Essay on Peace - SOM Response to 9/11

Terrorists attack on 9/11. Innocent people continue to die in the Middle East. Hindus and Moslems continue to murder each other. And everyday, we read in our local newspapers of incessant violence, molestation and suffering. Will the violence ever end? Is it in our genes to be violent? Most importantly, if we live under the dominion of an omnipotent and all-loving God, why does God allow this inhumanity of man to man. Why does a good God allow evil to exist?

For a least four thousand years, theologians have debated this problem of evil. The problem can be stated this way: If God is good and perfectly loving, and created the universe out of Itself, or, according to the Judeo-Christian concept, created it out of nothing, why does there appear to be evil in the world? In Science of Mind terms, if God is and God is all there is and God is good, how can we reconcile this omnipresent, good God with what appears to be evil in the world? Why do humans have to suffer? Why is there such inhumanity towards each other?

Before we analyze this problem, we need to agree on certain assumptions. These are assumptions based on the Science of Mind teaching.

God is and God is all there is.
There is nothing that exists that does not have the essence of God in it. This means that the material world is real. While it is not ultimate reality, the material world is a vibratory level of the energy of God.

There are some spiritual traditions that neatly dispose of the question of evil by claiming that the material world does not exist but is an illusion based upon the improper perception of human beings. Because the material world is an illusion, then the evil that occurs in the material world is also an illusion. The traditions that follow this approach are, traditional Hinduism, Christian Science and to some extent, A Course in Miracles.

We are not experts in any of these traditions and so cannot go into a detailed analysis of their cosmologies. For example, there are many variations of Hinduism and already a number of interruptions of A Course in Miracles The question which arises is how can a person be morally responsible for his actions if the world in which he lives is an illusion?

In Science of Mind, we believe the material world is real and it is very important. It is where we live. How we relate to each other, the plants, the animals and the earth create meaning and value for our lives. There are not two worlds, the spiritual and the material. There is one world. It is spiritual, emanating as materiality and it is our home. We are not away from home, awaiting a time when we will be reunited with our God. Our God is here, now, in this time and space experience, revealing Itself every precious moment.

God is good.
It is here that one can be confused about what "good" means. The goodness of God is beyond the duality of relative good and evil. The goodness of God means the love of God emanating throughout Its creation. The universe is alive and evolving. God is love and love is the motive force that pushes the universe into higher and greater awareness of itself. The purpose of God is to express, to express goodness and love everywhere. We live in a good and loving universe.

Now, again there are some theologians and scientists who dispute these two major premises. For example, Stephen Hawking takes the position that there is no proof that God is good or loving even if we admit his existence. Hawking admits there is evidence that the universe did not come about by accident but that the power behind it could be entirely impersonal or even malevolent. Process Theology takes the position that God is not omnipotent and therefore cannot intervene in the world because he is powerless to do so.

But to reiterate the Science of Mind position, God is and God is all there is and God is good. Assuming this to be true and assuming our world is real, how can we reconcile this omnipresent, good God with what appears to be evil in the world? We shall look at four answers:

The Augustinian Answer
The first answer is that of St. Augustine in the Third Century C.E. To Augustine, evil in the world was a result of original sin. Augustine starts with the premise that in the beginning, everything was "good"; by "good", Augustine meant that everything worked perfectly in divine right action, and in order. Augustine saw the universe in perfect harmony expressing the creative divine intention. He saw a graded hierarchy from higher forms in the universe to lower forms. As we move down the hierarchy to lower forms, we come to the dimension of the angels which is the first level of the universe involving free will, and then to the human beings. God had created it all, and it was very good. Everything was working right. This means there was no such thing as pain and suffering, either caused by man, caused by the angels, or caused by nature. There were no earthquakes, there are no torrential storms that could cause pain and suffering. Everything was beautiful. Under this theory, God, the creator, is cleared of any responsibility for the existence of evil because God didn't create it. How did evil start in this situation?

It was started by a group of angels who had free will to choose and who deliberately chose to disobey God, and disturb the functioning of this perfect universe! This is what Augustine says is sin or, original sin, or moral evil. It not only contaminated human nature, but contaminated the whole physical universe! Everything started running amuck from earthquakes and storms to man's inhumanity to man.

