‘As long as one believes that the evil man wears horns, one will not discover an evil man! – Eric Fromm
Alexander Solzhenitsyn, in his book The Gulag Archipelago, shared a similar perspective to Fromm where he said, “If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being and who is willing to destroy a piece of their own heart?”
The ‘struggle’ between good and evil is something that we all face.
When someone insults me or maybe criticises me, particularly if it happens in front of friends or colleagues, I become defensive and aggressive. And yet, harbouring grievances and lust for revenge are the outward manifestation of the anger within all of us. That is why individuals like Mahatma Ghandi and Thomas Merton were relentless in their critique of their inner lives, constantly attempting to see if there was any violence within them.
When I reflect on my life, I recognise that there is a consistent struggle within me between good and bad, constructive and destructive, positive and negative; and it is the negative, of course, that leads to ‘violent’ thoughts and actions. The story of the Indian Chief (see blog entry 15/12/11: Clear Thinking Regarding Crime and Punishment) captures this struggle. I need to ask myself, which wolf am I feeding with each thought, word and breath?
But how do I know which is my natural state of being or are they both an inherent part of me?
I was once asked if any of the prisoners I worked with did not show a part of themselves that demonstrated something of compassion, humour, gentleness, love or respect. I couldn’t think of any. A colleague, with more than 20 years of experience, could only recall one individual that she described as “truly evil.” This would suggest that the weighting is very heavily in favour of goodness being one’s natural state. If I can make this shift in my awareness then it opens the door to seeing qualities in another and so has a significant impact on my relationship with them.
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