Evil versus Tragedy

Many things are tragic – natural disasters, premature death, illness and so on. These are not caused by us. Tragedy will always exist no matter what we do.

Evil, on the other hand, is within our power to control. Evil is made by us, tolerated by us and causes scars in us that tragedy rarely does.

It is very important to be able to distinguish between evil and tragedy. Though both tragedy and evil cause suffering – that is their only similarity.

Tragedy is inevitable.  Evil is avoidable.

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*Photograph – National Library of Scotland, Dead soldier, near Flers, France, during World War I.

[Original reads: ‘A common scene in Flers.’]

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4 Comments

  1. I completely agree and I would add that evil is a moral and ethical position requiring a free will choice. One could argue that a place is evil because evil things happened there, but then that would be superstition, which in itself is evil because it instills an irrational mentality of fear, paranoia and dread. These things suppress free will and rational decision making.

    1. I agree completely Aaron – we can’t afford to suppress our rationality in any way. It’s tough though. I think the confusion happens because of the suffering – evil/tragedy it all feels pretty much the same when you are in screaming agony. If someone I love dies of cancer (tragedy) then my heart will be just as broken as if someone I love is murdered (evil) – because dead is dead. However, I do think there is a qualitative difference – or at least the possibility for one – down the road as I come to terms with a natural, though tragic and unavoidable cause for my pain as opposed to an unnatural, evil and completely avoidable cause.

      1. I agree again. While tragedies cannot be avoided as they are part of the natural order of reality, evil is another matter. It requires choice to make something evil. Evil is an immoral, amoral, unethical philosophical position as much as good is. Then there is the issue of cause and effect and how it relates to these positions. Will pushing over the dominoes by your choice result in a simple tragedy, something evil or something good.

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