When will this ever end?

It was Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, who wrote this is  The Gulag Archipelago 1918–1956.  “The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either -- but right through every human heart -- and through all human hearts. This line shifts. Inside us, it oscillates with the years. And even within hearts overwhelmed by evil, one small bridgehead of good is retained”  A man who experienced evil at hand of the powers of his nation. 

And C S Lewis wrote “We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it…. Elsewhere he wrote - “Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance. The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed of. An apparently trivial indulgence in lust or anger today is the loss of a ridge or railway line or bridgehead from which the enemy may launch an attack otherwise impossible.” One who understood the concept of evil from his own heart, his understanding of human nature and the good book.

But Nietzsche said - “There is an old illusion. It is called good and evil”. Or like Stefan Pinker who believes evil is a myth,  “If the myth of pure evil is that evil is committed with the intention of causing harm and an absence of moral considerations, then it applies to very few acts of so-called 'pure evil' because most evildoers believe what they are doing is forgivable or justifiable.

Or as Harari says one of the biggest questions he is asking about the future is, “what are we going to do with ourselves?”. In the past humans have been preoccupied by overcoming three main things in life; famine, plagues and war. But in the 21st century we have been able to control these three elements to a certain extent."  

Philosophers who want to make us believe that essentially we are good! Evil if it happens it its an aberration. But there is truth in Stefan Pinker's statement too. Most evil doers believe or are made to believe by the leaders that what they are doing is forgivable or justifiable. Leaders who have mastered the art of manipulation of the masses using such make believe lies.

When we see communities that lived together for years, suddenly erupts in violence against each other, at significant cost to their own lives and well being, one wonders how come this happened. But then these were waiting to happen. We voted in leaders and gave them free hands to perpetuate and keep in simmer the us vs them divide. Till a day they can use it for their perceived ends. 

How else  can you explain this story from someone I met recently - “We worked together for many years. We were part of a team. But when this violence broke out, our own colleagues were calling us names abusing us and threatening to kill us!” 

How else can you explain the sudden burst of violence in many parts of the world, including our own nation. Thousands killed displaced, the leaders turning a blind eye, some continue to perpetuate the violence, though history teaches us that such violence will destroy the hands that perpetuated violence. We refuse to learn from our past.  

There is also an industry that thrives on such conflicts. The economy of nations is dependant of some of these ongoing wars and conflicts. The defence and an ammunition industry that drives the economy of these nations! There are much more complex issues too in many of these locations.

But the pain of the thousands and millions who have lost their loved ones, or have been intentionally displaced can never be calculated. There is no economic data that can capture the pain people and communities go through. 

What can we hold on to in such perilous times? Holding on to the reality of a God who sees…

And hold on in hope for that day when “ And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.”

But in the interim - be a presence to those whose pain can't be explained away by numbers or data, and recognise the brokenness of all our nations, even if it is my own nation! And cry for our nations and its leaders. And remember the thin line cuts right through my heart too - the potential for evil and inability to feel the pain of the many who are crying today...