Salt Lake City by night #2
February 16, 2007
It’s an interesting situation to discuss the concept of evil with high school students. I’ve had this opportunity recently as the result of the violence wrought by a teenager at Trolley Square. Little information is forthcoming as to motive, and students are seeking to understand the unfathomable. You can’t blame them.
As I try to respond to their questions—which most often start with “why?”—I find myself stating that I don’t believe in “evil,” per se. This is quite a controversial stance in my community, as religion pervades much of the cultural norm. And Evil, as a force, is a temptingly easy answer when answers are lacking.
So, usually I bite my tongue. Or I ask questions back—what do you think? Or I mention that the shooter was a Bosnian refugee, and bring up the idea of post-traumatic stress disorder. Mostly I try to create a climate where it’s okay to not have a definitive answer; so little in life really does.
Comments 3
Well, I agree that there is no explanation for shooting up a shopping mall. Personally, I’m coping by saying the guy was crazy and throwing up my hands. The universe is a freaky place and quite often the inexplicable happens, lending a nasty random quality to life I’m not such a big fan of.
But I wouldn’t want to get too close to the position of not being able to say that something is morally wrong…
Posted 19 Feb 2007 at 8:34 am ¶Me neither. I absolutely think his actions were morally wrong. And I might even be able to agree that it was an “evil” act, insofar that it was horrific and cruel and brought so much sadness to so many.
But I can’t blame the motive on an external, supernatural force that some would call “Evil.” The culture I grew up in would attribute the shooter’s actions to Satan and the forces of “darkness,” i.e., Evil. I think that explanation is too easy.
Ethical and moral behavior need not be attributed to supernatural forces. Atheists can be ethical and moral (or not) but would never claim “the Devil made me do it.”
Posted 19 Feb 2007 at 11:13 am ¶Whether or not one believes in evil, choice is something that is always there. And the guy made a choice that day that affected the lives of hundreds or even thousands of people, maybe more, if you believe in the ripple effect. Depending on how you define the word, I think it was an “evil” choice, but no one and nothing “made” him do it but himself, crazy or not.
Posted 20 Feb 2007 at 10:24 am ¶