There are times when I marvel at what mankind is capable of – acts so despicable, so evil that you tend to think the perpetrator is something other than human. But they are not; they are most human – they are humanity unfettered from the restraints most people try to place on themselves. Such stories generate great despair, and I wonder if mankind had a future. But then comes news that tells me God, and His good, will win in the end.
Let’s start in Israel. This is a protest, “Thousands of protesters took to the streets early Tuesday, blocking highways and demonstrating outside ministers’ homes as part of an organized day of action.” It is ugly, it is uncivil, it is selfish, but it somehow remains inside the lines of reasonable humanity. This is very different, “A Jerusalem resident was arrested on suspicion of spraying the phrase “There is a Holocaust in Gaza” on one of the walls of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City of Jerusalem, Israel Police confirmed on Tuesday. — This comes just weeks after the same graffiti was found sprayed on the Western Wall, with many Israeli sites linking the two events and claiming that the 27-year-old man could be the author in both instances.” Holy Sepluchre and the Western Wall are the two holiest places on the planet. I am pretty standard Protestant and we do not put a lot of emphasis on place, but I have been to both those places (they are only a few yards apart) and you absolutely have to have a heart of evil not to understand that these are significant and sacred places.
I read the story of this desecration and I felt near real pain. Such a story indicates an individual who has no respect whatsoever for anyone or anything other than his own selfish, self-involved thoughts – which is, in the end, from where evil springs. When you care not for anyone else then you are capable of the most despicable of acts. The actual Holocaust sprang from just such self-absorption.
Another story to which I had a similar reaction was decades ago when abortion was legalized and we developed a test to determine if a child in the womb would suffer from Down Syndrome, and doctors began urging pregnant women with positive test results to abort their babies. It was an act of pure eugenics, and horrifying. It continues quietly to this day to a lesser extent and accounts in some part, along with improvements in the medical treatment, as to why those among us with Down Syndrome live longer and better than those who did so when I was a child. The improvements in medical treatment of Down Syndrome sufferers points to the fact that we should never let despair lead us to evil.
And yesterday the news improved:
Cutting-edge technology could one day transform treatment for Down syndrome, as researchers have successfully deleted an extra chromosome in lab-grown cells….
While the results are a striking proof of concept, experts stress that this research is still far from becoming a therapy.
This world is not static. Where 40 years ago there was no hope, and in its absence came the contemplation, and in some cases execution of genuine evil. Now there is hope – hope to eliminate the disease without the eugenic evil we once contemplated and threatened to embrace.
Now faith is the certainty of things hoped for, a proof of things not seen.
Faith is in something outside of the self – if not in God, where it rightly belongs, then in humanity and our ability to deal with any situation. But when we exist in our own self-absorbed bubbles, despair takes root and evil blossoms.
The conflict in Israel and Gaza will end, do not despair. As we learn of God’s creation we are learning to eliminate so-called “birth-defects.” We need not despair. Have hope and allow it to blossom into faith. This, of itself, will go a long way towards eliminating evil.
