Nature Of Evil

[NOTE: These posts are an ongoing presentation, meant to be read beginning with the earliest and ending with the most recent. If not read in that order, there is a potential loss for the reader in an overall understanding of what is being presented. You have been warned.]

So this is where we are. 1) God is all there is. 2) God is all good. Therefore! 3) There is no evil.

The foregoing is a quid quo pro. If 1 and 2 are valid, then 3 is the natural result. But how can that be? We all know that evil is real, that it truly exists. We have but to look around us, to open a paper, to turn on the TV to see evidence of evil’s insidious corruption of the very fabric of our existence. Almost every time I explain this to people, they are so shocked by my contention of the nonexistence of evil that they seem to dismiss the idea almost immediately without giving it a second thought. You would think that I had said something like “apple’s aren’t red.” Of course, the fact of the matter is that apples are not red, but I’m sure you know what I mean. If I get the time later, and it fits into what I am talking about, I’ll explain why apples are not red. For now, however, we’re dealing with why there is no evil and how evil seems to exist just the same.

Well, let’s do a quick refresher. When we say that God is all there is, what we are saying is that we are calling the totality of everything that is (that includes past, present, and future) God. God is the name we are giving to that totality. Because there is no evidence of good or bad naturally occurring in all of creation, we therefore say that the total expression of all that is is good. In other words, it is what it is – without judgment. So, therefore, there must be no evil. “Well then, where in the hell does evil come from?” From hell, you say? Ha, ha, ha. Is hell part of the everything that God is? This is the God that, through observation, is all good. “Wait a minute,” you might say. “You’re trying to trick me.” No, I’m not trying to trick you. I’m trying to help you to see reality from a different perspective, a perspective, incidentally, that is just as valid as any other perspective that one might choose to believe.

Now, let’s go back to “the book.” Incidentally, if you are not into the Bible, then just realize that the “stories” that make up the Bible’s creation stories are similar to stories in countless other cultures throughout the world. Anyway, in Genesis God creates everything, including human beings, to whom God gives dominion over everything else. Right? Well, not quite right. And we’ll deal with that in just a minute. But first, we see that after the creation story of the first chapter the writers and creators of the Book of Genesis take another look at creation with a more individual slant of Adam and Eve being created to live in, and care for, the Garden of Eden.

So humankind gets created twice in Genesis. In the first creation, God creates man in His own image and likeness; male and female creates He them. Got that? God creates male and female human beings and creates them in its own image and likeness. You may have noted that I just used the pronoun “it” when referring to God. I do that because I find the pronoun “He” to be limiting. If God is all there is, then God is neither “he” nor “she.” God is all. So I find that “it” more generally allows us to include all of God when we are referencing God with a pronoun. Now, if that bothers you because you feel that “it” depersonalizes God, get over it. I just got through telling you that we are the image and likeness of God. How much more personal can one get?

In God’s image. After God’s likeness. Male and female. And, God gives this creation dominion over everything. Right? Well, not exactly. Turns out that there is a part of God’s creation that human beings have not been given dominion over. Do you know what it is? I’ll give you a minute to think about it. While you are thinking, I’ll give you a hint. The desire for this type of dominion has created more problems than we can keep up with, at all levels of our lives. Thinking, thinking, thinking.

Okay, here it is. We have not been given dominion over each other. If you don’t believe me, look for yourself. As Johnny Standley used to say, “It’s in the book.” Where in the book? Try Genesis 1:26 and 1:28. Let’s do it together. Now where is my “King James” version? Ah, here it is: “(26) And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. (27) So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him, male and female created he them. (28) And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”

That’s strange: “over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth” and “over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” Now that’s not exactly the way that I remember it. That is from the copy of the Bible that was given to me when I was 13. Hmmm. American Standard? Same thing. Revised Standard? Same thing. Jerusalem Bible (out of print)? “Be masters of the fish of the sea, the birds of heaven and all living animals on earth.”

Let’s try the Lamsa Bible: “(26) Then God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild beasts of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. (27) So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (28) And God blessed them, and God said to them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild beasts that move upon the earth.” Now, for those not familiar with the Lamsa Bible, it is a direct translation from Aramaic text, Aramaic being the lingua franca of the people in the Near East (Middle East) where the Bible was written. Aramaic is one of the earliest continuing languages of the people by whom the Bible was written, and a language of the people about whom the Bible was written. The Aramaic to English translation was made by Dr. George Lamsa, who grew up in the Near East, speaking Aramaic and living in a culture that had changed very little in thousands of years. His early life was not very different from that of his Aramaic ancestors who stretched all of the way back to Biblical times.

The key thing that I’m interested in looking at here is what mankind has been given dominion over and what we have not been given dominion over. Dr. Rocco Errico, Dr. Lamsa’s student for many years, in a recent talk at Dr. Barbara King’s Hillside Chapel and Truth Center here in Atlanta, pointed out that God did not give us dominion over one another. Think about that. We do not have the right to dominate other human beings. Every other living thing we have been told we may dominate, but not each other. And if we don’t dominate each other, then what is our relationship with each other? Well, Dr. Errico points out that the opposite of that domination is liberation. Let’s not forget that. In our explorations together here, we should be on the lookout for liberation.

