The Face of Evil in the 21st Century

What do most people envision when they think of evil?

A demon with a pitchfork? A large dragon? A fearsome opponent or a monster in someone else’s movie?

“Evil” is defined as something “profoundly immoral and wicked,” or in the general sense as “the opposite of good.” Problems arise when we fail to distinguish the differences between good and evil or else have confused these two concepts.

Sir Thomas Overbury said in 1613, “beauty is only skin deep.” Unfortunately, in the 21st Century, we have failed to recognize the true nature or “face” of evil. Evil does not necessarily look like a demon with a pitchfork or the dark lord in someone else’s science-fiction movie.

Evil looks like the average person we see walking down the street. Evil looks like our smiling, pretty cousin. Evil looks like an old friend from high school. Evil looks like our friends in faith. Evil looks like a parent, sibling, spouse, aunt, friend, colleague, roommate, cashier, truck driver, or anyone else we see wandering around this Earth from one day to the next.

We have failed to understand the true meaning of life on Earth, and instead determined for ourselves that the true purpose of our existence lies solely in our own desire for “Eternal Life.”