Evil

Why is there evil in the world? Naturally there is what the ancient rabbis called the "evil Impulse." This seems to be a natural part of the human condition. While this impulse exists, why can some people resist it and others can't? I am not saying that there is not a personal responsibility to avoid evil. There is. But there is an aspect of evil that I find interesting. Why do "good" people sometimes do horrific things? 

Related to this question is the not-so-horrific things we all may do. 

One reason for this is I Cor 15:33, here from the ASV:

Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”

If you are associated with people who drink to excess, are you less or more likely to drink to excess? If you are associated with people who curse, are you less or more likely to curse?  While I have been busy patting myself on the back because of the weight loss I have achieved, I suddenly realized that a significant factor in my weight loss was going from an area where I was not all that heavy in comparison to others, to an area where I was–from Missouri to California. In retrospect this was particularly evident in the church I attended. 

We humans are tribal in orientation. If we allow "group think" or our culture to dominate our thinking, we may head down the wrong path.  

Philip Zimardo talks about this in a "Ted" talk. 

Note that TED decide to remove the most horrific pictures. Note also that I do not agree with the "pop theology" presented about Satan. 

Otherwise good people can be corrupted by the tribes they join. We humans do things in groups that we would not do individually. 

Each of us needs to careful which groups we belong to. This is especially true for groups with a strong culture like the police, the military, and, well, churches.  

I sang a song in church for decades that I did not understand. It used archaic language and told me not to "stand in sinners' way." What this means is to not associate with the wrong crowd. Here is the Psalm that song was based on, in the modern translation The Message.  

Psalm 1

1 How well God must like you—

    you don’t hang out at Sin Saloon,

    you don’t slink along Dead-End Road,

    you don’t go to Smart-Mouth College.

2-3  Instead you thrill to God’s Word,

    you chew on Scripture day and night.

You’re a tree replanted in Eden,

    bearing fresh fruit every month,

Never dropping a leaf,

    always in blossom.

4-5  You’re not at all like the wicked,

    who are mere windblown dust—

Without defense in court,

    unfit company for innocent people.

6  God charts the road you take.

The road they take is Skid Row.