Overcoming evil

Evil is overcome with actions that are just, merciful and loving. Not with violence, and never with genocide, which is the gospel that Hamas and other such instruments of war proclaim.

Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger

As I might have mentioned a few columns ago — aging is accompanied by the repetition of narratives — one of the first questions I heard behind my back upon arrival in Albany (2014) was “is he liberal or is he conservative?” Had anyone asked me directly then, I would have responded, “Do I have any alternative?” Today my response would likely be, does it matter?

As a man who loves people first, no matter how deeply their past-consciousness or ideological tattoos may be etched into their skin, I have always believed in and looked for that divine spark within them that dwells so much deeper in their core, the image of God reflected therein. Call it a soul. One of our great sociopolitical philosophers, Tho­mas Sowell (if we can spare him any labels for daring to think), suggests that what divides ideological camp-holders is different ways of viewing human nature: fundamentally divine, and therefore self-defining, or fallen and in need of divine redemption. Current events seem to be readjusting the boundaries of that divide.

Till about yesterday, a certain “all of it or none of it” alternative seemed to be a mantra we were getting quite used to. All our discourse — not just political — was becoming totalitarian or, some may say, neo-tribal. As if each had to pick a side and swallow all the Kool-Aid the camp served up in order to find the solace or security in just being part of the pack. Were you pro or anti-(border) wall, pro or anti-vax/mask? Either way, the other side was bad, but you had to pick one.

This was never the American way, Marxist class warfare. We used to celebrate not the one who conformed, but the free-thinker, the innovator, the hero. It was never easy. Heroes were often ridiculed, challenged and isolated by peers before gaining any lauds their efforts might eventually merit. Then October 7 happened. Many people have been shocked to think — and rethink — some ideological presuppositions and convictions heretofore sacred. 

As one author announced, “Hamas Killed my Wokeness” (Alex Olshonsky, Tablet, October 26, 2023). He happens to have been raised in a Jewish “liberal” family. Judging from the deafening silence in ecumenical and interfaith circles around the country, people of all faiths and persuasions are finding it very difficult to speak what must be said, what they are thinking, too. Some may be awakening only now to the dilemma of another people at another time, living under the rise of National Socialism in Germany (Nazism) almost a century ago … the sudden explosion of anti-Semitism … should I (we) at least say something? Will we also be silent?   

Will history (“never again”) once more repeat itself? If we get stuck in blocs of partisan, ideological camps, it well might. Some fear that, if we talk about it, religious divides will widen among Jews, Muslims and Christians in what might be miscast as a religious war. Is that really what this is? Is the only way to view the barbaric attack on October 7 as a war between Jewish and Muslim people, some class conflict? Do we fall for a lie or do we face the fateful facts?

On that date, it is indisputable an attack was launched by Hamas on Israeli civilians. What led up to that attack may now be the subject — not without cause — of fierce and passionate debates, often rageful and hate-filled, playing out in many academic and political circles, on campuses and even in city streets across the globe, including America. Inherited traditions of the many injustices against historically oppressed peoples of all faiths who live in Israel and Palestine — all with claims of some oppression, few wholly innocent of it themselves. Are they being used, or misused, to justify acts of more injustice that violate the basic morality of Christians, Jews and Muslims — of all oppressed peoples?

Yes, there are many injustices past to acknowledge and to address. Every religion has its sordid past, or episodes calling for repentance. Is that what October 7 is really about? Or is it about a certain cadre which calls itself Hamas with a determined and unnegotiable agenda as to how the injustice, real

or perceived, should be redressed? Let’s look at the documentable facts. Not what others have said, but what Hamas has said of itself.

According to the Hamas charter, Hamas is sworn to destroy the State of Israel and reject all peaceful reconciliation. The Hamas charter endorses the killing of all Jewish people by quoting a hadith that speaks of an apocalyptic war in which Muslims will kill the last of the Jews. Do not such sentiments or policies violate the moral conscience of people of all faiths that believe in a God who is just? Do they not but pose a direct threat to the safety of Jews, Christians and Muslims worldwide? Are they not a declaration of war on civilization itself?

The right of countries to defend themselves is well established on both a moral level and at international law. There is no justification, however, for intentionally killing non-combatants, whether Palestinian or Israeli — Jewish, Christian or Muslim. Can any cause justify the premeditated butchering, rape, beheading, and kidnapping of other persons? This conflict is best viewed as one between Israel and Hamas, not Jews and Palestinians. First and foremost, we must pray that both sides strive to minimize the civilian casualties. Toward that end, the placement of military installations and/or operations near civilian structures such as churches, mosques, hospitals and schools must be avoided. Such placement is contrary to international law and dramatically increases innocent civilian deaths.

Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere. Anyone who seeks to address and redress injustices to oppressed peoples, whether past or ongoing, must begin by forswearing the use of unjust means to achieve this. Evil is not overcome with more evil. Our Christian faith gives us a Savior who reveals a God who is holy and free from any evil, who is all-loving and all-forgiving. To overcome the injustice that the world has known — which has been waged against both God and man and by many nations, often in the name of religion at one time or another — this Savior took upon himself the punishment that we incurred because of our sins so that we could have the reward that he deserved, because of his holiness. Only a God-Man could do this.

If we are to imitate the goodness and holiness of God by accepting God’s judgment on humanity — and that judgment is, ultimately, that everyone should be saved and gain access to the eternal life of heaven — then we are invited to pursue the path of holiness, not vengeance. The renewal of “the face of the earth” that the Holy Spirit promises is made possible by allying with this saving God in all that we say and do. Evil is overcome, therefore, with actions that are just, merciful and loving. Not with violence, and never with genocide, which is the gospel that Hamas and other such instruments of war proclaim. This is not about religion. It has nothing to do with God. God’s will is the redemption of humanity and all creation, never its destruction. 

This universal will of God for the salvation of all humanity, which is at the heart of our Christian faith, may be difficult to imagine in a world that seems to become more violent and bent on self-destruction each day. Without a decisive turn toward the conversion of hearts, however, the vicious cycle of violence will only escalate and suck more innocent lives into this pit of despair and destruction. We can and must begin to reverse this vicious cycle of evil with ourselves.

Wherever we may be on our spiritual journey, we can begin by accepting that we and our foes are all human beings, that there is a God who wills us into being and who loves us unconditionally. Every human being is a child of God, without exception. Human beings may make terrible choices and do terrible things to themselves and one another. It does not alter their dignity. If we encounter people we cannot stand for one reason or another, the way to overcome the animosity is not to destroy them, but to imagine them redeemed. And to pray for them. We commend them to God who is in the business of saving us all — even from ourselves.

 @AlbanyDiocese