Evil

 

            Ramblings of a Retired Mind

                                               Evil

How do you react when confronted with evil?

I’m not talking about watching a TV program about a serial killer or reading a novel that toys with devils and demons. I mean real evil—unfiltered, unmasked, and often unacknowledged. Everyone responds differently. Some turn away. Some freeze. Some make excuses. And others pretend it isn’t there at all, hoping that ignorance might somehow serve as protection.

We see evil forcing itself against good every day. And yet, paradoxically, we flock to theaters to watch the latest movie about a demon-possessed child or a charming sociopath. We think we’re on the good team, always. We spot evil in others with disgust, but rarely in ourselves. Throughout history, this battle between good and evil has played out in grand conflicts—both global and intimate.

Think about it: the Hatfields and the McCoys. Who was right? Who was wrong? Were they both good? Both evil? The answer is never as simple as we’d like it to be.

Evil doesn’t wear a uniform.

It’s not confined to one gender, one age, one religion, or one social class. Evil comes dressed as concern, cloaked in false kindness, or masked with a smile. The clearest and most dangerous form of evil is the unrelenting desire to control another. History is full of examples—tyrants whose cruelty was dismissed until it was too late, their power grown monstrous while people looked the other way.

Evil is ancient. It predates our records. At its root, evil is born of envy, fueled by jealousy, and driven by domination.

I had a beautiful childhood.

There was no evil in my home. My family wasn’t perfect, but we loved each other. I was mischievous and a bit of a troublemaker, but I wasn’t malicious. Growing up in a Jewish household, we didn’t dwell on Satan or Hell. We believed in Tikkun Olam—the idea that we are here to heal the world through justice, compassion, and ethics.

But on November 22nd, 1963, that innocence ended.

When President Kennedy was assassinated, I saw evil for the first time.

Camelot shattered. Until then, I believed most people were good. Sure, bad apples existed, but the world, at its core, felt safe. That illusion didn’t last long. Soon came the murders of Dr. King and Bobby Kennedy. Then Vietnam. Then Nixon. Each event chipped away at my belief in the innate goodness of the world.

Still, I’m not here to rehash history’s villains. We’ve read enough about Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, and others who weaponized hate and left blood in their wake.

The first time I came face-to-face with true evil was early in my career. I had hired a salesperson who quickly won my trust and even ingratiated themselves into my family. After my mother passed away, they sought to exploit our grief. They pretended to “help” with my father following his strokes, but when he too passed, their intentions became clear. They targeted my vulnerable sister, whispering that I would cheat her out of her inheritance. That was the moment we realized we were dealing with a soul steeped in malice.

The final blow came when they told my employer I was stealing. He believed them, and rather than wage a battle against a lie, I chose to walk away. From that day forward, my family and I severed all ties. What seemed like devastation at the time became a blessing in disguise, as the next opportunity that came my way proved far better than the one I lost.

My concern is today.

Today’s evil is subtler, sometimes cloaked in “good intentions,” disguised as patriotism or piety. Many are misled by misinformation and "alternative facts." Free will, granted since Eden, now seems to be weaponized. Was the original sin simply disobedience, or the birth of evil itself? We’ll never know.

But I do know this:

To free oneself from evil, one must first see it clearly.

And once seen, do not engage. Do not try to fix it. Just walk away.

Since doing so, I’ve felt lighter—buoyant even. As if I’ve been lifted off the ground. My spirit is clearer, no longer clouded by the evil I confronted over 35 years ago.

My only regret? Not doing it sooner.

But I won’t dwell. The past is done. The future is now.

And writing—writing is my way of clearing the soul.

One Late Mention.

Yesterday, we witnessed the face of pure evil. In Minnesota, a gunman opened fire through the window of a church where children were gathered for their first mass of the school year. An eight-year-old and a ten-year-old were killed, and seventeen others—many of them children—were wounded. This is what evil looks like. This is what it means when darkness takes human form.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is entirely coincidental.