Well, Gabby, I experience this post as more honest, or maybe I can partly understand the questions better.
I have been in situations where others may well have regarded me as being evil. In the years I spent managing old-peoples' homes I remember a number of interviews with employees which started with, "Nobody wants to hurt you ..." and finished with the said person being fired, or, more usually, being put in positions where they had very little option other than to quit. At the time I could rationalise the situation by arguing that it was my job, or that I had a wider responsibility to the residents, the co-workers, or the church organisation which owned the home. It was even true. But such experiences were also part of my decision to stop doing that sort of work. I asked the question about evil because I don't know the answer. In my life I have experienced stupidity, weakness, illness, thoughtlessness, mistakes, hurt and hurting. In myself and in others. I visited Auschwitz many years ago - I experienced it as a very silent place and found myself crying when I stood in front of a huge glass box full of childrens' shoes. I do not doubt that what I saw there - and what occurred there - was evil. But were the thousands involved (and the many other at least hundreds of thousands who knew or suspected what was going on) all evil? I do not know. The world-view of purgatory and hell, a vengeful judging God, mortal sins and damned souls I experienced as a young Catholic child was certainly warped, damaged and disturbing. But I also experienced an open, courageous, engaged, forgiving, post-Vatican II vision of Catholicism, which I found many inspiring for many years, and many wonderful people energized by this vision and working to spread it. Many of them are still there. My conclusions 1) that I nonetheIess couldn't assent to the fundamental premises of the Church and 2) that under the Wojtila papacy the Catholic Church was consistently moving to reject the open vision which had inspired me developed contemporaneously and led me to sever my formal connections with the Catholic Church over twenty years ago. Intelligent design, dumb design, malevolent design - I don't find much sense in any of them. I'm happy enough experiencing and revelling in the wonderful depth of Is-ness. One thing I do suspect, it's an easy and cheap answer to those whom we don't agree with to label them as being evil. Francis On 16 Mrz., 16:51, gabbydott <[email protected]> wrote: > What subject, Francis? Where did you describe how you come across as > evil to others and why? Reading how a grown man who said he left his > Irish-Catholic home some time ago seriously ponders over the existence > of evil makes me sick and tired. Escapism into the world of dumb > design is the perfectly logic consequence. > > On 16 Mrz., 12:41, frantheman <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Being honest in reply, Gabby, I would be more interested in possible > > thoughts from you concerning the subject than in snide comments. > > As to how my ex-partner feels, you'd have to ask her. I have no > > contact with her. The few comments I've heard from mutual friends > > suggest that she is not in very good shape. > > > On 16 Mrz., 11:11, gabbydott <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > May I be honest, Francis? It doesn’t surprise me that you think of > > > Molly in your hour of need for an answer. Does your ex-partner feel > > > better by now? I hope she does. > > > > On 15 Mrz., 14:51, frantheman <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Reading the discussion here on Tim K.'s amok slaughter in Southern > > > > Germany this week, the question occurred to me; does evil exist? To be > > > > sure, we encounter examples of evil all the time, but we generally > > > > tend to seek explanations for "evil" actions, or "evil" courses of > > > > events. But what of deeds or people who are classed as being simply > > > > evil as such? What is evil? Is it - as is often claimed - simply an > > > > absence of good, or is there more? And what of people like Josef > > > > Fritzl, who goes on trial in Austra > > > > tomorrow?http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/oct/31/joseffritzl-austria > > > > As Molly is wont do ask, what do YOU think? > > > > > Francis --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Minds-Eye?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
