Wow. Timothy Sandefur (who I met at the Magna Carta symposium in June) lost his brother in the San Bernardino massacre:
For centuries, people have pondered the meaning of evil. But the solution to the riddle is that evil has no meaning. Evil is the absence of meaning; it is meaninglessness. To build, to create, to act in the world—these all have meaning. Evil cannot. It is only a black hole that can tear apart meaningful things, and return them to the hollow silence of the universe. This is what we mean when we say that evil is “banal.” It lacks the infinite grandeur of even a grain of sand, let alone of laughter, or of a kiss. In that sense, evil does not matter. It is incapable of mattering. It cannot live or mean things. The best it can do is look on in ire, envy, and despair. And the envious are always walled off from the world that we, the living, inhabit, by an invisible and impervious barrier that they erect themselves; they always have the deadly touch of King Midas. We defy evil and envy when we live. Living in this world sheds light into darkness. It is all we can do, and all that needs to be done, and it is more than enough. Therefore, we shall live. We shall be joyful, hard-working, silly, creative, and smart and sexy and brave and fun. Be a brief candle that helps spread another light.
Read the whole thing.
I loved Timothy’s piece on The Politics of Star Trek.
I’d also note that there weren’t any Muslims on the Enterprise. Too much of a risk, plus, they’d never figure out which way Mecca was with all the maneuvering going on, and unless they’re stuck with two-dimensional thinking, it’s not just a question of which way to face in their cabin.
“Evil is the absence of meaning; it is meaninglessness. To build, to create, to act in the world—these all have meaning.”
It may be churlish of me to say so in these circumstances, but this is so muddled as to exclude Nazism from the category of evil. In fact it is exactly the sort of rhetoric that could have appeared in the doctrinal literature of any of the totalitarian movements of the last several centuries.
Have to agree completely about ‘Evil’.
Evil is the choice to do wrong, especially when one KNOWS their actions are wrong and will cause harm, and deciding to go ahead with those actions AND enjoy doing them.
Very sorry for your loss, Timothey. I will endeavor to commit an act of good to offset the evil in your brother’s death. Maybe that is better than a prayer to your family.
Sharia insists that we can’t tell the difference between right and wrong with rational thought, but only by consulting what the Prophet said was right and wrong. Often the jihadists don’t turn off their brains and morality, they’d never developed them in the first place because they were told their feelings were wrong.
The ultimate evil is to redefine it.
Don’t know Timothy’s age, but it sure is nice to hear good vs. evil described in terms of light vs. darkness. I hope Timothy is young, the younger generation needs helpful imagery to clarify what is at stake in the fight against evil We all need to bring light to an ever-darkening world.
Late thirties.