Good vs. Evil

Throughout history there have been many epic battles both on the battlefield as well as the political theater. Amid those many battles has been a singular theme - Good vs. Evil.

A few conundrums exist in this epic contest that defines man's history. The first of which is which side is truly evil. Isn't evil a matter of perspective? While the common consensus is that Hitler was evil (which I am of the volition that he was indeed), there are many who lived in Germany during his reign that believed he represented a righteous and pure cause. Or how about current events? Those in the Middle East who are labeled as terrorists, while they are the minority, they believe so strongly that the cause they are fighting for is a good one and that those coming into their homeland are evil. The purest truth on this facet of the grand battle is that the side of good is claimed in history by the winner. If the Third Reich had won WW2 they would have been able to lay claim to the side of good whilst the scraps of evil were left unto the allies.

On occasion, Good does completely defeat Evil, but not for long. If all the evil in a battle is defeated, the range of good within the good will inherently redevelop into another battle of good versus evil. The results from WW2 prove this concept. During the war, The United States and Britain worked with the Soviet Union to surround and crush the Nazi forces. While there were catastrophic losses for each country, the losses on the side of evil (Nazis) were crippling and the enemy was defeated. In the ensuing decades, the USSR began to get power hungry and so began the Cold War. The Soviet Union went from being a strong and powerful ally to a strong and powerful enemy that thankfully we never came to blows with. If we had, the world would most likely be a nuclear wasteland.

Until now I have only mentioned the battle of Good vs. Evil between two forces, but what of the fight between the two opposing forces within one consciousness? Within each of us there are both good and bad thoughts. What we choose to do with these thoughts and how we act upon them is what defines us as good or evil. The biggest ruse that any person in this world could ever believe is that a person could be completely good or completely evil. Accepting that each of us have angels and demons inside us trying to sway the course of our lives is the first step in understanding that how we should be judged is not by one act, but by the whole of our work on this earth.