The basic problem of this theory is that if God created everything perfectly, it would be impossible for something to go wrong. A flawless creation could never go wrong. The ultimate responsibility would be with the creator. If God is omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent, God had to know that these angels would rebel. Where does the buck stop? The buck stops with God. Therefore we are left with one of two conclusions: (1) God created a flawed universe from the start, or, (2) the universe isn't really flawed, it just appears to be so because free will is a part of goodness. And if we bring free will into the equation, a person can choose not to do good. Augustine says people choose not to do good because of the nature of original sin.

The Free Will Argument.
In order for us to have the concept of good, we must necessarily have the concept of evil. You can not have one without the other just as you can't have a mountain without a valley. God created the world with both good and evil but he also gave us freewill with the hope that we would make good or moral choices as opposed to evil. When we were created, we were given the freedom to make such choices, which God can't stop, without taking away the freedom that makes us human.

The Answer of Job.
The story of Job in the Bible addresses the problem of what causes evil. The solution of the writer of Job is that God is a transcendent mystery which humans will never fathom. Since God is qualitatively other, we cannot know why God does what God does, nor can we really hold God accountable for God's acts. There is a reason and a plan in God's universe but we can not know it with our limited intelligence and our petty logic. Therefore, we must have faith, or trust, in God's goodness and leave ultimate moral judgements to God's inscrutable wisdom.

The Science of Mind Solution.
There is only one power in the universe and that power is the goodness and love of God. Dr. Holmes tells us, there is no sin, but a mistake, and no punishment, but an inevitable consequence. If we misuse the law of freedom, we suffer the consequences. There is no such thing as innate evil. But, because we have freedom of choice, we can choose to separate ourselves from the harmony of God. Hear the promise:

"All will recognize and live out their divinity because that divinity has been placed in them from the beginning of time. All will come into the conscious realization that they are spiritual beings, here, now. But each must discover this truth in their own time and in their own way."

Sin is simply a mistake. The English word "sin" comes from an old archery term that means "to miss the mark." Nobody shoots a bulls eye every time. We all miss the mark sometimes. But this doesn't mean we are bad or that we have succumbed to evil. There is no such thing as innate evil. People do what we call "bad things" because of lack of awareness. The poet Goethe defined evil as "obstinate ignorance." The truth is we have the ability to overcome ignorance with increased awareness. The truth is people are obstinate because they are afraid. Wisdom overcomes ignorance and love overcomes obstinacy. When we come into wisdom and love we shall "go and sin no more."

Dr Holmes states:

"We do not say that humans cannot sin; what we say is, that they do sin or make mistakes and that they are thereby automatically punished, AS LONG AS THEY CONTINUE TO MAKE MISTAKES. This does not mean that there is an evil power in the Universe; but it does mean that there is an immutable Law of cause and effect running through everything. Sin is its own punishment and righteousness ITS OWN REWARD."

"The age-long discussion of the problem of evil will never be answered until we realize that it is not a thing of itself but is simply A MISUSE OF THE LAW OF FREEDOM. The problem of evil will be met only to the degree that we cease doing evil and do good, for evil will disappear when we no longer indulge in it. When the whole world sees the right and does it; then, and not until then, will the problem of evil be solved for the entire race."

"When Jesus said "Resist not evil," He meant that non-recognition of evil is the only way to avoid it." Anything you resist you give energy to. What you resist will resist you. That is the law. Focus only on what you want, not on what you dont want.

One of the most illuminating things that mysticism has revealed, is that evil is not an ultimate reality . Evil is simply an experience of the soul on its journey of awareness. Evil is not a person or an entity but an experience necessary to self-unfoldment; it is not a thing of itself but simply a misuse of power. It will disappear when we stop looking at, or believing in it. We cannot stop believing in it as long as we indulge in it; so the mystic has always taught the race to turn from evil and do good.

Evil does exit in the world. And it is based on fear. But there is a solution. And the solution is love. When Jesus says, "love your enemies", he is not saying that civilization should not protect itself. He is saying, that behind the evil act, hidden in the depths of the person is an essence of goodness. When we demonize a person in the name of goodness, we are reacting with the same fear that created the evil act.

The answer to evil is compassionate action and it begins in the hearts and minds of each of us. If we make a conscious decision and live our lives from love, evil will begin to disappear. We start where we are, in our own community. We make a vow to treat everyone we meet with dignity and respect and that means everyone. We make a difference, one person at a time and gradually more and more people will come into the conscious realization of the love of God. Love prevails. Peace prevails. And with this realization the problem of evil disappears from our minds forever.