A friend of mine is an avid reader concerning religion and
how it appeared deep in the history of the human race. From time to time he
discovers some event or factoid that lends question to what he recalls learning
when studying his own family’s faith as a child. Not willing to sit on these
inconsistencies, he generally confronts his rabbi with questions at the
earliest opportunity hoping to see some resolution to his frustration over
this. He cannot help himself, and I’m certain his rabbi is amused and enthralled
with his interest.
Some several years ago, I happened to mention that moment
back at the beginning of time when Cain slew Able by smacking him with a rock.
Shows my ignorance. My friend hastily corrected me. Turns out, according to his
reading, that Cain actually used a weapon known as a smiter (spelling unknown,
at least to me). Now, you might wonder if anyone gives a care whether Cain used
one or the other of these, and you would be right.
The story of Cain and Able appears in several versions of
the early writings penned by at least two major religions, as an object lesson
presumably, to highlight one of the essential characteristics of the human.
Many have used this as the second but most telling lesson we should learn about
the human condition.
You remember Adam and Eve. They were the first two humans on
earth, placed in Eden by God in his image. Cain and Able were their two sons.
Adam and Eve were driven from Eden and into the nasty real world when they
disobeyed God over some silly apple. Life for these two went downhill after
that. That disobeying God thing would have been lesson number one, and it does
show something of the human condition.
The murder of one son by the other gives some clue into the
anger and inclination to murder that, along with all we do well, has to be
included in mankind’s makeup, in the bad category. This is the second lesson.
Others followed.
As an aside…when Adam tossed Cain out into the cold in his
anger over the murder, Cain went to live with the bunch of other humans over
there. You know, that bunch of humans those old stories never seem to account
for. I figure those are the humans that descended from apes. And yeah, they have the evil in some of them
too. Which settles the old argument between the creationists and the Darwin
folks. They are both right. So they can stop fighting among themselves.
Now, you all know that this is about the unfathomable
tragedy last week. And probably you are wondering how I can make light of this.
Am I that delusional? Do I not care? Should I in turn be taken out and shot?
For the record, I am sick, scared, enraged, confused,
frustrated. Kinda like everybody else. That slaughter of tiny innocent children
by one evil man has affected me more than any other malevolent act that I can
remember. I didn’t live through most of the genocides afflicted by men upon
humanity, but I know of them. I’ve seen many horrid things over the course of a
lifetime. But right now I’m sitting here and I’m shaking and shaken. To the
core. And like everybody else, I’m seeking some answers that might make it all
better in my head and my heart. And I’m not finding all better.
I am not making light of this. I merely hide in the writing.
I am trying to put
some pieces together in my own head even if they don’t quite add up yet. I have
reached some uncomforting conclusions.
I am not going to get all better. This tragedy will stay
with me forever, and only time will allow me to put it somewhere so that it
doesn’t dwell always in the front of my brain.
I am watching the people who we chose to be the leaders of
this country, for better or worse, fall all over each other trying to appear
most concerned while they plot to use this to further their own power. Spare me
this, please. Let the dead be put to
rest at least before you start running for re-election. Don’t milk the anguish
of so many for political gain, for in a piece written to talk of the faults of
humanity, guess where you are placing yourself.
I don’t wish to discuss the weapons used by a madman, for I
see no reason to think I’d feel any better if he had used some other. When Cain
murdered Able, the ground was littered with rocks and sharpened sticks, and
boundless other methods of killing. His choice of a smiter over a rock could
not be more irrelevant to the discussion. The action was the evil, not the
tool.
I would like to know why this man did this thing. Everyone
does. Somehow, if we knew why it could help. Perhaps such knowledge would
prevent this horror from happening again. But of course it would not. This is
wishful thinking only. Every evil murderer had a reason, and each reason was
different.
I’d like to think that someone out there could act to
prevent this from happening again. Perhaps we could outlaw something. That
might work. Problem is… except for that notion in the ten commandments that
thou should not commit murder, a rule that no one has ever violated, most rules
we make to keep us safe are flaunted by the evil. Yeah, I know….
I considered asking the government to put uniformed armed
guards in every school, on every street corner, walking behind every person to
protect us. Somewhere safety lies, if we just put the government in charge of
everything. We can trust the government to protect us if we just turn all of
our freedom and convenience over to them.
Nah, I think I’ll steer away from this notion. It’s that
who-knows-what-evil-lurks-in-the-hearts-of-men, thing. Evil too often lurks in
the hearts of government.
I believe we have created a population of evil that has
learned that the way to worldwide notoriety is to copy the mass murderer.
Surely a way to report such news can be found which evil people won’t use to
celebrate and magnify their acts. Right now the network news agencies are
encouraging and milking the evil for profit.
I believe that the lesson found in the early writings, that
Cain had anger and the willingness to murder, is still relevant. The human has
not changed. All humans have anger, and some are capable of murder, and some
thrive in this. This is a horror, but it is inescapable.
We all seek comfort and a solution so that children will
never again be murdered by a madman. I’ll offer comfort, but I offer no
solution. No one has changed the human since Cain.
Too many who claim to offer solace and sure solution will be
the next to deliver evil. Evil is opportunistic. So watch closely the most eager,
which right now are the people hurrying before the cameras. History does not
lie.
Don’t know who said this but I’ll end with:
“You cannot hide from evil people. You can only confront
them when they appear and strike them down before they do harm to others.”
We all must do our very best at this, for we are what stands
in the way of evil.
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