Knowing Evil

Looking back at history certain figures as so obviously evil, such as Hitler that you wonder, how did he achieve power and keep it?

People generally don't support evil, they may be forced to accept it, but they don't normally promote it.

Generally even evil people might no be aware of how evil they are.  Most people are of course the centers of their own universe.  Ultimately what they think and believe drives how they perceive everything, including good and evil.

Most of us become at least intellectually aware that other people have as many rights as we do.  A few however consider everyone else simply a tool or an obstacle that is to be handled in some way.

It is this group that has the potential to be evil, and I don't mean doing one evil thing but to act in a way that is clearly evil.

Even when they claim be part of a group, the group is simply a tool to help propel them to power.  They don't really care about its members.

Hitler is of course a great example of true evil. There were original members of what became the NAZI party that promoted ideas that were actually worker friendly, and some of these policies continued.  However, Hitler took over the party and used it for his own benefit and was willing to sacrifice some of his earliest supporters to seize power.

He also was willing to sacrifice millions and millions of German people right to the end considering their lives irrelevant in regards to his own. 

Yet until the very end he had loyal followers who believed that he represented something good or at least destiny and that history would somehow reach out and save him.

He didn't and it didn't and the suffering, misery and consequences of his actions shaped much of the next 50 years.

However, as time has passed we start to see a rise of those same nationalistic views that propelled him to power, as groups who feel themselves disenfranchised or threatened decide that they need to recapture an imaginary golden period.

While the person promising to do this is using almost the same exact tactics that were used by the NAZIs, we have many people doing exactly what the German people did, excusing the extreme views because they like some of his other ideas and thinking that those extreme views are so bad that he can't really believe them.

Well he can and he does and the rise of evil is evident.

His willingness to insult and hurt harmless people is evil.

His deception of his followers making promises he can't keep is evil.

His willingness to take away health care from millions is evil.

His desire to steal another nations oil is evil.

His mockery of the disabled is evil.

His total disregard for human dignity is evil.

The list goes on, and to call these policy differences is simply wrong. 

Ignoring evil is never the right thing to do.  While I don't agree with the anti-abortioners on when human life begins,   I respect that they believe they are standing up against and evil.  So must we all.