this is not what the first Unity principle means.

            Rather, what it is saying is that the only thing with any power, the only thing with any true presence, is good. Yes, bad things do happen. But no matter how great the tragedy, no matter how horrible the wrong, good persists. When a friend of mine was stabbed in the neck while working as a bouncer, there was not one ounce of me that then or now would consider the event a “good” thing. It wasn’t. It was a sad, horrible, tragedy. But afterwards, his friends and family came together supporting each other in kindness and love. Bonds of loyalty were formed, comforts given. The other guys who worked as bouncers took the event to heart, some leaving the job, others exercising greater caution in it. These and other things were all good things. They didn’t outweigh the bad event of the death, but they didn’t have to – the point is that something bad happened, but good persisted. In the international aid after a natural disaster; in the creation of the United Nations after WWII, an organization with lofty goals of peace; in the inspirational words and actions of such figures as Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and Martin Luther King Jr.; in these things we can see the power of good persisting in the face of horrible events and circumstances.

            This, then, is what is truly meant by Divine Order; not that there is some anthropomorphic deity with a micromanaged plan for all our lives, but that the divine presence in all things retains its goodness and need only to be recognized and called on in times of tragedy.

            The point is that goodness can never be destroyed; only suppressed or ignored. I often use the analogy of light – there are shadows in the world, places where the light is not clearly shown, but shadows have no power or presence when exposed to the light.

            Taking this analogy further, one might be compelled to declare the objects casting shadows as representative of evil. I would argue, however, that those objects blocking the light are simply those things which suppress our innate goodness – our fears, doubts, negative adaptations, ignorance, etc.

            One of the great difficulties I have with a belief in evil is just how few people throughout time have ever actually considered themselves to be evil. Our great archetype of evil, Adolf Hitler, certainly believed that what he was doing was a good thing. So too did most if not all of the greatest tyrants and terrible figures of our history. Of course I do not think for one instant that a belief in doing good makes one good, but if evil was truly a separate force vying for control, why then does no one desire to be evil?

            Evil is a convenience. It is easier to simply call some thing or some one evil and avoid it or hate it than actually delve into the questions of why and how something is wrong. Applying the black and white labels of good and evil to life is simply a rather lazy way to go about things – and with just a little bit of critical thinking, it swiftly becomes nearly impossible to ignore the fact that is not a world of black and white but a world of color.

            Of course, this view plays into the idea that good and evil are completely and utterly subjective, and can call into question then the concept of Good as existing.

            But this is an argument against Evil, and while I most firmly believe that Goodness is real, I shall save that lengthy argument for a later date.

[Please note that I am neither ordained, licensed, nor certified with the Unity organization, and the views and opinions I express in this and all other posts are not meant to be representative of what Unity officially believes or teaches. For more information on Unity's official teachings, please visit www.unity.org/aboutunity]