No Indifference
If there is a God
And there is
Then why all the terrible things?
Because there are
There have to be
Otherwise, it’s all a game
And God is a demon,
Only the biggest
But there’s another question, too
For all the terrible things
That happen,
There should be no inspiration
No interest in virtue
Even to using it when lying
Why should good have an interest
At all in our deliberations?
But it does
We want it, pursue it
Even bad people
Want good things
Companionship, ambition
Self-satisfaction, pleasure
Nice things
Nice sensations
The bad has been twisting them
Hiding inside means that
Should be hidden,
A bent form of going after
What is good
Like every villain in every story
But there are heroes
Please understand, as women
As men
And people of all colors
And locations
And there is virtue
That usually starts with something
That is true,
Perhaps the truth
C L Couch
Photo by Pavel Nekoranec on Unsplash
Am Lustgarten 1, 10178 Berlin, Germany, Berlin
[cropped]
clcouch123 
July 28, 2020 at 7:19 pm
I think we have to believe in virtue, and in truth, because if we didn’t believe, if we didn’t have hope, evil would overtake us and there would be nothing of value in life. I like the image of the bent form going after what is good, like every villain in every story. I can picture that villain, we have seen him/her a thousand times before. Great imagery, Christopher. I wish you a good week! 🙂
July 29, 2020 at 10:24 pm
Thank you, Cathy! I hope your week is going well.
Yes, I think we need to believe in truth and to hold hope. We are helped, thankfully, by their being there (here). I hadn’t thought so much about it before setting it down; but more and more I think on it, it might be every villain who wants what good people want but doesn’t want to worry over means or even messing up the prize.
July 30, 2020 at 9:49 pm
Yes, I think you’re right. They want the same things, but its the means of getting there, or destroying things in the process, that is so terrible.
August 1, 2020 at 12:40 am
I agree. Good is good and should be left that way. That’s enough without evil means making everything desirable doubly hard (at least) to have.
July 28, 2020 at 8:33 pm
Interesting, well written and thought-provoking! Nothing like the conflict with ones own mind
July 29, 2020 at 10:25 pm
Thank you! You’re right, the human mind is complex and doesn’t easily (necessarily) make the good-and-evil split so well.
July 29, 2020 at 10:35 pm
Indeed, I couldn’t have put it better myself! 😊
July 31, 2020 at 8:43 pm
Wow! Questions that cannot be answered in a dozen lifetimes. I have no answers, been puzzling them myself. Do bad people do bad things because it makes them feel good? My brain is starting to hurt. I just have to concentrate on the good in this world it makes me feel so much better……or is that just burying my head in the sand. Happy days, Christopher, who poses difficult questions.
August 1, 2020 at 12:37 am
C. S. Lewis makes a sensible case for evil wanting good, which tends to mean twisting the good means and the good prize. I tend to think that evil has no substance of its own (not my own idea; I think I first got it from Augustine), the devil the most empty of all; and so there isn’t anything that’s solid to go for except good things.
I understand; I read physics and it hurts my head. But the good thing is that good is good and it’s meant to be had and enjoyed in good ways. That is definitely worth concentrating on, as you say.
Thanks, Len, for your response. Have a fine weekend.
August 2, 2020 at 6:44 pm
Deep and relatable thoughts, my friend! “A bent form of going after what is good” — great line. The struggle to reconcile all the evil we see and experience in the world plagues every generation. Will it ever end? We can only do our part to be the change.
August 3, 2020 at 4:43 am
Thank you, friend! It’s hard to reconcile evil being in the world because, frankly, evil hurts people and harms the world. And I think we need to remember this–we suffer from it, as it is, all the time–when working out our philosophy. The good thing is it’s not a fifty-fifty arrangement between good and evil. There is more good, and according to apocalyptic literature (what I know of it) there is a prophecy that becomes a promise that evil will perish once and for all, eventually. But I think the deal is this–what you say, “We can only do our part to be the change.” I think that’s exactly right. We must keep trying to live the good and resist the evil.