{"id":1025,"date":"2014-06-04T12:42:41","date_gmt":"2014-06-04T17:42:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/?p=1025"},"modified":"2015-06-19T19:15:50","modified_gmt":"2015-06-20T00:15:50","slug":"evil-is-easy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jenniferfitz\/2014\/06\/evil-is-easy\/","title":{"rendered":"Evil is Easy – updated twice"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"File:Andrea<\/a><\/p>\n

Fresh reports of horror out of Ireland<\/a>, these far grimmer than what I had seen previously (which were grim enough). Is there something special about the Irish that makes them so cruel? \u00a0No, there is not. \u00a0It\u2019s not an Irish thing, it\u2019s not a Catholic thing, it\u2019s not a nun thing<\/a>. \u00a0It\u2019s an evil thing.<\/p>\n

On the question of religion, my advice is simple: If your religion commands you to commit evil acts, it\u2019s time to get a new religion. \u00a0What happened in this orphanage was sin writ large, nasty, and unabashed. \u00a0It can in no way be justified or excused or in any manner considered consistent with the Catholic faith.<\/p>\n

UPDATE #1: For a broader perspective on the social conditions surrounding this incident, see:\u00a0Tuam children\u2019s home \u2013 salting the\u00a0earth<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

UPDATE #2: More fact-checking sheds new light<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

I assume, dear reader, that you aren\u2019t starving and torturing captives as you read this now. \u00a0I\u2019m not either. \u00a0Neither were the many people who said and did nothing as these atrocities were being committed under their noses.<\/p>\n

What you and I need to fear, then, is not our tolerance of cruelty towards Irish unwed mothers of the mid-20th century, but our tolerance of some other horror that perhaps we can\u2019t even see.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Evil is Ordinary<\/h2>\n

When I read the first accounts out the Irish laundries several years ago, I was struck by how similar many of the reports were to life on a subsistence farm in the American South in the same era. \u00a0There were accounts of gross abuse, but there were also travesties that were eerily like something out of\u00a0Little House on the Prairie.<\/em> \u00a0Hard discipline, heavy labor, not much food. \u00a0That was life around the world for many people from loving, nurturing, perfectly innocent homes.<\/p>\n

It occurred to me then that if you\u2019d grown up never having quite enough to eat, your body always aching, the cold always biting, you\u2019d be a very poor judge of what constituted reasonable conditions for a group home.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not an excuse, it\u2019s a caution. \u00a0You and I have evil we are used to. \u00a0Venial sins, or merely difficult situations, that are so much part of the fabric of our lives that it clouds our judgement. Grave sins we might not even realize are sins. \u00a0Our capacity for recognizing evil is dimmed. \u00a0What ought to horrify us does not.<\/p>\n

Evil Smiles<\/h2>\n

But they were the nuns! But it was the parish priest! Our family doctor! The kindergarten teacher! My neighbor!\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Evil puts on a good face. \u00a0Whether it\u2019s the convict claiming he\u2019s just a poor, simple man wrongly accused, or the upstanding citizen pointing to his accomplishments and honors to prove his innocence, evil always looks for a good facade. \u00a0Not reasons, not evidence. \u00a0An aura. \u00a0\u201cHow could you say that about me?\u201d come the hurt protests. \u00a0\u201cAnyone who says that is just jealous, or ungrateful, or trying to get back at me! After all I\u2019ve done for you!\u201d<\/p>\n

I once told my husband that I\u2019d rather live in a working class neighborhood than an expensive one, because wealthy crooks are better at covering over. \u00a0At least among the uncouth, the crazy shows itself pretty quickly.<\/p>\n

Evil Gets Along<\/h2>\n

When you live alongside evil, there comes a time when you can no longer pretend. \u00a0It is good to avoid rash judgments. \u00a0It is good to think the best of others, to look for that charitable explanation of our neighbor\u2019s lapses. \u00a0We\u2019re all \u00a0human after all, none of us perfect. \u00a0Sooner or later, though, the evidence is in your face. \u00a0Undeniable.<\/p>\n

How then are you going to respond?<\/p>\n

What evil wants is for you to decide that \u201cgetting along\u201d is the highest virtue. \u00a0Make peace with evil. Live with it. \u00a0That\u2019s the temptation.<\/p>\n

Unless the evil is hurting you, personally, in a grave and unavoidable way, the temptation to get along and go along is very, very powerful.<\/p>\n

Evil Demands Sacrifice<\/h2>\n

It is a powerful temptation because to do otherwise is to risk losing everything. \u00a0It costs, and costs dearly, to fight evil.<\/p>\n

Are you willing to risk your job? Your family life? Your parish? Your community? \u00a0What are you willing to see destroyed rather than cooperate with evil? \u00a0Even your very life, or the life of someone you love more than life itself, may be on the line.<\/p>\n

Are there rewards in Heaven for this sacrifice? \u00a0Yes, and yes with abundance overflowing beyond our imagination.<\/p>\n

Here on earth? \u00a0No, not so much.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Related: Just Tell the Police<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0Artwork: Andrea di Bonaiuto (14th century) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fresh reports of horror out of Ireland, these far grimmer than what I had seen previously (which were grim enough). Is there something special about the Irish that makes them so cruel? \u00a0No, there is not. \u00a0It\u2019s not an Irish thing, it\u2019s not a Catholic thing, it\u2019s not a nun thing. \u00a0It\u2019s an evil thing. 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