The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-05-21
!. The MYsTERYoF EVIL.
george r. Conan TaSeI EXCEPTIONS to
John FIske,s stAtsmeats.

Jonn Flsk0 S'YtffUt0TAS' M
10 the Editor Of Thespy;lIn arecent
number of the Atlan,P Monthly, john
Fislxe has given us an, exceedingly in
teresting article upon he Mystery Of
eviln While accepting and adrnirhg
Iit in the main, must enter-a few
words of dissent from ole of the cm-
The article should be rad in its. en-
tirety. but a few extracts may answer
my purpose; s,,a.. a.,
piled in all [these] attenpts to retar
good and evil to diffethnt creative
Sources can ever be seepusly NAH
famed again, In fetting rid If
the devil and regarding ale universe
as the multiform manifestation of
single aii-perv aiding Deity4we become
for the first time pure ana uneompro-
missing monotheists We aR forced 10
admit that whatever may le the fune-
ton of evil in this world, u IS pnquei-
tionably an Indispensable fMctlon, am
not something MISREPRESENTATION WIZ
out"
In considering the problem of good
and evil. Mr.. Fiske tells us that the
souls consciousness is the nqst funda-
mental Of facts, and that Consciousness
exists only by virtue OF 1ncessafE
change" Perpetual change then,
what makes conscious life. Fl ~ ahapP
world there must be sorrow ana pain
and in a moral world the knowledge o.
evil is indispensable" ''Withnt know.
ing that which is morally eviIlWe coulo
not possibly recognize thai winch Is
morally good. 'e"God is the. creator OF
evil" Morality comes upon the scene
{s oil at 0ffaFnd
leading better lives or worse lives.
y Rise from a bestial to- moral
plane of existence involves the acquire
ment of the knowledge of goodand evil
Conscience is generated to plaI a part
analogous to that played by tie sense
of pain in the lower stages of life, and
to keep us from wrongdoing. I'm the
process of spiritual evolutionl theaefore,
evil must needs be present. BIt the
nature of evolution also requires mat 1t
should be evanescent. In the higher
stages. that which is worse thsi the
best, need no longer be positively 5ad ;"
Right here, it seems to me, Mr.. Fske's
logic is at fault. What is evil3 Is
an act or thought evil per Sc? Il our
earlier ancestors were beasts Of prey,
was it 'evil" In them to lacerate their
victims? If, at later age, they were
cannibals was it evil in them TO eat
their captives? If our religious fore
fathers, the Israelites, rejoiced IL the
confusion and destruction of theirene-
mics, was that feviI?'% When saul
prosecuted the Christians; was that
"evil?" What is evil in any age but
the doing or thinking of anything Ress
than the highest? Does the standard
of good and. evil change them Most
assuredly it does, and anything less
than the highest conceivable is evil
New and original evils are thus beihg
constantly born into our world Wher
Christ pronounced that man a murders
who hated his brother man without.
cause, did he not extend the list o
homicides? Evils are, indeed, stepping
stones whereby we rise to higher things
and with every such rise is born ney
brood of evils which shall in turn be
set us, be conquered by u.s. and S
make possible our next advance. How
then, does the nature of evolution re
quire-as Mr. Fiske asserts-that evi
should be evanescent? Indeed, it doe
not Just as we recognize evils un
known to former generations. So futur
generations with clearer vision ma,
recognize factors of evil in our boaste'
acts of benevolence.
To perfect good, all human goodmus
be relatively evil
AS new times demand new meas
ures and new men," so new realms o
possibility demand new ideals of good
and reveal new spheres of evil. What
then, is our conclusion? This: Tha
God and good and heaven are and VIII
always be above and beyond us; tina
evil and hell are and will always b
below and behind US.
worcester, May 10.