The Problem of Evil, Continued

Cellist at the National Library, Sarajevo.

How many have died in the last month?  Have we lost count?  It wouldn't be much of a surprise if we have lost count.  That's how it was during the war in Bosnia: you become numb to it all, a sleepwalker, neither dead nor alive, neither here nor there, a disoriented, fatigued being that is slowly losing the will to live.

The latest in killing is the murder of a 13-year-old Israeli-American girl, Hallel Yaffa Ariel.  Hallel was stabbed and killed in her sleep by a Palestinian 17-year-old boy, Mohammed Tarayreh, who considered this murder a martyrdom. 

According to The New York Times article, his family members did not seem to find anything wrong with Mohammed murdering an innocent girl.  His uncle said: "He did something he was totally convinced of," he said of his nephew. "Yes, he might have killed a small girl, but Palestinian kids are being killed too."

Any rational human being will react as I am: how in the world can you say that?  How can you justify a murder of an innocent girl?  Don't you see that your nephew himself is now dead and that he himself is practically a child?  The cycle of hate continues.

One of the biggest questions about evil is how can an evil person (be it Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Karadzic) justify and see absolutely nothing wrong with mass murder and terrorism?  Do they understand what evil is?  Are they amoral and because of that, they cannot see the clear line of what is good and what is evil?  Are they mentally ill?  But to call them mentally ill means that they can't help it, therefore they are excused, therefore no need for justice.

I don't think we will ever understand (fully, in any case) the root of hatred.  The inability of a human being to be independent, to stand on his or her own, and the compulsion to be part of a group no matter what the cost is perhaps one of the explanations.  We may blame others for our own inadequacies, we may feel angry - but how does that translate into mass murder is beyond my comprehension.  Of course, we should not blame others for inadequacies, and we should figure out why are we so angry - at whom?  For what?  And most of all, what is the solution for this anger?

Who Hitler was and what he thought is not the biggest problem.  It is that people listened to him, and agreed with him.  

Murder, quite simply, is barbaric.  I weep for this little girl in Israel.  Children are the most vulnerable ones during any war, any conflict, any terrorist attack.  And it doesn't matter which "side" executes the attack.  My compassion lies with her family. 

At the same time, I am also sad that a 17-year-old boy was the murderer.  A boy, who should have worked toward a better future and peace, however uneasy it may be, made an existential move toward murder. 

If we do not value life and the dignity of every human being, it is easy to dehumanize and kill.  I wonder what did this boy see when he looked at the girl before he stabbed her?  Would he have not done it had he looked her in the eyes?  Or was he totally indifferent to it and her eyes wouldn't have made any difference whatsoever?  Was he irrational and mad?  But there we go again - placing madness as the cause.  Is this the only way we can explain this?  And if so, what does that mean for justice?  What does that mean for forgiveness?

Despite the darkness, I refuse to give in and I refuse to give up.  There are those of us who believe in the possibility of being, and will continue to be vessels for the good, transcending the hatred.