The Face of Evil

Evil has taken many faces over the centuries: once it was viewed as a shrewed snake that tempted an innocent woman. It has been seen as an old hag who foretold of ill omens while poisoning apples. Another image, burned into the minds of many, is the Disney classic: a Demon burning, in fiery red flames of Hell, with dark massive wings, closed to his back. However, what we see today, as evil, is far removed than what evil was during ages past.

Evil is tangible by action, seen by the world around; thrusting its immortal head into war, poverty, greed, and ignorance. Examples can be seen in every case study. Nations of history have crumbled to ashes from within; the evil of ignorance. Influential leaders have sought power beyond their domains, destroying not only their own lives, but the lives of countless millions; the evil of greed. The struggle to survive has swept through various lands, behooving those inhabitants to forcibly provide for their families; the evil of poverty. The most visible of all, the want of nations to unjustly provoke one another; the evil of war. But what does evil look like today? A woman? A snake? A fiery black demon, doomed to flee at the first signs of light? I believe that evil is nothing more than this: ourselves.

We, by nature, are prone to act upon evil. As such, evil has taken the form of our hidden selves, the lives we do not allow others to see, the lives that we live while none are watching. It is the plans that we plot in private, the ill deeds we justify in our hearts, and the peoples we manipulate from afar. One could say: evil looks like the average human: a woman in her mid 30's, as beautiful as can be; a decrepit old man, wheezing for the want of oxygen; a young man, in his mid twenties, wandering the streets of life, whispering lies, mistrust, and pain.

Wherever, and whatever evil is to you, it is your duty to confront it, to destroy it, on a personal level. Only you have the power to instigate justice and peace within. None here living have the power to abolish evil wherever it forms, for none have the power to sanctify humanity wherever it goes.

Running Demon