Finally, with that in mind, where, then does evil come from. Well, it is first mentioned in the Bible in reference to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Now, remember, this is all just a story to help us get a grasp on understanding who we are and the origins of our race. So, it’s not the tree that is important, but rather what it represents. The knowledge of good and evil. It appears that if one does not eat of the tree, then good and evil do not exist, for one has no knowledge of them. However, if one “eats” of the tree, then one has the knowledge of good and evil and good and evil begin to appear to manifest. Furthermore, in the Biblical story we are told that once one partakes of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, one is banished from the Garden of Eden. This is a consciousness thing going on here. If one believes in good and evil, then one can no longer believe in the Garden of Eden. It is banished from one’s consciousness. If one chooses “good and evil” then one banishes oneself from the Garden. And that’s what we have done and that is the dilemma that we are in.

Frank L. Riley, in his book “Bible of Bibles,” in Chapter V, “The Problem of Evil,” says “The Sacred Books inform us that the origin or cause of evil is ignorance, and what is even more important, they declare that evil is ignorance. Since God is omniscient, then mortal, ignorant man must be both the creator and supporter of evil. To more fully define evil, it is an inability on the part of mortal man to comprehend the good; it is mental darkness, a dream, an illusion, a delusion, a lie and a snare. Evil is relative (‘not absolute or existing by itself.’)” Dr. Riley goes on to point out that God doesn’t recognize evil and finds it abhorant. Then Dr. Riley backs it all up with scripture. Just as an aside, Dr. Lamsa has pointed out that Jesus didn’t die for our sins, but because of our sins. Small little matter of poor translation, but a hint as to the distortion of perception that has taken place over the years regarding the state of humanity.

So, if evil is a creation of our fertile imagination, what then is sin? Finally! Let’s hear some trumpets! Drum roll. Here it is, folks, in all of its simplicity. If we are created in the image and after the likeness of God and God is all there is and God is all good, then, by my reckoning, there is only one sin. That’s right. Sorry, Catholic Church, but I believe that there is only one true sin. And what is sin? Sin is missing the mark. It is ignorance. I might add deliberate ignorance. I might add egotistical ignorance. I might add domination-inspired ignorance.

The one sin is the mistaken belief that we are separate and apart from God. That’s it. And yet so powerful. You see, if one honestly believes and understands one’s oneness with God, in other words that they are totally a part of that totality that is God, then they understand that everything that they think, say and do regarding every other part of creation they are doing to themselves. Furthermore, they realize how holy life is and they act accordingly. And, like all of those highly evolved people who have gone before us, they live in what we might call the consciousness of God. And that means that they are living in the Garden of Eden, for the knowledge of good and evil are not a part of God, and therefore not a part of the Garden, but merely an illusion. They live instead in full harmony with God for they are knowingly God in expression.

On the other hand, if one does not believe and understand that one is one with God, then one takes that belief of separation and begins identifying reality through the separation of opposites, of good and evil, right and wrong, good and bad, us and them. And good and evil sure as hell will come to exist in one’s life, with a 100% full-blown reality that is hard to deny. Nevertheless, it is a reality of illusion. It is a reality that is created by us through our ignorance and its only power rests in our belief in it. And if you find that hard to swallow, I’m very sorry, but that is the way that it is. How can I say that? Because that truth is at the core of every religious belief on this planet. What do all of human kind’s religions have in common? Simple. Do to others as you would have others do to you.

You want to be treated well? Then treat others well. You want to be treated as special? Then treat others as special. You want to be treated as though you were a creation of, a child of, God? Then treat others as though they are a creation, a child, of God. Too simple for your tastes? Well, God isn’t really that complex. It’s illusion that is complex. Lies beget lies. And, God help us, that has a way of breeding lawyers. Now don’t you lawyers go getting all huffy with me. Associate Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said we have too many lawyers. I’m merely agreeing with him.

Now, what has all this got to do with me running for President and the policies that I propose for this country to undertake? Well, stick with me, and you’ll find out. I had to lay some groundwork here so we better know who we truly are and where it is that we came from before we begin considering solutions to the many problems that we have created for ourselves. Sorry to lay all of the religiously connected stuff on you, but religious beliefs, convictions, and ideologies run deep throughout all of humankind’s affairs. And particularly in this country, as we shall see.

Separation of church and state does not mean that state can not talk about church or religion and church can not talk about state. It means that they can not dominate one another. The state can’t mandate religion and religion can not attempt to overthrow state. But, my God, we sure as hell can talk. And anyone who objects to that freedom of speech needs to loosen the pucker.

Our next stop is to identify the major battle that is now taking place in the world. And it’s not what you might have thought. Restraining harness secure and in place? Then let’s move on.