Monday, April 7, 2014

Evil and the Ultimate Hero

In my Philosophy of God class we debated why does God permit evil?  Is evil its own unseen supernatural force fighting the force of God or love?   One classmate argued that without evil, we wouldn’t know what good/love is.   My answer is that in our soul we have a natural understanding of what is love and what is evil.  We do not have to create evil to know love  and evil only occurs through our actions.  I believe at the root of evil is fear – our own fears or perverse enjoyment of creating fear.  We forget that evil is “no thing” and has no power but what we give it. 

It is amazing the number of movies created depicting some huge interstellar battle or worldwide catastrophe that a superhuman power or hero has to overcome.  Have we forgotten we have the freedom of choice?   Could we focus our efforts on creating a world we can all live in instead of expending so much action and energy on creating battles and symbols of fear from which a superhuman hero must deliver us?  Have we forgotten we already have a hero to follow?

In the Star Wars movie Return of the Jedi, Luke Skywalker, overcomes evil using the love of a son and rescues his father Darth Vader from Vader's own created hell.  It is interesting how this movie mirrors Jesus.  Jesus fights with love and forgiveness, the greatest sword and shield, and who is our ultimate hero.


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