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%CLARIFY NATURAL CONSEQUENCES ASSUMPTION GOOD DEVIL+030328
%NATURE EVIL PEOPLE RELATIONSHIPS PERCEPTIONS DEALS+030328
 %MISGUIDED MOTIVATED DIRECTED COMMANDED INTENTIONS+030328
%WORTHY CHILDREN GOD SEED ORIGIN CAUSES EFFECTS SIN+030328
%CONFORMITY EXPECTATION DEMANDS ALIENATION ESTRANGE+030328
%INDIVIDUALS PEOPLE REJECT DIALOGUE PARTICIPATE GOD 030328

     We need to clarify the consequences of our working in
terms of assumptions about what is "good",  and about what
is  "evil".    What we do about our perceptions of  "evil"
flow from our assumptions about:

      (1) The nature of "evil"

      (2) The natural consequences that flow from how we
          try to deal with the "evil" that we perceive.

     If we are misguided by our  assumptions  about "evil"
---  our best intentions are  likely to lead us to augment
"evil", rather than mitigate/reduce "evil".

     In  a similar way we need to clarify the consequences
of  our working in terms of our assumptions about  who  is
"good" and so is worthy of being a participant in dialogue
with  us.   Buried in our assumptions may be the seeds  of
evil-relationships which we are not ready,  willing and/or
able  to recognize as the true origins of the "evil"  that
troubles us in our daily lives.

     We need to talk about the following questions:

     Is "evil" related primarily to "non-conformity" or to
"alienation"?

     How are "alienation" and "non-conformity"  related to
each other?

     How  are they related to domineering expectations  of
"conformity"?

     Is "conformity" the essence of being "good"; of "good
beings"?

     Is "non-conformity"  the essences of being "evil"; of
evil-beings?"

     Which of the following realities can truly be "evil"?

     1.  A color?
     2.  A musical note?
     3.  A piece of rock?
     4.  A body of water, a lake, a river, an ocean?
     5.  A farm field?
     6.  A true statement?
     7.  An accurate description?
     8.  A true story?
     9.  A mutual and gracious friendship?
    10.  An occasion of reconciliation?
    11.  A new kind/form of cooperation?
    12.  A new way of graciously sharing power?
    13.  A new form of hospitality/conflict-resolution?
    14.  A new form of communal integrity?
    15.  A new form of personal integrity?
    16.  The transcendence of conformity as normative?
    17.  A creative person?
    18.  A truly honest person?
    19.  A healthy person?
    20.  An authentic person?

     Are  people  ever  "evil"  in the absence  of  "evil-
relationships?

     Can previously "good-people" become alienated because
of  unresolved conflicts between their mutually  exclusive
ideals, values and goals?

     Can/do  "evil-people"  appear (come into being?)   as
such outside of "evil-relationships"?

     At  what point in the process does "evil"  appear  to
participants in "evil-relationships"?  Within "alienation"
or within "individual human beings"?

     Where  can  "evil"  best  be  reduced/mitigated?   In
individuals or within relationships?

     Can "evil" be mitigated in the absence of:

     (1)  Violence?             (2)  Reconciliation?

     (3)  Coercion?             (4)  Healing?

     (5)  Domination?           (6)  Forgiveness?

     (7)  Dishonesty?           (8)  Integrations?

     (9)  Deception?           (10)  Honesty?

    (11)  Secrecy?             (12)  Cooperation?

    (13)  Dictators?           (14)  Mediators?

    (15)  Wars?                (16)  Shalom?

     How many of the odd-numbered items on the left can be
absent and "evil" still be mitigated?

     How  many of the even-numbered items on the right can
be absent and "evil" still be mitigated?

     Is there a notable pattern  in the above?   How  many
and  what  kinds  of  people  can  discern  and  helpfully
talk  about the notable pattern?

                                                                                                                               
                         (c) 2005 by Paul A. Smith in      
                    (On Being Yourself, Whole and Healthy)  
                                                                                                                               
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