Does evil exist in our world and if so, what might it look like? Last week, four young adults severely beat, tortured and held captive a mentally challenged 18-year-old. As they physically and verbally abused and mocked him with knives and racial slurs, they broadcast their triumph live on Facebook. At one point, one of the attackers turned the camera on herself and questioned why so few were offering comments on her live-stream.
When discussing the matter, CNN cable news commentator, Don Lemon, refused to call their actions evil. He said the troubled young men and women were evil but just products of a bad home environment. In essence, he blamed the action of the assailants of their parents. This seems to be the trend of contemporary society – to refuse to place blame where blame is due. It is more politically correct to make the perpetrator of evil a victim who because of their denied youth they are somehow not to be held accountable for their actions as adults.
It is fair to say that social and cultural environments of children’s upbringing surely affects their choices along the way. At what point, however, is it necessary to hold those who make bad decision accountable for their actions? Very few children of broken or dysfunction homes become perpetrators of heinous crimes.
Every action, every decision one makes is a choice to be more or less like God. For the devil to win the souls of humanity, he need not convince the world that God does not exist. For the devil to win over the souls of humanity, he need only convince the world that evil does not exist.
