The Subtlety of Evil

Whether or not we believe in a supreme being, there is little argument that there are forces within this world that can be labelled good and bad. Each is the opposite of the other with a vast no man’s land of grey in between. Defining “Good” and “Bad” is difficult as it often depends upon our own culture, belief system and life experience. What is “good” to one person, might be “bad” to another. For example, for many people the consenting intimacy between two adults is good, life-giving and beautiful, for others it is only good when certain parameters are met such as sexuality, marriage bonds etc. For others it is considered bad , but necessary for the furtherance of the human race. A clearer definition of these two polarities would be to use the labels LOVE and EVIL.

LOVE and EVIL, whilst being terms that have arisen from religious interpretation of the human experience are nevertheless clear “forces” within the world. A Humanist perspective might deem these to be experiences rather than tangible forces, nevertheless the Humanist and the person of faith can agree on their existence in much the same way as they can agree on the existence of the air that we breathe. They will even agree on their operation – Love being always a force for good and Evil being always a force for bad.

I am often contacted, sometimes anonymously, by Clergy from other denominations who want to explore in complete confidence some discomfort in their Ministry or surroundings. They often speak of being “under attack” and in almost every case mention that they believe the source to be a local Coven or Pagan Group. I am always at pains to put them right. There pervades, from the Middle Ages, a culture still that the Old Religions are Satanic. Nothing could be further from the truth. Indeed almost all of those who practice Witchcraft (Wicca) or one of the plethora of Pagan paths understand and practice Love – they also have no doctrine that relates in any way to Satanism. This notion that Pagans and Witches are in some way Satanic comes (as ever) from pulling verses from the Bible out of context and from an arrogant notion in Christianity that anyone who exercises Spiritual gifts other than within the context of Christianity must be working for the “other side”, which of course is absolute rubbish. It saddens me that Pagans and Witches continue to be ostracised, and often practice their rituals and spiritual paths in isolation or secrecy due to the attitudes of the powerful religions and society at large, although things are thankfully changing.

Whilst these attacks on pagan groups and covens from Christianity continue, the true forces of Evil leak out. Indeed the more those of us working in this field focus our energies on consoling and educating those with misguided perceptions , evil has fertile ground in which to grow.

Evil, as the complete opposite of Love does not act in the way portrayed by the media and Hollywood. Whilst undoubtedly there have been and continue to be cases which when all other explanations fail can only be explained away by demonic possession, oppression or attachment, they are very much in the minority. But they do exist, and I can confirm this from my own Ministerial experience. What , however, is on the increase is a growth of the acceptance of evil as something to dabble with. Whether it is watching films based on a satanic theme, playing with some of the darker elements of the occult, listening to music with satanic overtones or even immersing ourselves (or worse our children) in the seemingly innocent practice of celebrating the darker side of Halloween each year, evil is in some way normalised . Evil may even be let in, at the very least such things can have an effect on the mental health of the vulnerable which can lead to a disturbed and frightened mind. This would be seen as possession by some, and if possession is defined as something which takes a hold on our natural inclination towards Love then I would agree that possession, at least in terms of influence, has taken place.

It has been suggested in some quarters that Satanism itself is on the rise. There is of course a recoiling from the notion of Satanism by those within faith groups. The reality is that there are basically two strands of Satanism, by far the greatest strand is followed by those who actually do not have a belief in any supernatural being, be it God or the Devil, but who follow a philosophical concept of personhood which encourages advancement of self interests, self pleasure and an anarchic view of society where the only rules are “my” rules in complete contradiction to the teachings of the man Jesus, and of others who have stood for Love. Many followers are not “evil” at all , but are everyday , ordinary and “nice” people who , for whatever reason, feel that membership allows them to grow and deepen as human beings. Such life approaches such as anarchy and a focus on self, are in themselves dangerous, even more so under the banner of the Church of Satan. I say this not simply as a Christian Priest (of course as a Christian Priest I would say that, wouldn’t I? I must be biased), no I say this as a Liberal, radical, forward thinking eclectic, Multi-spirituality Priest who has been in the thick of it picking up the pieces and helping those involved to learn to focus on Love again. Of course the far less prevalent strand of Satanism that focuses on practicing Evil in its darkest forms is alive and kicking. That’s another story, and in many ways easier to deal with as teh emphasis on evil is clear.

We watch and recoil with horror as a society and as individuals at the atrocities committed by Islamic Sate, at crimes committed against the vulnerable and children. We do so quite rightly. And yet our society is awash with open doors and windows where we experience something of the darkness of evil and down play it as “a bit of fun” or “is only a imaginary” or “its only a story”. Evil is none of these, it destroys lives, and it is far more powerful in subtlety as it is here that it is normalised and is allowed to grow.

#Evil #Satanism #witchcraft #goodvsevil #thechurchofsatan