By: Linda Sapadin
Nowadays we so often make allowances for diverse backgrounds and difficult childhoods, that it is rare for us to think of individuals as evil or wicked. However, every once in awhile, a deed is committed that is so "monstrous," so "heinous," so "destructive" and so "without remorse" that we do not describe the people who did these things as just "sick" or "dysfunctional." We view them as "evil." The concept of evil, which has heavy moral and theological implications, is being revived recently.
When we heard Timothy McVeigh had absolutely no regret about killing so many innocent people, including so many young children, we cringed. We looked at the photo of a fireman holding a dead infant, and we cried. McVeigh saw the photo and shrugged it off as "collateral damage." McVeigh's deliberate and destructive actions, with no subsequent regret, did not seem like a "disorder." "Disorder" was too benign, too ordinary a term to describe such an extraordinary malevolent act. It came as no surprise to me that he received the death penalty.
When we saw Osama bin Laden's interview on television, once again the concept of "evil" seemed to fit. Bin Laden showed no regret for the deaths that he engineered. Indeed, his reaction was just the opposite. He was overjoyed that the towers collapsed. He was happy that there was so much more damage than he had actually expected. Once again, President Bush had no trouble defining bin Laden and his cohorts as "evil." And people had no trouble accepting that definition. For an evil person, by definition, is one who takes joy in the death of innocents and is wicked in the very center of his soul.
Evil is not a sophisticated concept. Indeed, it is probably the very first morality theme that we encounter in fairy tales and children's stories. Good vs. Evil. The lines are clearly drawn: Snow White vs. the Evil Queen; Dorothy (and pals) vs. The Wicked Witch, Batman vs. The Penguin. Evil forces take pleasure in destroying whatever is good and must, in turn, be destroyed by the good forces. There can be no rest until the evil doers are captured or killed.
Since Sept. 11, we are aggressively dealing with intricate adult
matters of politics, religion and history that most of us didn't give much thought to before. In addition to these adult concerns, however, very primitive fears from childhood have been resurrected. Terrorism and, in particular, the rejoicing of terrorism have restored the old notion of evil. No longer do we simply view people who revel in the harm they do as dysfunctional, alienated, sick or misguided. We are dealing once again with a "good" war, a war against the "evil" that invaded our homeland, killed our innocents and rejoices in the harm they have perpetrated.
Linda Sapadin, Ph.D. is a psychologist in private practice who specializes in individual and family therapy as well as personal coaching. Copyright 2001
